The two main systems of curtain wall are unitised curtain wall and frame curtain wall.What are the characteristics and what are the differences?Let’s follow the Chinese unit curtain wall manufacturers to understand:

Unit type glass curtain wall: refers to the building curtain wall which is directly installed on the main structure by various curtain wall panels and supporting frames in a complete curtain wall structure basic unit;

Frame-type glass curtain wall: it transports the components processed in the workshop to the construction site, installs them on the building structure one by one according to the construction process, and finally completes the curtain wall installation.

For detailed decomposition based on the specific process and details, see the following introduction:

Unit curtain wall

Unit curtain wall is a kind of curtain wall with the highest processing degree in the factory.In the factory, it is not only necessary to process mulch, horizontal frame and other components, but also to assemble the unit component frame with these components, and install the curtain wall panel (glass, aluminum plate, granite SLATE, etc.) on the corresponding position of the unit component frame to form the unit component.

The height of the unit components shall be equal to or greater than one floor, fixed directly to the main structure.The upper and lower frames (left and right frames) of each unit component are inserted into a combination rod to complete the joint between the unit components and form the overall curtain wall. The main workload is completed in the factory, so that industrial production can be carried out and labor productivity and product quality can be greatly improved.

Performance Description:

1、Short construction period. Most of the work was finished in the factory. After being shipped to the site, it was only used for hoisting in place.Curtain wall hoisting can be carried out simultaneously with civil construction, so that the total construction period is shortened.

2、Can design a variety of different styles of special-shaped curtain wall, so that the curtain wall of the building to play the best artistic effect.

3. The use of splicing facilitated the transformation of the curtain wall to exogenous factors.The principle of rain curtain wall is adopted to design the structure so as to create conditions for improving water tightness and air tightness of curtain wall.

4. Unit plate assembly in a factory provides better quality control than on site.

Framed glass curtain wall

Frame-type glass curtain wall is to transport the components (columns, beams) and pieces of glass (components) made by the factory to the construction site, install the columns with connectors on the main structure, and then install the beams on the columns to form the curtain wall frame and then install the fixed glass (components).According to curtain wall form is divided into: glass curtain wall of bright frame, glass curtain wall of hidden frame, glass curtain wall of half hidden frame.

Performance Description:

1、Adopt inlaid slot clamping method to install glass, easy to install, easy to replace, dismantle and easy to maintain.

2、Using floating connection structure, strong ability to absorb displacement.

3. To accomplish the effect of flat and curved walls in a building.

Conclusion: Unit-type glass curtain wall has advantages and disadvantages

Advantages:

(1Curtain wall quality is easy to control;

(2) The site construction is simple, fast and well managed;

(3) Can accommodate large structural displacement;

(4)Waterproof (entry “waterproof” provided by the industry encyclopedia) better performance;

(5) Easy to realize the requirements of high-performance curtain wall;

To meet the needs of the development level of modern architecture.

Disadvantages:

(1)If the installed unit plate needs to be repaired or replaced, it will be more difficult.

(2) the structural form of the unit curtain wall decided that the aluminum profile consumption is higher, the cost is generally higher than the use of the same material frame curtain wall.

Framed glass curtain wall has advantages and disadvantages

Advantages:

(1) Easy to design, flexible installation;

(2) Materials are easy to be stored on site;

(3) Easy maintenance;

(4) The cost is generally lower than the unit type curtain wall.

Disadvantages:

(1) Curtain wall installation quality and performance is difficult to be guaranteed;

(2) Need a lot of site management and quality control work;

(3) Easy water seepage;

(4) The displacement of the structure can be accommodated is very limited;

(5) The construction period of the site is longer;

(6) A large number of assembly components stored in the floor are easy to lose and damage;

(7) Curtain wall installation quality and performance is difficult to ensure.

Comparison comments:

1. The advantage of frame curtain wall for complex aluminum curtain wall is that the mechanical application in the construction process of such curtain wall is more traditional and conservative, which can be suitable for most construction units. The quality requirements of construction personnel are not high, and the curtain wall products are generally light in weight, so the on-site construction management is not difficult.

2, frame curtain wall depends on the construction of scaffolding, the safety of personnel and construction management training can be completed by most enterprises, can adapt to the general construction site.

3. The unitized curtain wall is more suitable for the unit for the complex glass curtain wall, because these panels and components are lifted in the whole piece after being assembled in the factory, so it is easy to ensure the safety of the system.

4. The unitized curtain wall occupies a large amount of funds in the early stage and requires high precision of civil construction.The design is difficult, the total labor cost is high, the material variety is many, the single square area consumable material quantity is big.

5, the unit does not rely on scaffolding, installation personnel do not need to use outdoor hanging basket to install.Safe, and the construction quality control is very good, will not cause major quality problems due to the site workers’ operational problems.

6. Unit-type curtain wall requires high quality of construction personnel, and special training needs to be conducted for many times before entering the construction site, which can meet the training environment of construction personnel in the processing link of the factory.

7. The frame curtain wall can meet most of the common curtain wall engineering and design modeling, and the unit curtain wall can meet almost all the common glass curtain wall and the complex design and modeling of the glass curtain wall;Nowadays, more and more unit curtain walls are used in landmark curtain walls and super high-rise buildings, and frame curtain walls are still used in general applications of airports and office buildings.