This release is available in Spanish.
In its ongoing commitment to all kinds of testing involving the behaviour of facades, the Building Envelopes Area at CIDEMCO-Tecnalia has completed the construction of the first seismic test bank created in Spain. The test bank was devised to undertake trials based on the North American Standard AAMA 501.4-00 "Recommended Static Test Method for Evaluating Curtain Wall and StoreFront Systems Subjected to Seismic and Wind Induced Interstory Drifts" as well as the AAMA 501.6-01 "Recommended Dynamic Test Method for Determining the Seismic Drift Causing Glass Fallout from a Wall System", given that there are no European standards for carrying out trials of this type.
The test involves applying an incremental movement in the opposite direction to two of the reinforcements that support the curtain walling, to a point specified by the client or until the rupture of the sample.
The AAMA 501.4-00 norm lays down test procedure - an evaluation is made of how the curtain walling is affected by the seismic test within the sequence of air, water and wind trials, as defined for the curtain walling product by EN 13830:2004. To this end, the air, water and wind trials are initially carried out and, once finalized, the seismic test is undertaken until the maximum design displacement as established by the customer, subsequently repeating the initial sequence. Finally, a new seismic test is undertaken in which 150% of the maximum design displacement is reached.
The test bank also enables carrying out the procedure defined in the AAMA 501.6-01 standard whereby the seismic test is undertaken exclusively, seeking the final resistance of the curtain walling to horizontal movements, evaluating the result by means of the specification of the moment in which rupture or glass fallout appears.