Glazed Spandrels

Recent years have seen an increased use of insulated glazing units in spandrel applications to visually blend the appearance between the vision and spandrel glass. There has been several instances of glass breakage for this type of design due to thermal stress, despite the spandrels being vented. Anecdotal information and some research are available to support the theory that the glass is breaking due to inadequate heat strengthened ceramic opacified glass in relation to thermal stress. However, the real benefit of providing venting to control thermal stresses is not well quantified, and if venting is not an effective solution to reduce thermal stress and the associated need for higher strength glass, then it is desirable not to vent to avoid dirt buildup on the inside glass surface as it cannot be cleaned.

Simulations with 3-D thermal and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) were implemented to investigate and expand on a recent study (Schwartz et al. 2017) that explored the impact of venting glazing spandrel sections to control heat buildup and moisture. The field monitoring included spandrels with a combination of single- and double-glazing, three different venting scenarios, and clear- and opacified-glass scenarios. The field monitoring data was cross-validated using computer simulations that also provided insight into the impact of discrete parameters that are part of the experimental data. Preliminary simulations results show good agreement with the field monitoring data and highlight the need to utilize explicit 3-D thermal and CFD versus traditional modeling approaches that rely on correlations to model the spandrel air cavity. The full 3-D thermal and CFD model is currently being created and results are pending. The simulations will broaden the relevance of the findings of the field study through the investigation of other conditions including different spandrel designs, venting scenarios, and climates, allowing designers to better predict the impact of thermal stresses and the potential for breakage.