Department of Architectural Engineering

The Pennsylvania State University

ABSTRACT

Conventional curtain wall systems are susceptible to damage during an earthquake due to their attachment to more than one story of the building frame. Such damage necessitates expensive repairs and also imposes serious threats to life safety when debris falls from the damaged wall system. An “Earthquake-Immune Curtain Wall System” (EICWS) has been proposed by Heinrich Wulfert and Richard Behr. In contrast to conventional curtain wall systems, it accommodates a building’s swaying motions during an earthquake because of each story and a special structural support system. A research project is currently being conducted to determine whether the EICWS is indeed “immune” to earthquake-induced damage with regard to measures of air leakage and glass damage serviceability.