Study of the Mechanical Behavior against Horizontal Forces of Self-supporting Facades

Abstract

[EN] The brick facades are one of the most used facades in the current architecture. This typology is used during centuries, but still relevant today. The conventional way to build a brick facade is supporting the outer sheet on the slabs of the building. In buildings with these conventional facades have appeared stability, insulation and sealing problems. The self-supporting facade appears to solve these problems easily. This type of facade can solve more easily thermal bridges in buildings, which is an optimization of energy consumption. To resist horizontal forces facades need anchors between the two sheets or between the outer sheet and the structure. The current standards in Spain do not define the arrangement of the anchorages between the exterior sheet and the inner sheet of the enclosure. This paper studies the influence of the inner sheet in self-supporting facades. The transmission of horizontal forces between the two sheets of the facade is analyzed in detail, in order to check whether the inner sheet assists in the stability of the outer sheet. Different models of facade have been simulated to compare their results using the finite element method.