Mechanical behaviour of ventilated cladding kits: Experimental and numerical assessment

Abstract

Cladding systems are often used in rehabilitation of buildings to increase the thermal insulation of wall and also to increase the water tightness of walls and to improve the architectural aesthetics. These systems are composed by the cladding skin, fixings and profiles that should address several requirements, namely the mechanical resistance for example the wind action. This paper will present the study about the assessment of the mechanical resistance of fixings of a ventilated cladding kit. Firstly, an experimental test is performed in accordance with the ETAG 034. Next a finite element numerical model is developed and validated against the experimental results. Finally, the numerical model is used to assess the impact of some details of fixing design.