Curtain Wall Designs for Wind and Blast: Three Case Studies

Abstract

Current design for curtain walls subjected to wind, wind-borne debris, and blast contain relatively new structural requirements for the curtain wall designer to address. These new criteria are defined and discussed in application to three case studies of curtain wall systems. The case studies illustrate the impact of these criteria on modern curtain wall designs and offer conclusions regarding the process and impact of designing curtain walls to current standards. It is concluded that projects in hurricane regions require fairly stout deigns and can withstand moderate blast loads. Wind tunnel testing remains a viable option to define design load criteria. Even low-rise building projects in high-velocity wind zones can benefit from wind tunnel modeling due to more precise and often reduced design pressures.