The Glass Association of North America’s Fall Conference will feature a presentation by Jon Kimberlain from Dow Corning Corp., titled “Behavior of Structural Silicone Sealants in Seismic Conditions.”
The Glass Association of North America’s (GANA) Fall Conference will feature a presentation by Jon Kimberlain from the Midland, Mich.-based Dow Corning Corp., titled “Behavior of Structural Silicone Sealants in Seismic Conditions.” Kimberlain will discuss a recent study of curtainwall units glazed with four-sided structural sealant glazing (SSG) and insulating glass in his presentation during the Protective Glazing Committee meeting to be held at the event. According to GANA, the curtainwall units included in the study endured a cyclic racking test, which incorporated high-resolution cameras in order to record images to differentiate the sealant displacement isolated from the total displacement of the glazing unit.
“Sealant performance and glass attachment was documented with respect to variable racking extensions and boundary conditions to understand drift capacity of the glazing system,” according to GANA. “Sealant behavior was modeled using a non-linear model in finite element software for comparison to actual behavior in results of the testing protocol. The presentation then correlates the results of the above study to discuss acceptable sealant stress levels in seismic design with discussion on durability of sealant and glass between SSG and dry-glazed glazing systems.” Other topics to be covered during the conference include appropriate glass for balconies, realistic daylighting recommendations, lifecycle analysis of glass products and defending the use of glass and glazing in commercial buildings. “These working meetings define our industry standards and provide recommendations for the appropriate use of glass to the design and construction communities,” says GANA president Jay Phillips of Guardian Industries. The conference will held September 18-22, 2012, at the Hilton Chicago.