What Are the Features of Unitized Glass Curtain Walls?

Curtain wall is the outer wall enclosure of a building, which is non-load-bearing and hangs up like a curtain. It is a lightweight wall commonly used in modern large and high-rise buildings with a decorative effect. It consists of panels and supporting structural systems. It can have a certain displacement or deformation ability relative to the main structural system and does not bear the building's outer enclosure or decorative structure.

Understanding of unitized glass curtain wall

The unitized glass curtain wall is composed of many independent units, and each independent unit component is assembled in the factory with all internal panel installation and inter-panel joint sealing completed. The structure between units adopts the form of yin and yang inlay. That is, the left and right vertical frames and top and bottom horizontal frames of the unit components are inserted with adjacent unit components, forming a combination pole and thus forming an indirect joint between the unit components. What are the main features of the unitized glass curtain wall?

Main features of the unitized glass curtain wall

• The factory processing of the curtain wall unit makes industrial production easy to achieve, reducing labor costs and controlling unit quality. A large amount of processing and preparatory work is completed in the factory, thereby shortening the on-site construction period of the curtain wall and the engineering construction period, bringing significant economic and social benefits to the owners.

• The connection between units using yin and yang inlay is suitable for the main structure with strong displacement capacity, can effectively absorb seismic action, temperature changes, and interlayer displacement. The unitized curtain wall is more suitable for super high-rise buildings and pure steel structure high-rise buildings.

• The joint is mainly sealed with rubber strips and does not use weather-resistant glue (which is the trend of curtain wall technology development), which is not affected by weather and easy to control the construction period.

• As the unitized glass curtain wall is mainly installed indoors, the adaptability of the main structure is poor and is not suitable for main structures with shear walls and window-to-wall walls.

• Strict construction organization and management are required during construction. The installation must be carried out according to the order of the interlocking. There are strict restrictions on the placement of vertical transportation equipment and other construction machinery for the main construction; otherwise, it will affect the entire project installation.
  

The unitized glass curtain wall is widely used, but the damage rate is also high due to the lack of timely maintenance and repair. When repairing the curtain wall, it is necessary to find a professional curtain wall company to operate. Some property units have their own workers to repair to save money, but the result is that they need to have a second repair. Therefore, "practice makes perfect," and professional maintenance work still requires professional personnel to do it.