| Popis: |
In recent years, an evolution has been taking place with respect to improving thermal performance of buildings using continuous insulation with an air barrier to reduce energy costs as well as improving exterior cladding systems to resist water penetration using a so-called rain screen. However, a rain screen cladding assembly placed over thick continuous foam insulation presents construction challenges. The two main problems with the current conventional installation process are that: 1) during construction a lot of temporary fastener holes are created in order to temporarily hold the foam sheathing to the wall which then need to be filled with expanding spray foam creating subsequent expense, and 2) the layout and placement of the fasteners supporting the battens is “blind.” Locating the wall studs with blind fastening leads to missed studs and then another hole is created in the insulation and sheathing that needs to be filled and the fastener must be relocated to hit the framing. These shortcomings lead the authors to develop a new and unique prototype fastener. A new prototype fastener, termed the Impaler, provides the following benefits: 1) eliminates “blind” fastening i.e., allows direct to wood stud embedment, 2) provides an immediate supporting spike to “impale” foam sheathing and hold it onto the wall as a construction aid, and 3) provides a means of indexing to mark, drill, and then easily place battens. Lateral load testing of this new fastener shows its capacity is about 87 percent higher, on average, than similar tested assemblies using current conventional screws. The increased load capacity is likely attributable to several factors, which include added fixity due to the stop collar and end cap of the Impaler as well as its larger shank diameter. |
