Deflection of a cladding panel of fully tempered glass in curtain wall system

The article presents a study on the mechanical behavior of facade cladding panel consisting of aluminum frame and fully tempered sheet glass under the action of uniformly distributed load. The study involved tests of full-size samples of two structural solutions of the cladding panel in a curtain wall system for two different geometrical configurations of the panel. Experimental data showed a high similarity with the results of a static calculation in the zone of linear elastic deformation. Therefore, the use of SJ Mepla finite element software package for the calculation of described structures was verified. The influence of the boundary conditions on determination of deflections in numerical model as well as the character of seal deformation was described. The criteria of the loss of bearing capacity of a system was defined. Empirical formulas for calculating the panel deflection for specific geometrical configurations of a panel were proposed.