Curtain Walls

Nowadays the world no longer has a choice to reduce the dependency of non-renewable energy resources, especially in buildings. This type of energy like fossil fuel is responsible for global warming and the climate change phenomenon. The construction industry has to depend on renewable energy to improve environmental impacts while operating the buildings. The most promising technologies for buildings are photovoltaic panels system which converts solar radiation into electricity without harming the environment. PV system is not only used as top-roof panels but also it can play an important role in the exterior building cladding and in curtain wall system as well. Building-integrated PV (BIPV) system has two functions the first is used as a façade cladding and the second is power generation for building operation. This research studies the PV curtain wall as a BIPV system and explains why this system is better than the traditional curtain wall through its environmental performance and initial, and operation costs. Based on the analysed tabulated feasibility study considering energy savings outcome and system cost, PV curtain walls proved technical, environmental and economic viability. The paper's case study in Jeddah-KSA provides a real example of how PV curtain wall application plays a fundamental role in achieving high energy performance standards as well as maximize the financial return of investment.

In this paper, an extensive Finite-Element (FE) numerical study is carried out on a glass framing with point mechanical connectors. The models have been calibrated based on literature studies and field research. The simulations have been performed in order to assess the mechanical behavior of the examined glass-aluminum panels. In frame-support glass structures, such as curtain walls, where glass plates are mounted onto a metal framework, the composite behavior between glass and the supporting aluminum elements is usually a problem. It has been showed that an application of elastomer gaskets decreases the stress concentration at the interface between aluminum and glass while does not significantly change the working scheme of the profile. Based on the proposed models, the failure mechanism for wider set of geometrical configurations can be analyzed.

Nowadays the world no longer has a choice to reduce the dependency of non-renewable energy resources, especially in buildings. This type of energy like fossil fuel is responsible for global warming and the climate change phenomenon. The construction industry has to depend on renewable energy to improve environmental impacts while operating the buildings. The most promising technologies for buildings are photovoltaic panels system which converts solar radiation into electricity without harming the environment. PV system is not only used as top-roof panels but also it can play an important role in the exterior building cladding and in curtain wall system as well. Building-integrated PV (BIPV) system has two functions the first is used as a façade cladding and the second is power generation for building operation. This research studies the PV curtain wall as a BIPV system and explains why this system is better than the traditional curtain wall through its environmental performance and initial, and operation costs. Based on the analysed tabulated feasibility study considering energy savings outcome and system cost, PV curtain walls proved technical, environmental and economic viability. The paper's case study in Jeddah-KSA provides a real example of how PV curtain wall application plays a fundamental role in achieving high energy performance standards as well as maximize the financial return of investment.

Nowadays modern high-rise buildings have unique facades which partly rely on the incorporation of curtain walls. A curtain-wall system encloses the building to separate the internal and external environments. It can reduce building weight and it also transfers the wind load to the floor structure of the building. Wind-load codes govern the design of safe curtain wall systems against natural wind forces, considering direct static and dynamic pressure. In this paper aero-elastic considerations are investigated as a potential failure mode of curtain walls. Curtain-wall panels are regarded as comprising a flexible material such as glass and aluminium cladding subjected to an airflow that is parallel to their surface. It is well-known that a flexible panel exposed to increasingly high flow speed will succumb to a divergence, or static buckling-type, instability at a particular critical flow speed. At a higher flow speed the panel will experience violent oscillatory flutter-type instability. Accordingly, we investigate the susceptibility of curtain-wall panels to aero-elastic effects. A state-space model, based upon computational modelling, is used to investigate the aero-elastic stability of each flexible panel in isolation. We briefly present a recently developed approach and its new extension to theoretical modelling of the fully-coupled interaction between a simply-supported flexible panel and a fluid flow. We solve the boundary-value problem to determine the long-time response and investigate the effects on stability of adding localised structural inhomogeneity. Localised structural inhomogeneity is incorporated as an additional single spring type support to the panel. The dependence of instability onset-flow speeds, and the forms of divergence and flutter instabilities, upon the added spring stiffness and its location are then investigated. Results show that the morphology of the unstable solution space significantly differs from that of the oft-studied corresponding hydro-elasticity problem because of the different density ratio between fluid and solid media. Of particular interest is that in the present aero-elastic system flutter occurs through the coalescence of two non-oscillatory unstable divergence modes. The inclusion of a localised spring support to an otherwise unsupported panel is shown to be stabilising with respect to the critical divergence-onset flow speed and the limits to this strategy are identified. This strategy is marginally destabilising with respect to the more damaging flutter instability that occurs at higher wind speeds. However, at a sufficiently high spring-stiffness a sudden change to the solution morphology occurs that yields two unstable non-oscillatory divergence modes and flutter is postponed to much higher wind speeds. We close the paper with an assessment of what these results mean in dimensional terms as applied to different cladding panels. Overall, our results suggest a means to ameliorate adverse aero-elastic effects in potentially disastrous extreme wind-force situations such as those encountered in typhoons and tropical cyclones.

Textile Ceramic Technology (TCT) is a system composed of ceramic units installed in a grid of steel wires. TCT application as a curtain wall which allows ventilation is expected to be an inexpensive, aesthetic and sustainable solution. In order to use TCT as a curtain wall, experimental research about the mechanical response of hanged TCT panels is required. The main aim of this paper is to present the results of this experimental work. Different loading conditions corresponding to gravity and wind forces have been applied on typical TCT panels and the results point out that TCT is sufficiently mechanically competent to be used as a curtain wall. The application range and limitations are summarised.

Textile Ceramic Technology (TCT) is a system composed of ceramic units installed in a grid of steel wires. TCT application as a curtain wall which allows ventilation is expected to be an inexpensive, aesthetic and sustainable solution. In order to use TCT as a curtain wall, experimental research about the mechanical response of hanged TCT panels is required. The main aim of this paper is to present the results of this experimental work. Different loading conditions corresponding to gravity and wind forces have been applied on typical TCT panels and the results point out that TCT is sufficiently mechanically competent to be used as a curtain wall. The application range and limitations are summarised.