Chen Huaguo, Chow Cheuk Lun, Lau Denvid
Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Materials (Basel). 2022 Jan 4;15(1):354. doi: 10.3390/ma15010354.
Aluminum windows are crucial components of building envelopes since they connect the indoor space to the external environment. Various external causes degrade or harm the functioning of aluminum windows. In this regard, inspecting the performance of aluminum windows is a necessary task to keep buildings healthy. This review illustrates the deterioration mechanisms of aluminum windows under various environmental conditions with an intention to provide comprehensive information for developing damage protection and inspection technologies. The illustrations reveal that moisture and chloride ions have the most detrimental effect on deteriorating aluminum windows in the long run, while mechanical loads can damage aluminum windows in a sudden manner. In addition, multiple advanced inspection techniques potential to benefit assessing aluminum window health state are discussed in order to help tackle the efficiency problem of traditional visual inspection. The comparison among those techniques demonstrates that infrared thermography can help acquire a preliminary defect profile of inspected windows, whereas ultrasonic phased arrays technology demonstrates a high level of competency in analyzing comprehensive defect information. This review also discusses the challenges in the scarcity of nanoscale corrosion information for insightful understandings of aluminum window corrosion and reliable window inspection tools for lifespan prediction. In this regard, molecular dynamics simulation and artificial intelligence technology are recommended as promising tools for better revealing the deterioration mechanisms and advancing inspection techniques, respectively, for future directions. It is envisioned that this paper will help upgrade the aluminum window inspection scheme and contribute to driving the construction of intelligent and safe cities.
铝窗是建筑围护结构的关键部件，因为它们将室内空间与外部环境相连。各种外部因素会使铝窗的功能退化或受损。在这方面，检查铝窗的性能是保持建筑物健康的必要任务。本综述阐述了铝窗在各种环境条件下的劣化机制，旨在为开发损伤防护和检测技术提供全面信息。这些阐述表明，从长远来看，水分和氯离子对铝窗劣化的影响最为不利，而机械载荷会突然损坏铝窗。此外，还讨论了多种有助于评估铝窗健康状态的先进检测技术，以解决传统目视检查的效率问题。这些技术之间的比较表明，红外热成像有助于获取被检查窗户的初步缺陷概况，而超声相控阵技术在分析综合缺陷信息方面表现出很高的能力。本综述还讨论了在纳米级腐蚀信息稀缺方面的挑战，以便深入了解铝窗腐蚀情况，并获得用于寿命预测的可靠窗户检测工具。在这方面，分子动力学模拟和人工智能技术分别被推荐为有望更好地揭示劣化机制和推进检测技术的工具，作为未来的发展方向。预计本文将有助于升级铝窗检测方案，并为推动智能安全城市建设做出贡献。
