Glass facade/curtain wall assemblies are commonly used in modern building construction as part of building envelop. This system has a number of advantages, including pleasant architectural appearance, building energy optimization, acceptable fire resistance and low maintenance. However, they pose tremendous risk towards maliciously intended acts of terror in the form of bomb blasts. The literature review conducted revealed lack of previous research on mullion strengthening/hardening. The present study has the objective of developing hardening techniques for curtain wall mullions to withstand high-intensity impulsive blast loads. Combined experimental and analytical research was conducted for the development of mullion retrofit techniques using the Shock Tube Facility of the University of Ottawa. The test program involved retrofitting existing, commercially used aluminum mullions with steel plates and subjecting them to different levels of blast loads. The mullions were retrofitted with three techniques with the help of steel L shaped angles, steel plates and with a combination of steel HSS sections and plates. The results indicated an increase of load carrying capacity of the mullions up to a factor of 2.2 with up to 30% reduction in mid-height displacements. It was shown that the steel hardening components developed full composite action with the existing aluminum section, indicating the effectiveness of the hardening technology. The analytical research followed the experimental research with the main objective of validating experimental results, as well as validating the assumption of full composite action between the core aluminum mullion and the hardening plates. The first step was to develop resistance functions followed by the validation of main analytical tool RC-Blast and the UFC charted solution. Following excellent agreement between these two analytical tools, RC-Blast was further validated against the experimental results. In addition, Pressure-impulse (P-I) diagrams were developed as design aids for different pressure-impulse combinations. The retrofit techniques developed were applied to a selected prototype building to assess their feasibility for use in practice. Two different blast threats were considered for this application. Conclusions were drawn regarding the effectiveness of the curtain wall hardening techniques for use in practice.

The purpose of the thesis study is designing a visitor center which will be used by tourist who are visiting the city and as well as the by the people who lives in the city. Therefore the visitor center will be functioned as a city center in the middle of the most important tourist attraction location of Istanbul. Besides functioning as a city center project will analyze the most important architecture element of 21st century, curtain wall. / Master of Architecture

Brick veneer / steel stud curtain wall systems have become a popular alternative in the ever competitive construction market. However, the application of such systems has preceded any formal scientific investigation into its long term serviceability and safety. Of particular interest to many parties is the performance of the wall system under typical winter conditions as would be encountered in cold climate countries such as Canada. In this study, an experimental investigation of three types of brick veneer / steel stud curtain walls was performed with a specially built apparatus used to impose air pressure, temperature and vapour pressure differentials across test specimens. In all, five wall specimens were tested for air leakage, thermal performance and moisture accumulation. An analytical investigation was also carried out with a simple, custom made finite difference computer program specially suited to determine temperature profiles in walls with a steel stud framing system. Six types of walls are evaluated with the model. A significant part of the research involved the design, construction and improvement of the test apparatus. Since the apparatus is unique, a chapter is devoted to its description. The conclusions presented indicate that certain wall designs perform poorly and that even small construction flaws can lead to serviceability problems. Conversely, care in choice and placement of the air barrier, vapour barrier and thermal insulation in the wall system can lead to a wall system that can sustain a small degree of construction errors and at the same time perform satisfactorily. It is furthermore concluded that the apparatus built for this study has real potential as a cost effective test tool suitable for adaptation for a standard test method to evaluate the environmental performance of wall systems in general. / Thesis / Master of Engineering (ME)

Curtain walls provide exterior façade to modern buildings. When subjected to blast shock waves, curtain walls may suffer significant damage, potentially causing serious injuries and casualties to building occupants. Protective films, laminated glass and strengthening of mullions and transoms are used to protect curtain wall components against blast loads. Limited research is available on blast protection of curtain wall components. On the other hand, connections of curtain wall mullions with the supporting substrate, as well as mullion-transom connections form potentially vulnerable locations under blast loads. Research on these connections is lacking in the literature. Therefore, a comprehensive research project has been undertaken in this thesis to address the behavior, analysis, and design of curtain wall connections, both between the mullions and supporting concrete slabs/beams and the mullions and transoms. The research project consists of three phases: i) Experimental research using the University of Ottawa Shock Tube as blast simulator, ii) Numerical investigation based on three-dimensional finite element method (FEM) using LS-DYNA, and iii) Non-linear dynamic analysis of curtain wall systems based on a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) to develop a connection design procedure. The experimental phase consisted of tests of three full-size curtain walls mounted on steel HSS sections of the Shock Tube to investigate mullion-to-transom connections and nine single mullions connected to concrete beams to investigate mullion-to-concrete substrate connection. The single mullions either represented floor-to-floor mullions or continuous mullions over the supporting slab. They were connected to concrete beams (representing floor slabs) by means of brackets, which provided high degree of rotational restraints and full translational restraints or connected through damping materials (springs or HRD rubber pads), which allowed translational movements as they dampened the effects of the shock wave. The numerical investigation involved FEM analysis and modeling of all the test specimens. The first step involved the validation of numerical models against test data. The analysis was then extended to conduct a parametric investigation to cover cases that have not been covered in the experiments. This resulted in the investigation of six different design parameters used in connection design. The numerical outcomes illustrated the importance of blast effects on connection design parameters, support reactions, curtain wall response, force and stress distributions on curtain wall components. The information gathered through experimental and numerical research on connection performance led to the formulation of a connection design procedure. Single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) dynamic analysis technique was adopted to curtain wall analysis as a tool to compute connection design forces. Both the Uniform Facilities Criteria (UFC) charted solution (manual calculations) and two computer software developed at the University of Ottawa (RC-Blast and CW-Blast) were used to conduct SDOF analysis to validate the procedure against experimental and numerical results before they were recommended as design tools. Finally, the details of connection design are provided for different types of connections.

Master of Science / Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science / Sutton F. Stephens / Cold‐formed steel has become a preferred building material for wall framing in many different types of structures. One of its main uses has been as non‐structural members in curtain wall assemblies of structural steel framed buildings. In an exterior wall application, the main purpose of the curtain wall is to transfer out of plane loads to the steel frame while not supporting any superimposed gravity loads. Therefore, when the curtain wall is in the plane of the structural steel frame, the vertical deflection of the spandrel beam directly above the wall must be known to provide the appropriate deflection gap between the beam and the curtain wall so that gravity loads are not transferred to the wall. Common practice is to size the gap for the deflection from 100% of the live load. In some cases, the deflection gap may be significant, and since this gap must also be provided in the exterior cladding of the wall, it creates a design issue for the architect. This report presents the results of an investigation into the feasibility of reducing the size of the deflection gap when the wall is located directly under the spandrel beam. In this study, analytical models were developed for common design situations of curtain walls constructed of cold‐formed steel studs in structural steel framed buildings. This study investigates two common stud heights combined with different floor live loads. Taking into account that wall studs have some available axial compressive strength, a procedure was developed to determine an appropriate reduction for the gap. Using an iterative process a relationship is made between the axial compressive strength of the stud and the amount of axial load the stud can support to establish a factor which gives the percentage the live load gap for 100% live load can be safely reduced by.

O trabalho apresenta o estado-da-arte das fachadas-cortina executadas com placas de grês porcelanato, discutindo os principais parâmetros para a elaboração de projetos e produção desta tipologia de revestimentos. Acredita-se ser este um dos primeiros trabalhos acadêmicos elaborados no Brasil sobre o assunto, pretendendo-se contribuir quando da implantação desse sistema no país. Procura-se estabelecer os principais conceitos e definições sobre as fachadas-cortina e fachadas ventiladas, objetivando fundamentar a utilização desses termos que vêm sendo empregados sem precisão pelo meio técnico brasileiro. São abordadas as principais características e propriedades dos componentes, elementos construtivos e dispositivos empregados, como também os principais requisitos a serem considerados quando da elaboração do projeto. São destacadas as vantagens relativas desta tecnologia construtiva quando comparada aos revestimentos tradicionais aderidos, ressaltando-se sua importância como alternativa e potencialidades quando comercializado como um sistema de produção. / This report approaches the state-of-art of the porcelain tiles curtain wall. Both design and installations methods are discussed, including main features and properties of the components, elements and devices necessary. Main requirements considered to the design process are also take into consideration. It is believed that this study is one of the first academic studies developed in Brazil concerning this theme, and it is intended to contribute to the implementation of this system in the country. It aims at establishing the main concepts and the definitions on the curtain walls and ventilated facades. The prime objective is to base the correct use of these terms, since they have been used without accuracy by the Brazilian technicians. main features and properties of the components, elements and devices necessary. Main requirements considered to the design process are also take into consideration. Several advantages concerning this type of cladding are emphasized when compared with traditional coverings, standing out the comportance of the method as an interesting technology alternative.

O trabalho apresenta o estado-da-arte das fachadas-cortina executadas com placas de grês porcelanato, discutindo os principais parâmetros para a elaboração de projetos e produção desta tipologia de revestimentos. Acredita-se ser este um dos primeiros trabalhos acadêmicos elaborados no Brasil sobre o assunto, pretendendo-se contribuir quando da implantação desse sistema no país. Procura-se estabelecer os principais conceitos e definições sobre as fachadas-cortina e fachadas ventiladas, objetivando fundamentar a utilização desses termos que vêm sendo empregados sem precisão pelo meio técnico brasileiro. São abordadas as principais características e propriedades dos componentes, elementos construtivos e dispositivos empregados, como também os principais requisitos a serem considerados quando da elaboração do projeto. São destacadas as vantagens relativas desta tecnologia construtiva quando comparada aos revestimentos tradicionais aderidos, ressaltando-se sua importância como alternativa e potencialidades quando comercializado como um sistema de produção. / This report approaches the state-of-art of the porcelain tiles curtain wall. Both design and installations methods are discussed, including main features and properties of the components, elements and devices necessary. Main requirements considered to the design process are also take into consideration. It is believed that this study is one of the first academic studies developed in Brazil concerning this theme, and it is intended to contribute to the implementation of this system in the country. It aims at establishing the main concepts and the definitions on the curtain walls and ventilated facades. The prime objective is to base the correct use of these terms, since they have been used without accuracy by the Brazilian technicians. main features and properties of the components, elements and devices necessary. Main requirements considered to the design process are also take into consideration. Several advantages concerning this type of cladding are emphasized when compared with traditional coverings, standing out the comportance of the method as an interesting technology alternative.

The improvement of curtain wall thermal performances and the optimisation of the issues connected with this technology can lead to a sensible reduction of the energy consumption of the building as well as to an increase level of occupant comfort and longer durability of the façade. The aim of this work is to improve the curtain wall technology especially as far as the connection between the glass and the frame is concerned, since it is the part that mainly affects the performances of the whole façade. This project focuses on the different aspects of the thermal performance of curtain wall systems in order to achieve a higher thermal performance, meeting the objectives of lowering energy demand, improving durability and enhancing indoor comfort. In order to develop new high performance curtain wall connections and to test their level of performance compared with the state of the art ones, two methods were deployed: a numerical and an experimental one. FEM analysis was performed with the software THERM (LBNL) analysing the profile of surface temperatures and the U-values of the details. In the FEM analysis, different materials and geometries were studied. The experimental characterisation of the thermal energy performance of the studied design options was performed by means of thermometric measurements in a climatic cell. The purpose of the experimental analysis was the verification of the effective improvement of the performance in the new details and the comparison with the simulation, aiming at the validation of the simulation model.

The aim of this diploma thesis is a design of a new mental health center. The mental health center is a brand new low-treshold element in the system for people with mental ilness. The building is located in Prague, Hrdlořezy, district of the Capital City of Prague. The building is a detached house, it has three floors, and one partial underground level. On the first floor, there is an entrance hall, administrative facilities, a bed unit, a dining area and last but not least, space for group and individual therapies. On the second and third floor, there are again bed units, administrativ facilities, but also space for leisure activities. The basement of the building consists of the technical backround of the building together with storage space. The proposed building is made up of cubic masses forming a rectangular floor plan with large undercovered atrium penetrating the center of the entire building. The building is designed as a monolithic reinforced concrete skeleton [frame on a base slab]. The skeleton infill masonry is designed from clay blocks. The roofing of this building is designed with a flat green vegetation roof.

Med fokus på kunskapsbyggande utanför skoltid etableras en efter-skolan-utbildning med fokus på återbruk och reparation. Genom årskursens projekt växte en bild av att frånvarande av kunskap och fritidsaktivitet bidrar till utanförskap och social segregation som tär på samhällets fogar. Till ungdomar i närheten, främst från Nickstahöjden men också Grönsdal som är socioekonomiskt utsatta anläggs ett “hus för folket” + en återbruksskola för att bidra till att bredda utbudet av utbildningsfaktorer samt stärka faktorn av samhörighet och värdeskapande för deltagarna. Utbildning och kunskaplyft i alla dess former är nyckeln till en bättre morgondag. / With a focus on knowledge building outside of school hours, an after-school education is established with a focus on reuse and repair. Through the year's project, an image grew that the absence of knowledge and leisure activity contributes to exclusion and social segregation, which eats away at the joints of society. For young people in the vicinity, mainly from Nickstahöjden but also Grönsdal who are socio-economically vulnerable, a "house for the people" + a recycling school will be built to help broaden the range of educational factors and strengthen the factor of togetherness and value creation for the participants. Education and knowledge raising in all its forms are the key to a better tomorrow.