MODERN FAÇADE CLADDINGS REFURBISHMENT: METHODOLOGY AND APPLICATION TO A SIGNIFICANT CASE STUDY

The modern cladding systems have shown not infrequently inconsistencies or mechanical deficiencies, such as to compromise their own safety. In this regard, the paper shows how the study of the structural aspects of façade claddings through proper numerical modelling and laboratory and in situ test, is today fundamental. The goal of the research activities has been the definition of a systematic methodology for the evaluation of the structural aspects of façade claddings, that can be used in case of already realized façade systems, but can be extended to the design of new cladding solutions as well. The methodology is here presented through the analysis of a significant case study, that is a residential building with a shell thermal insulated envelope with a clinker strips finishing, where the weight and the forces acting on the insulating panel caused a cyclic stress state and led to the thermal insulating panels breaking and to the collapse of the cladding system. The paper describes in detail the study of the façade cladding structural aspects, outlining the characteristic and the procedure of the specific refurbishment intervention.