When designing aluminum alloy doors and windows, full consideration shall be given to their safety to avoid damage or personal safety hazards caused by unreasonable design during use.

1.General Safety Design

The safety structure design of aluminum alloy doors and windows shall comply with building design codes and other relevant specifications. Opening sashes and floor-to-ceiling window glass of aluminum alloy doors and windows shall meet the human impact safety requirements specified in Technical Specification for Application of Building Glass (JGJ 113).

(1) Basic Provisions for Windows in Civil Buildings

Provisions for window installation specified in Unified Standard for Design of Civil Buildings (GB 50352—2019):

• ① The opening form of window sashes shall be easy to use, safe, maintain and clean.
• ② When opening, window sashes in public corridors shall not hinder pedestrian passage, and their bottom edge shall be no less than 2.0m above the corridor floor.
• ③ For exterior windows above open spaces in public buildings, the net height from the window sill to the floor shall be no less than 0.8m; otherwise, protective facilities shall be installed, with a height of no less than 0.8m from the ground.
• ④ For exterior windows above open spaces in residential buildings, the net height from the window sill to the floor shall be no less than 0.9m; otherwise, protective facilities shall be installed, with a height of no less than 0.9m from the ground.
• ⑤ When window openings must be provided in firewalls, relevant provisions of the current national standard Code for Fire Protection Design of Buildings (GB 50016) shall be followed.
• ⑥ For bay windows with a sill height of ≤0.45m, the protective height shall be no less than 0.9m from the sill surface; for those with a sill height >0.45m, the protective height shall be no less than 0.6m from the sill surface.

(2) Safety Protection Measures

To prevent children or other indoor personnel from falling outdoors through doors and windows.Opening sashes of aluminum alloy doors and windows should be equipped with protective limiting devices, or adopt protective measures such as aluminum alloy grille windows, grille nets, and protective railings. Glass installed in areas prone to human or object collision shall be provided with appropriate protective measures.

For situations where human or glass falling from heights may occur after collision, reliable guardrails must be installed.

Special places such as primary and secondary schools and hospitals shall be equipped with opening limits, with the maximum opening gap not exceeding 150mm.

(3) Safety Design of Outward-Opening Aluminum Alloy Windows

Outward-opening aluminum alloy windows should be equipped with safety devices to prevent sash falling, as well as wind stays for opening limitation. For outward-opening casement windows, whether hinges are installed on the top or sliding stays on both sides, the safety of pedestrians outside the window shall be considered.

(4) Safety Design of Sliding Aluminum Alloy Doors and Windows

Sliding aluminum alloy doors and windows must be equipped with anti-dropping devices for sashes. The overlap between the frame and sash of aluminum alloy doors and windows shall be reasonably designed to avoid sash falling due to insufficient overlap—preferably no less than 8mm.

During manufacturing, avoid positive deviation of door/window frames and negative deviation of sashes. During installation, prevent frames from bulging outward and middle rails from sinking: control top frames from bulging upward, ensure effective support under bottom frames, and for aluminum alloy doors and windows with transoms, install glass pads at corresponding upper and lower positions of the transom glass to solve the problem of middle rail sinking.

Due to potential safety hazards of outward-opening and sliding windows, many local standards restrict the service height of outward-opening windows and usage requirements of sliding windows.

For example, Article 4.9.3 of Beijing’s Technical Specification for Door and Window Engineering of Residential Buildings (DB 11/1028—2013) stipulates that outward-opening windows are strictly prohibited in buildings with 7 or more floors; when sliding doors and windows are adopted, devices to prevent outdoor removal and anti-dropping measures shall be provided.

(5) Other Safety Designs

Exterior doors and windows of buildings with anti-theft requirements shall adopt laminated glass and anti-theft locks.

For opening sashes of aluminum alloy doors and windows requiring locking, locks and handles with keys can be used, such as those with multi-point locking devices.

Aluminum Alloy Windows Safety Design

2.Safety Design of Glass

(1) Selection of Safety Glass

• ① Exterior windows of buildings with 7 or more floors;
• ② Window glass with an area >1.5㎡ or floor-to-ceiling glass whose bottom edge is <500mm from the final finished surface;
• ③ Curtain walls (excluding all-glass curtain walls);
• ④ Inclined installed windows, various ceilings (including skylights and daylighting roofs), suspended ceilings;
• ⑤ Observation elevators and their enclosures;
• ⑥ Indoor partitions, bathroom enclosures and screens;
• ⑦ Balustrades of stairs, balconies, platforms and corridors, and balustrades in atriums;
• ⑧ Floor panels designed to bear pedestrian traffic;
• ⑨ Observation windows and holes of aquariums and swimming pools;
• ⑩ Entrances, foyers and other areas of public buildings;
• ⑪ Other areas prone to human injury caused by collision or impact.

(2) Design for Prevention of Glass Thermal Breakage

When selecting door and window glass (mainly large-panel glass and colored glass), consider thermal stress issues caused by factors such as glass type (heat absorption rate, edge strength), service environment (glass orientation, shading, ambient temperature, wall thermal conductivity), and glass edge assembly constraints (exposed frame inlay, hidden frame bonding) to prevent thermal breakage.

Except for glass of north-facing doors and windows, thermal breakage design calculation shall be conducted in accordance with relevant provisions of Technical Specification for Application of Building Glass (JGJ 113), and necessary preventive measures shall be taken.

• ① Prevent or reduce local heating of glass.
• ② During glass cutting, serrated unevenness of varying sizes will form at the cut, causing uneven edge stress distribution. Glass is prone to stress concentration and breakage during transportation, installation and after installation due to various influences. Therefore, for glass prone to thermal breakage, its edges shall be chamfered and polished after cutting.
• ③ Elastic sealing gasket materials shall be used for glass inlay.
• ④ Tempered glass and heat-strengthened glass shall be deburred and chamfered before tempering and heat-strengthening treatment.
• ⑤ During glass installation, no defects shall be caused around the glass. For glass prone to thermal breakage, its edges shall be precision-processed.
• ⑥ The distance between indoor curtains, shutters, heat insulation shields and door/window glass shall be no less than 50mm.

Aluminum Alloy Windows Safety Design

3.Design for Fire Resistance Integrity

Fire resistance integrity of doors and windows refers to the ability of building doors and windows to prevent flame and hot gas penetration or flame appearance on the unexposed side within a certain period of time when one side is exposed to fire under standard fire test conditions.

The following issues shall be noted in the design of aluminum alloy windows with fire resistance requirements:

(1) Fire-Resistant Window Frame

The outer cavity of the frame and sash of fire-resistant aluminum alloy windows shall be filled with high-temperature resistant and heat-insulating materials (e.g., fireproof expansion strips), which expand when exposed to fire to play the role of heat insulation and flame retardancy.

(2) Fire-Resistant Window Glass

• ① Adopt fire-resistant glass matching the fire resistance time.
• ② For insulated glass, the fire-resistant glass shall be installed on the indoor side (unexposed side).
• ③ Install special glass clamping devices to ensure that the glass is clamped without falling off after profile ablation.

(3) Sealing Structure of Fire-Resistant Aluminum Alloy Windows

• ① Adopt flame-retardant gaskets.
• ② Paste fireproof expansion strips in the glass installation notch to avoid flame penetration through gaps around the glass.

(4) Hardware of Fire-Resistant Windows

Hardware of fire-resistant aluminum alloy windows shall be made of high-temperature resistant materials.

In addition to the above safety designs, aluminum alloy doors and windows shall also meet the requirements of impact resistance and wind-borne debris impact resistance during design. Those with explosion-proof requirements shall also meet the explosion resistance requirements.