What are the components of glass curtain wall?

As a representative exterior wall maintenance structure in modern buildings, the complex system composition and technological innovation of glass curtain wall perfectly integrate architectural aesthetics and engineering technology. Middle East Curtain Wall today understands the engineering wisdom behind glass curtain wall from the professional perspective of glass curtain wall.

1. Glass curtain wall frame system: the skeleton structure of curtain wall
As the load-bearing body of glass curtain wall, the material selection and structural design of frame system directly determine the overall performance of curtain wall. The current market mainstream adopts 6063-T5 grade aluminum alloy profile, which has strong tensile strength while maintaining lightweight characteristics. The thermal insulation profile adopts a multi-cavity structure design, combined with thermal insulation strips, to reduce the thermal conductivity to below 0.3W/(m·K). The cross-sectional dimensions of columns and beams need to be determined by finite element analysis.2. Glass Panel
Modern curtain wall glass has developed multiple composite structures. Taking a super high-rise project as an example, the configuration used is: 10mm ultra-clear tempered glass + 1.52mm SGP interlayer + 8mm Low-E coated glass + 12A argon layer + 10mm tempered insulating glass. This combination achieves excellent performance of 72% visible light transmittance, 0.28 solar heat gain coefficient, and 1.1W/(㎡·K). Vacuum glass technology has made a breakthrough in compressing the thickness of the spacer layer to 0.2mm, the vacuum degree reaches 10-3Pa level, and the heat transfer coefficient can be as low as 0.4W/(㎡·K).
3. Glass curtain wall sealing system
The sealing system has five defense levels: the first silicone weather-resistant adhesive joint width is calculated to be no less than 15mm, and the displacement capacity must reach ±25%; the second EPDM strip adopts microwave vulcanization process, and the closed-cell rate exceeds 95%; the third isobaric chamber design maintains the internal and external pressure difference ≤5Pa; the fourth polysulfide sealant flow is controlled within 3mm; the final airtight layer uses 0.3mm thick continuous aluminum foil, and the joints are sealed with butyl tape. The latest nano-penetrating sealant can penetrate 3mm into the concrete base to form a permanent waterproof barrier.
4. Glass curtain wall support structure
The steel structure support system needs to be subjected to wind vibration time history analysis, and the bearing capacity of each node is 8000kN, and the pin connection allows 6° rotation freedom. The cable-type curtain wall uses φ36mm stainless steel stranded wire, with a breaking force of 1200kN and a pre-tension control accuracy of ±2%. BIM technology enables the three-dimensional coordinate error of the supporting structure to be controlled within ±1.5mm, and the strain monitoring system tracks the structural response in real time at a sampling frequency of 500Hz.
V. Connection components
The back bolt connection adopts the expansion principle, and the M8 stainless steel back bolt can generate 12kN tensile pull-out force. After topological optimization, the steel claw components of the point-supported curtain wall are 40% lighter and 25% more rigid. The new shape memory alloy gasket can automatically adjust the preload force when the temperature changes to maintain a constant contact pressure. The seismic design follows the principle of “small earthquakes are not damaged, medium earthquakes can be repaired, and large earthquakes do not collapse”, and the connection nodes are set with a slip amount of ±50mm.