Cladding panels

Concrete dampproofers are integral admixtures that alter the concrete surface so that it becomes water repellent, or less wettable . This is illustrated in Fig. 4.1, which shows a close up of a water drop on a surface of a concrete that has had a dampproofer incorporated into it. This water repellency conferred on the concrete is only effective in preventing water from entering the surface when the applied pressure is small, e.g. rainfall in windy conditions, or capillary rise. The latter effect is shown in Fig. 4.2. In view of this, these materials are used normally for improving the quality of concrete pavers, tiles, bricks, blocks and cladding panels where the additional benefits of reduced efflorescence, the maintenance of clean surfaces and the more even drying out of adjacent bricks and panels are also obtained. 

Thermosetting composites are cured at either ambient or elevated temperatures to obtain a hard solid by cross-linking. The use of radiation cross-linking decreases the cure time considerably. In particular, an electron beam has been used successfully in many instances. Eor example, glass-fiber-reinforced composites cured by electron beam have been used for the production of cladding panels. ... 

Galvanized rebar is used successfully in structures where carbonation is a risk such as cladding panels. Galvanizing can easily be carried out in most countries although the quality and composition of the coating can affect its durability. It suffers from fewer problems when handled roughly because the coating is sacrificial and protects bare areas. 

The FRP cladding panels of buildings do not have to support large stresses, because a steel framework can do this, but in the same way as with boat hulls, their aesthetic appearance and moisture barrier qualities must not be allowed to deteriorate. Often they have been subject to colour changes caused by the action of ultraviolet light on fiame retardant additives in the resin. 

Typical applications that require resistance to weathering are boat hulls and superstructures, car and railway carriage bodies, playground equipment and cladding panels for buildings. Whilst loss of gloss or fading of a colour is cosmetic and does not affect physical performance, it is clearly undesirable in such applications. 

Stenni Cladding Panels, British Board of Agrement, Certificate 92/2838. 

There exist a number of instances in which cladding panels, comprising various materials, are bonded directly into curtain... 

Guidance notes for the construction of reinforced plastics cladding panels (British Plastics Federation 287/i (1981))... 

Few unsaturated polyester resin-based laminates can achieve better than the F2 level with most only able to reach F3. However, in recent years, developments in resin technology have resulted in Ml (the best surface spread of flame requirement in the French test, which is equivalent to BS476 Part Class 1), and FO classifications with some filled resins (Seott Bader Crystic 343A). The major limitation is a maximum fibre eontent, by weight, of just 20%, which limits applications to semi- or non-struetural components only. Henee, sueh materials can be used for many decorative internal eomponents and cladding panels supporting their own weight. 

Buildings in situ construction, cladding panels or window frames ... 

Larger claddings are usually prepared from polyester based GFRP. There is also a trend for the use of cladding panels made of phenolics as their excellent flame resistances are considered, in particular for public structures (like railway - airport terminals, hospitals, and schools). 

The hospital project reviewed the access to and from the scaffolding as part of the consideration for the size of the rainscreen cladding panels. This performance review ensured that the size and weight of the panels were such that reasonable safety was secured in their handling and movement in and around the scaffolding. 26... 

Equipment and components can have a very long service fife. It is not uncommon to find roofing (e.g. a church in Rome, see Section C.5.1), wall cladding panels, marina installations, ships, etc. with decades of service behind them. This also applies to the field of transport and many other applications. 

The main applications of 3003 are in the building sector (cladding panels, roohng sheet), fabrication, sheet metal work, heat exchanger tubing, circles for kitchen utensils, etc. 

Alloy 5005 contains about 0.6% Mg and replaces 1050A or 1200 whenever a slight improvement in mechanical properties is required. Anodised (OAB quality, anodic oxidation quality for building) or coil-coated 5005 is very widely used for building applications (external cladding panels, etc.). 

Galvanic corrosion occurs only in the vicinity of the contact areas and requires humidity. Experience shows that severe galvanic corrosion may develop on aluminium cladding panels mounted on steel rads without intermediate insulation condensation or retention of humidity may occur in the confined space between the wall and the cladding panel. 

Ammonia in air, even at high concentrations, has no effect on the atmospheric corrosion of aluminium. Aluminium can thus be used for roofing sheet and cladding panels in plants that produce ammonia, nitric acid and nitrogen containing fertilisers (urea, ammonium nitrate). 

Under the effect of solar radiation and in the presence of moisture and catalysts, nitrogen oxides are likely to form nitric acid that is diluted in the moisture film. Their effect on atmospheric corrosion of metals, including aluminium, is generally not well understood [ 13]. It can be inferred from experience with cladding panels and roofing sheet used in nitric acid and fertiliser plants that aluminium resists vapours containing nitrogen oxides well. 

At the assembly points of roofing sheet and cladding panels, in substantially humid and aggressive environments. As an example, in coastal areas, strong galvanic corrosion around bolts can sometimes be found, because the felt used for insulation retains water, has disappeared or has been compressed, so that the aluminium comes into direct contact with the steel washers and bolts that are often rusty. 

Much of the equipment in these plants is made of aluminium alloys cladding panels, roofing, guardrails, footbridges, ladders, stairs, ventilation shafts, etc. 

Refractory materials formed from mixtures of sintered oxides have no corrosive action on aluminium. Like aU more or less finely divided or granulated oxides, they can have an abrasive action on the metal. For decades, alumina has been transported in trucks made of alloy 5086. In mining plants (such as iron or chromium mining), equipment made in aluminium such as electrical cables, transport equipment, roofs and cladding panels for buildings are used. Mineral pigments such as zinc oxide, titanium oxide and chromium oxide are used in the formulation of paints for aluminium. 

Figure 8.9 GRC precast cladding panels (a) As cast (b) assembled in a structure. Photographs courtesy of Pilkington Brothers PLC, UK. 

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