Abstract
Curtain walls are the façade of choice in high-rise buildings and an indispensable element of architecture for a contemporary city. In conventional curtain walls, the glass panels are simply supported by the metal framing which transfers any imposed load to the building structure. The absence of composite action between glass and metal results in deep frames, protruding to the inside, occupying valuable space and causing visual disruption. In response to the limited performance of conventional systems, an innovative frame-integrated unitized curtain wall is proposed to reduce structural depth to one fifth (80%) allowing an inside flush finish and gaining nettable space. The novel curtain wall is achieved by bonding a pultruded glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) frame to the glass producing a composite insulated glass unit (IGU). This paper selects the candidate frame and adhesive materials performing mechanical tests on GFRP pultrusions to characterize strength and elasticity and on GFRP-glass connections to identify failure module and strength. The material test results are used in a computer-based numerical model of a GFRP-glass composite unitized panel to predict the structural performance when subjected to realistic wind loads. The results confirm the reduction to one fifth is possible since the allowable deflections are within limits. It also indicates that the GFRP areas adjacent to the support might require reinforcing to reduce shear stresses.
Highlights
External envelopes are the image of every building creating fundamental component of the scenario of cities
Allowing the fibers to be in ences in the mechanical the variables studied. It was various directions mightproperties have the of benefit of increasing the shear strength of decided the bars.that polyester matrix would be used for the glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) framing as it has a finer aspect and it is more affordable
This research concludes that the reduction of curtain wall structural depth to almost one fifth compared to conventional curtain wall systems is possible
Summary
External envelopes are the image of every building creating fundamental component of the scenario of cities. Unitized curtain wall systems consist of cladding units where façade panels (typically glass, metal or stone) and metallic framing members (mullions and transoms) are pre-assembled in factory and transported to site and attached to the load-bearing elements in the buildings, normally via pre-fixed brackets along the edge of the structural floor slab. The current generation of unitized curtain wall systems is designed to transfer lateral loads, typically wind-induced pressures to the structural floor slabs [8]. This is achieved by the façade panels which are supported by the façade framing members which in turn transfer the loads by spanning between the floor slabs
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