| Summary: | Thesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2016. === Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. === Includes bibliographical references (pages 87-91). === The thermal bridge problem in building fagades has become a topic of interest as the energy performance of building enclosure design required improvements with a global lead in sustainable building design. Curtain wall fagade systems are widely used for recent high-rise buildings, and the thermal bridge issue occurs mainly within the aluminum frame of the curtain wall system. In addition to the thermal bridging effects, the conventional curtain wall fagade designs have limitations in increasing the stiffness of the mullion. As to address the lack of an innovative solution to solve both issues, this thesis proposes utilizing a cellular structure in mullion design. In particular, this thesis has selected a single-gyroid structure, which is an open cell foam structure that has the minimum surface area necessary to span a region of space. The thesis explores various aspects of the application that extend from a rapid modeling method of gyroid structure, experiments, and simulations along with theoretical values for mechanical and thermal properties of gyroid, to topology optimization of the various densities of gyroid in the composite structure. The results are expected to improve the curtain wall designs with future experimental verifications. === by Min Jeong Kang. === M. Eng.
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