Seismic assessment and finite element modeling of traditional vs innovative point fixed glass facade systems (PFGFS)

Seismic assessment and finite element modeling of traditional vs innovative point fixed glass facade systems (PFGFS)

D’Amore, Simone (Sapienza University of Rome)
Bianchi, S. (TU Delft Architectural Technology)
Ciurlanti, Jonathan (Arup Limited, Netherlands)
Pampanin, Stefano (Sapienza University of Rome)

2023

In the last decades, recent earthquakes have further highlighted the high vulnerability of non-structural components. Post-earthquake damage due to building envelope, equipment and building contents can lead to substantial economic losses in terms of repair costs and daily activity interruption (downtime). Moreover, non-structural damage can represent a life-safety threat for both occupants and pedestrians. These considerations confirm the crucial need for developing low-damage systems for either structural or non-structural elements. This paper aims to assess the seismic performance of glazed facade systems, widely adopted in modern buildings, focusing on point fixed glass facade systems (PFGFSs), also referred to as “spider glazing”. In this work, a numerical investigation is developed to study the seismic performance of such systems at both local-connection level through a 3D FEM in ABAQUS as well as at global system level through a simplified lumped plasticity model in SAP 2000 to assess the overall in-plane capacity of the facade. Based on the local connection and global facade system behavior, a novel low-damage connection system is herein proposed, and a parametric study is carried out on the key parameters influencing the facade capacity. The benefits of implementing low-damage connection details are highlighted by an increase of the in-plane capacity of the facade system when compared to a traditional solution. To further investigate the potential of the proposed low-damage details in preserving the integrity of the facade system itself, non-linear time history analyses have been carried out on a case-study building equipped with the innovative PFGFSs.

Finite element modeling
Glass facade systems
In-plane drift capacity
Low-damage solution
Non-structural components
Seismic performance

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ea352063-98f7-46e2-ad5d-e87919b55d50

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-023-01622-0

1570-761X

Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering, 21 (5), 2657-2689

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2023 Simone D’Amore, S. Bianchi, Jonathan Ciurlanti, Stefano Pampanin