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Structural Silicone Glazing (SSG) is a curtain walling method that utilizes silicone sealants to adhere glass, ceramic, metal or composite panels to supporting framing members by means of a peripheral adhesive joint. In SSG curtain walls, silicone sealants serve not only as a weather seal, but also act as a structural bonding element, eliminating the need for exterior retainers and covers.
The paper discusses some essential findings of two recent research studies on the durability and service life of structural silicone glazing sealants and structures. The first study demonstrates, that specimens of a first generation 2-part silicone sealant taken from a SSG façade after 23+2 years of real life successfully passed the European ETAG002-1 performance criteria for residual strength. In a second study, a new performance-based durability test method was developed in partnership with the Federal Institute for Materials Research Berlin/Germany (BAM). This method is based on simultaneously exposing system test specimens to artificial weathering and complex, multiaxial mechanical loadings. 2-part structural silicone sealants of the first and of the second generation where subjected to this test, which is considered to correspond to an anticipated service life of 50 years.
While there is a permanent improvement of concrete pavement mixtures and pavement construction types over the last decades, the state-of-the-art joint sealing materials and joint constructions seem to stagnate on an antiquated empirical level. This status has been reaffirmed in the latest European standard. The consequences in the motorway network due to unsatisfying capability and durabilty of joint sealing systems are unacceptable. In addition, inadequate traffic performance (noise emissions, roll-over comfort) and traffic safety losses in the joint area of concrete pavements are existing challenges. These deficits and weaknesses reflect a demand for joint sealing materials and constructions whose approval requirements take functional aspects into account. Furthermore a sufficient analysis of decisive loads and a practice-oriented method to evaluate the requirements towards performance and durability is still missed. In this contribution decisive loads to German highways are analyzed. The design of test specimen for representative functional testing of joint sealing systems is discussed. The focus is on the geometry of the test specimens and the used concrete mixture. Finally, a new approach for a function-orientated test concept that considers representative load functions is presented. The potential of this approach to validate the durability and capability of various joint sealing systems is also presented using an example.