CURTAIN WALL SYSTEMS IN GLASS.

CONTENTS
• Design principles
• Types of walling systems
• Types of glass used
• Different profiles
• Installation
• Advantages & disadvantages
• Maintanence
WHAT IS A CURTAIN WALL ?
 a curtain wall is any non-load bearing exterior wall with
the following characteristics:
1. Suspended in front of the structural frame.
2. Dead weight and wind loads are transferred to the
structural frame through point anchorages.
3. Wall element and the fastening technique permit erection
of continuous wall surfaces of any size
 Curtain wall facade is being constituted in one of the
most used at the present time due to its facility of
construction, lightness and to the great variety of
materials and finished textures that are possible to obtain
 At the present time the materials mostly used for the
structural profiles in curtain walls are aluminium, steel
,glass.
 WHY GLASS ?
• Glass generally refers to hard, brittle, transparent
material, used in making windows, many bottles, or
eyewear, thus glass stands up to the effect of sun, wind
or rain
• Glass curtain wall started to be used as non-load bearing
structure in the mid-19th century.
• Later at 20th century tended to be unique and custom-
made, fabricated individually from the cast iron, rolled
steel and plate glass that just began to appear as
industrialized commodities.
• Curtain walls first appeared on the scene in 1918 made
with steel mullions, and the plate glass was attached to
the mullions with asbestos or fiberglass modified glazing
compound.
• Earlier modernist examples are the Bauhaus
 DESIGN PRINCIPLES
• WEATHERTIGHTNESS
• It is the aim of every curtain walling installation to
ensure total elimination of water ingress
• As well as the wind, curtain walling systems also have to
overcome a range of other localised forces including
gravity, surface tension and capillary action.
• The effect of gravity, which causes water to run down a
façade, can be counteracted by protecting horizontal
joints with a drip detail and sloping them upwards
• Surface tension, which can lead to water tracking
through joints, can also be prevented by a drip detail.
• Capillary action, which can lead to water tracking
inwards and upwards, can be countered by a capillary
trap.
 DESIGN PRINCIPLES
• DESIGN SOLUTIONS
• There are three basic categories of curtain walling
systems: front sealed, secondary sealed and pressure
equalised.
• Front sealed systems are designed to be totally
impervious.
• Secondary sealed systems, as the name suggests,
recognise that a 100% weathertight seal is unlikely to be
achieved for the life of a façade. Thus, although
designed to be weathertight, any water that does
penetrate is collected and drained back to the outside
through holes or slots.
• The final option is a pressure equalised curtain wall. In
these systems an outer rainscreen provides a protective
barrier. Protected Openings allow air ingress to a
compartmentalised central cavity, which facilitates
pressure equalisation.
 DESIGN PRINCIPLES
• control of air flow,
• control of heat flow,
• control over the entry of rain and snow,
• control of sunlight and other forms of radiant
energy,
• control of water vapour diffusion,
• accommodation of building movements.
 DESIGN PRINCIPLES
• THERMAL INSULATION (CONTROL OF HEAT
FLOW)
• Because of the materials used in the structure, i.e., glass
and metal, which are highly conductive, the system must
also contend with potential condensation on the interior
surfaces.
• most curtain wall systems incorporate two distinct
features: first, a sealed double glazed window or an
insulated metal pan and second, a thermally broken
mullion, usually with a PVC plastic insert and more
recently, a foamed-in-place polyurethane connection.
 DESIGN PRINCIPLES
• SOLAR RADIATION (CONTROL OF SUNLIGHT
AND OTHER FORMS OF RADIANT ENERGY)
• Solar radiation falling on building surfaces may have
two distinct effects: the first is to cause a significant
change in temperature of the façade elements and the
second is the slow but destructive effect of ultraviolet
radiation impinging on all materials, particularly
organic.
• On curtain wall systems the most important concerns
with solar radiation have been the thermal expansion and
contraction of curtain wall components, in particular
those forming the outside cladding, and the effects of
solar radiation on the glazing elements
 DESIGN PRINCIPLES
• THE VAPOUR BARRIER (CONTROL OF
WATER VAPOUR DIFFUSION)
• Water in its gaseous phase (water vapour or humidity)
always tries to migrate from a region of high water
vapour pressure to a region of lower pressure
• The migration of water vapour through a wall can be
compared to heat flow; it moves through all materials at
a rate that is dependent on both the resistance of the
materials to water vapour flow and the difference in
water vapour pressure on both sides of the material.
• The migration of water vapour through a curtain wall
assembly is checked by the vapour barrier qualities of
the glass and aluminum, as these materials have near
perfect vapour flow resistance for all practical purposes.
 DESIGN PRINCIPLES
• JOINTS AND TOLERANCES
(ACCOMMODATION OF BUILDING
MOVEMENTS)
• Movements may be grouped into three types:
• live load deflections due to occupancy loads or peak
wind loads on the building façade, and dead load
deflections of the building structure,
• expansion and contraction of materials as a result of
temperature, radiation and sometimes hygroscopic
loading,
• slow movements due to gradual deformation, such as
creep in concrete, foundation settlement, etc.
Types of walling system
 STOREFRONT

• “Storefronts” are non-load-bearing glazed systems that

occur on the ground floor, which typically include
commercial aluminum entrances.
• They are installed between floor slabs, or between a
floor slab and building structure above
• Typically fields-fabricated and glazed storefronts
employ exterior glazing stops at one side only.
• Provision for anchorage is made at perimeter conditions.
• While sometimes used as a low-cost alternative to
curtainwall systems for low-rise buildings, performance
requirements for storefront are generally less stringent,
and materials may require more frequent maintenance.
 STICK WALL
• “Stick” curtainwall systems are shipped in pieces for
field-fabrication and/or assembly.
• These systems can be furnished by the manufacturer as
“stock lengths” to be cut, machined, assembled, and
sealed in the field, or “knocked down” parts pre-
machined in the factory, for field-assembly and sealing
only.
• All stick curtainwalls are field-glazed.
• Frame assembly requires the use of :
a) Shear blocks – to connect vertical and horizontal
framing elements
b) Screw-spline – construction in which assembly
fasteners feed through holes in interlocking vertical
stacking mullions into extruded races in horizontals.
 I-BEAM WALLS

• “I” shaped structural, vertical back members are set

into openings in the field, with horizontals then
clipped to verticals.
• After glazing, extruded aluminum interior trim is
cut and snapped into place at vision areas.
• Since unexposed spandrel areas receive no interior
trim, savings in material and finish (painting) can
result, partially offset by added field labor.
• Maintaining vapor retardant continuity at interior
trim joints can be challenging if ant positive
building pressure is present.
• Once very popular “I-Beam” walls have seen
market penetration decrease.
 PRESSURE WALLS

Many stick curtain walls are called

“pressure walls”, because exterior
• A snap-on cover is then used to
extruded aluminum plates are screw-
conceal pressure plate fasteners.
applied to compress glass between
interior and exterior bedding gaskets. • Performance of any field-
assembled curtainwall is only as
good as field workmanship
allows, limited by variables
such as weather, access, and job
site dirt and dust.
• Many critical seals are
necessary, even in systems that
are designed to drain or weep
rain penetration from the
system back to the exterior.
 WINDOW WALL
• “window wall” systems span
from the top of one floor slab to
the undeside of the slab above.
• Window wall employs large,
side-stacking window units,
contained in head and sill
receptors, also called “starters”,
which accommodate movement
and drainage, but require field-
applied perimeter sealants.
• Slab covers can be fabricated
from aluminum extrusions,
sheet, panels or even glass.
• Window walls easily accept
operable windows, and unlike
curtainwall, can easily be
installed non-sequentially.
 UNITIZED WALL

• To accomplish as many critical seals as

possible in controlled factory
comditions, and minimize dependence
on field labor, “unitized” curtainwall
systems have been developed.
• These curtainwalls are factory-
assembled and glazed, then shipped to
site in units that are typically one floor
tall.
• This type of curtainwall systems are
installed in a sequential manner around
each floor level, moving from the
bottom to the top of the building.
• Only one unit-to-unit splice, usually a translucent
silicone sheet or patch, needs to be field-sealed.
• Seal bedding is visible through the sheet.
• Only one anchor/mullion needs to be attached to the
face of the floor slab.
• Interlocking unitized curtainwall frame members are
weather stripped to seal to one another, both
horizontally and vertically.
• This accommodates thermal expansion and
contraction, inter-story differential movement,
concrete creep, column foreshortening and seismic
movement.
TYPES OF GLASS USED FOR CURTAIN WALLS
TEMPERED (TOUGHENED) AND HEAT-
STRENGTHENED GLASS:

The fracture of glass is initiated from surface cracks. Therefore,

the practical strength of glass may be increased by introducing
a local high compressive stress near its surfaces. This can be
achieved by means of thermal toughening in which the glass
plate is heated to approximately 650◦C, at which point it begins
to soften. Then

ANNEALED GLASS
Refers to those glass panels without heat treatment. The
permissible stress is taken approximately as 15 N/mm2.
Sometimes we cannot avoid using annealed glass because of
manufacturing difficulties such as the glass panels being too
large for heat treatment. Due to its small strength, annealed glass
is weak in thermal resistance.
TYPES OF GLASS USED FOR CURTAIN WALLS
WIRED GLASS:
Wired glass is made by introducing a steel mesh into molten
glass during the rolling process. It is weak in resisting thermal
stress and therefore has a high rate of breakage due to sunlight,
etc. Polished wired glass is generally used for fire rating since
after its breakage; it is stuck to the wire mesh and prevents
passage of smoke. However, it is weak in resisting thermal
stress

TINTED GLASS:
Tinted glass or heat-absorbing glass is made by adding
colorant to normal clear glass green, blue, grey or bronze of
colour. Light transmittance varies from 14 to 85%, depending
on color and thickness. Because of this, the tinted glass is hot,
and heat-strengthened glass is normally used in making tinted
glass
TYPES OF GLASS USED FOR CURTAIN WALLS
COATED GLASS:

Coated glass is manufactured by placing layers of coating onto

the glass surfaces. There are two types, the solar control
(reflective) and the low-emissivity (low-e) types. They are more
related to energy absorption and light transmission and only
indirectly affect the structural strength by changing the thermal
stress. Because of this, for colored glass to prevent excessive
thermal stress, at least heat-strengthened glass should be used

LAMINATED GLASS:

This is a very common form of glass formed by bonding two or

more glass panes by inter-layers like polyvinyl butyral (PVB)
or resin. The thickness of this interlayer is normally 0.38, 0.76,
1.52 mm, etc. The major problem for laminated glass is the
validity of composite action .If the glass breaks, the adhesive
interlayer holds all the glass in place providing optimum safety
Profiles Used in Curtain Wall Types with Respect to Different
Materials

• WOODEN PROFILE

• Wood profile frames exist in different variety such as oak,

Douglas fir, Pine, Spruce, Hemlock mahogany, timber e.t.c
• Timber-glass facades are at least 60% more energy efficient
than aluminium-glass systems, and results in a “warm” feel to
the interior building environment
• Timber has a high strength to weight ratio. Its strength and
stiffness are dependent on the direction of load in relation to
the grain
• It has low shear strength and shear modulus
• Higher moisture content reduces both the strength and
elasticity, and a part of the original strength will anyway be
lost over time
• ALUMINIUM PROFILE
• Aluminium basically does not corrode but a higher level
of protection may be required and attained through the
use of special alloys or by coating

• Aluminium is particularly susceptible to electrolytic

corrosion with dissimilar materials. With an organic
coating, it is liable to attack if pierced or cut, and
anodized aluminium is as susceptible as the untreated
metal
• STEEL PROFILE

• The steel profile has been achieved in a form of rods for

the attachment to glass curtain wall.

• The steel is stainless which is not affected by

weathering, corrosion and regulates thermal expansion
caused by temperature difference in an evenly manner.
 Installation types
 There are two basic types of curtain walling
installations: -
 stick
 unitised.
 Stick installation
• Installed on site, component by
component, after being prepared and
machined in the factory and supplied
• The vertical structural mullions (sticks)
are fixed first
• After the mullions are secure, the
horizontal transoms are added and then
the glazing panels, spandrels and vents
installed in the completed grid; normally
using a pressure plate and face cap.
 Anchors
Vertical mullions

Building structure

Glazing
Horizontal mullions
Spandrel
• Stick systems allow on site adjustment, but
the performance of the systems is
dependent upon the quality of the
installation in what are often uncontrolled
conditions.
• Stick systems are economical and, if
correctly designed, detailed and installed,
extremely reliable. They are, however,
slow to assemble, which may not suit
certain fast track projects.
 Unitised installation
• These are installed as a series of factory-
assembled frames, usually with interlocking
mullions and transoms.
• The glazing panels and spandrels are usually
factory-glazed and seals are also applied or
prepared in the factory
• Unitised systems
are used where
the movement or
deflections in a
building are such
that a stick
system is
inappropriate.
• Their principal benefits are speed of
installation, minimal on site labour, and
lower installation costs
• However, these are obviated to an extent by
the increased storage and shipping costs, the
need for very careful site handling, and the
requirement for expensive lifting equipment
on site.
• They are generally more expensive than
stick systems and require longer lead limes
• Unitised systems are popular because they
eliminate, or reduce, the need for on site
sealing, therefore making them less reliant
on the standard of site workmanship.
• However, for unitised systems to perform
to their full potential, it is critical that the
brackets to which the components are fixed
are accurately installed
 Weathertightness
• It is the aim of every curtain walling
installation to ensure total elimination of water
ingress in accordance with the Building
Regulations. This means that specifiers need a
good awareness of the forces acting upon a
building facade and the solutions available to
ensure a weathertight exterior shell.
• There are three basic categories of curtain
walling systems: front sealed, secondary sealed
and pressure equalised
 Front sealed systems are designed to be
totally impervious.
• They rely on exact positioning of the glazing
panels and perfect mastic seals or glazing
gaskets to provide a totally weathertight
exterior shell.
• Front sealed systems have obvious
limitations because their effectiveness is
totally dependent upon the quality of the
workmanship during installation and the
longevity of the sealing mastics or glazing
gaskets
• Are only appropriate for use on low rise
buildings in sheltered locations, where the
façade is likely to be changed within 10
years.
 Secondary sealed systems, as the name
suggests, recognise that a 100% weathertight
seal is unlikely to be achieved for the life of a
façade.
• Although designed to be weathertight, any
water that does penetrate is collected and
drained back to the outside through holes or
slots.
• Drainage holes are large enough to overcome
surface tension and winter icing. For hole
drainage, minimum openings of 8mm to 10mm
are recommended, while drainage slots of at
least 20 by 5mm or 25 by 5mm are the
recommended minimum.
• The current trend is 2 towards drainage slots,
rather than holes. Drainage can be either
through the transoms or mullions
 Pressure equalised systems an outer
rainscreen provides a protective barrier.
• Protected Openings allow air ingress to a
compartmentalised central cavity, which
facilitates pressure equalisation.
• The inner leaf is designed to be air tight,
and may be either curtain walling,
traditional masonry
• The principle of the system is that the air
pressure in the cavity changes in sympathy
with the external wind pressure, thus
eliminating the pressure differential across
the external seal which would otherwise
tend to draw moisture into the cavity.
• The size of the slots generally ranges from
25 by 6mm up to 50 by 8mm, depending
upon the size of the cavity and the
effectiveness of the inner airtight seal.
• Effective compartmentalisation is required
to cope with differential air pressures across
the façade.
• For curtain walling systems with transom
drainage, compartmentalisation can be
simply achieved by closing off the cavity at
every mullion/transom joint.
Advantages and Disadvantages of using curtain wall
• 
• 1. Curtain wall gives a building the most prominent character
of building aesthetic, building function, building energy
conservation and structure.
• 2. The composition of having thinner walls, 50.8-127mm is
most common.
• 3. Mass production is involved; prefabrication and pre-
assembly make use of modern factory production method.
• 4. Elimination of scaffolding take place due to efficient
erecting from inside building.
• 5. Easier transporting, handling and storage of large units.
• 6. Fewer caulking or sealing problems, fewer joints in curtain
walls.
• 7. Simple and positive attachment of units to the building
which can easily be removed and replaced.
• 8. Light weight curtain wall result to reduction of overall
weight.
Advantages and Disadvantages of using curtain wall
• 
• The main problem in the use of curtain wall is mostly the
economic approach required towards buying the materials for
proper installation of the curtain wall or 5 incapability of
maintenance, and climatic occurring factors which may affect
the curtain wall.
• 2. Pane fixation: panes fixed during installation through
bolting or welding plays a decisive role such that the
connection at various stationary points will loosen to cause the
deformation of frames and eventually excessive force will be
exerted on the curtain wall either metal or glass creating
exterior effects.
• 3. Another disadvantage is that curtain walls have weakest
attribute of thermal
MAINTENANCE CONSIDERATION
• Design failure – selection and appropriateness of the system,
non-compliance to design and performance standards,
imperfection in the jointing design and detailing, improper use
of materials etc.
• 2. Construction and structural failure – wrong location or
method of fixing, improper anchorage and connection
provision (including failure in welding), failure in the walling
components, unpredicted deflection or deformation appears in
the background structure, poor supervision and workmanship.
• 3. Aging and deterioration – discolouring and surface
damaging due to weather action; corrosion due to air pollution,
acid rain, or electro-chemical effect to dissimilar metals; aging
and hardening of the glazing compound or sealing gasket,
deteriorating of the insulating materials that lead to further
dampening of the walling materials/components, disfiguring or
loosening of the fixing and connections, loosening or broken-
off of the glazing or other fitting items.
MAINTENANCE CONSIDERATION
• Curtain wall systems should be inspected regularly after they
have been installed in buildings. Proper maintenance and
repair are essential to keep them in a safe condition. Inspection
arrangement should be made in particularly before and after
typhoons. The below signs are recommended to observe
closely during each inspection.
• - Sign of distress and deterioration of the entire wall system,
• - cracked, loose or missing glass panels,
• - bulging, bowing, separation, delamination, rotation,
displacement of panels,
• - marks of water, staining and rust,
• - damaged and missing parts, corrosion, loosening or other
defects,
• - extrusion, wrinkle, split, missing or other signs of
deterioration of the sealing materials.
• - moisture appears around or behind the curtain wall