Laboratory tests and numerical analysis of façade sub-structure made of austenitic steel

This article presents a study of a wall cladding system composed of stainless steel subframe and composite, fibre-reinforced concrete cladding panels, which was been installed on a high-rise public building. The study focused on the assessment of strength, safety and durability of design through laboratory tests and numerical analyses. The laboratory tests were conducted using a threedimensional tests stand and a full-scale mock-up of the wall cladding system built at the laboratory using the actually used materials and cladding panels. The boundary conditions and the test loads corresponded to the values of actions determined during the engineering phase of the high-rise building under analysis. Noteworthy, wind actions were verified by supplementary wind tunnel testing. In addition, the stainless steel was also tested to determine the strength properties of the material actually used in construction. These test were carried out just before commencement of the curtain wall installation. The 3D model was constructed with the application of the finite element method (FEM) to obtain adequate representation of geometry, material performance and structural behaviour of the analysed wall cladding system. Particular attention was paid to determination of the parameters defining the behaviour of the cladding system sub-frame from the angle of plastic deformations of the stainless steel and the resulting failure mechanisms of the members of the structure itself. To this end, the stainless steel was subjected to appropriate performance tests to determine material properties including the values of the proportionality limit and yield strength.