Wind Resistance Performance Evaluation of Cable-Type Curtain Wall System on Reinforced Concrete High-Rise Buildings

In this research, a cable-type wall system that could replace the conventional aluminum curtain wall system for reinforced concrete high-rise buildings is proposed. The cable-type wall system is a newly developed system, which could be used as an existing exterior skin system, and can effectively support the wind load acting on the exterior of the high-rise buildings by the pre-induced initial tension force to the cable supporting the glass. The main advantages of the cable-type wall system are that the expense of construction could be reduced due to the simplicity of the construction. The experiment of structural analysis and air/water tightness was performed to evaluate its feasibility of industrialization. The structural performance of the cable-type wall system was evaluated through the structural analysis and the full-scale experiment to predict the initial pre-tension force and the design load displacement of the vertical one-way cable-type wall system that can be used for a typical floor of the high-rise building. The initial pretension force and structural behavior of the cable were analyzed by using the structural design program MIDAS-Gen. The maximum deformation value in the structural test was found to satisfy the AAMA condition, which is equal to the size of the facade skin system. The air/water tightness test was conducted to verify the performance. Test results show that the cable-type wall system satisfies the air/water tightness performance standards ASTM E283, E331 and AAMA 501.1-05 which are the most basic standards that the facade system must provide. As a result of this study, it is expected that the proposed cable-type wall system could be used for facade system, not only the structural performance but also air/water tightness performance are secured.