Light Gage Curtain Wall 2

[jcox]

In the past when I have seen Light gage curtain walls they have framed from the ground to the diaphragm as a support bypassing the structural beam. I now have a client who wants to frame from the ground to the bottom of the beam. The problem I see here is that I don't really want this to be a load bearing wall. Also, the studs would frame to the bottom of a wide flange beams, which supports a joist, which supports the diaphragm. I would think that the out-of-plane loading to the wide flange would be a problem. I would anticipate the loads being some sort of combination of weak/strong axis bending in addition to some sort of torional stress. Am I overthinking this, or is this something that's fairly common. I think there's a reason why I haven't really seen this system before. This seems to be another case of "common sense" engineering. You know, the one that sounds reasonable until you have to prove it works.

Thanks

 

[jike]

The curtain wall can go to the bottom of the beam but you should provide a slip (deep leg) track so that no gravity load will be imposed upon the studs. The studs do not get fastened to the slip track but can move up and down inside the track. Provide a 1" clearance so the studs cannot bottom out against the track.

If the reaction of the stud is too high for a single slip track, you may need to use a double track (a track inside of a track) or a TSN Verticlip (slotted clip).

You may also need to provide small studs between the bottom and top flange of the beam to provide support for exterior sheathing.

You will need to evaluate the lateral load applied to the bottom flange of the beam and provide intermittent angle bracing up to the diaphragm or top chord of the joists as necessary.


A Clark Framing or Diedtrich catalog might have some of these details. I believe there are some light gage details on the Internet. You might also want to do a Google search for "light gage details".

 

[jike]

Try the following website:

http://ssma.com/SSMA_Details.pdf

Page 29 illustrates a single slip track

Page 30 illustrates a double slip track