200+ Branches nationwide

Expert advice, stocking 6,000+ products

50 years in the trade

Serving fabricators, installers, and specifiers.

Leaders in sustainability

Recycling over 3 million window frames in 2023

Unrivalled choice of Profile Systems 

The widest range and technical support.

Revolutionary innovation needs revolutionary testing

17 October 2024

Throughout our innovation process, we must consider all angles of product development including testing and ease of installation.

During the development of our InSite system, by working with one of our timber frame manufacturing partners, we identified that the window integrity and beading would be subject to forces not normally tested or considered. 

As part of the offsite manufacturing process, fully glazed windows are fitted into panels and transported around the factory by means of an overhead gantry in a horizontal plane. 

The windows are fitted into the panel from the outside and so when horizontal, the weight of the double or triple-glazed unit is transferred to the beads.

No specific test exists within our industry to address this - during tests for both PAS24 (security), and BS6180 barriers in and about buildings, loads are applied to the glass units but the windows in both cases are in a vertical plane.

Because of this, we needed to be sure that the windows in this plane were able to be safely transported around, and so our technical and design centre had to develop a new test. In conjunction with our external structural engineers, we designed and implemented a test to stress the window and specifically the beads with 100% more weight than they would normally be subjected to, even if they contained the heaviest triple-glazed or acoustic units.

The test process and results were verified and signed off by the structural engineer who witnessed the test at our technical centre.

Ian Kernaghan, Head of Product, Design & Development as well as a member of our Technical Panel, commented:

“This is yet another example of Eurocell’s commitment to product development. We are subjecting windows to forces they will never experience again in their working life, so it’s vital that even though a Standard or test doesn’t exist, we make sure the product and manufacturers are not at risk. I believe the unique nature of the patented bead helped achieve this.”

The InSite system is one of our recent innovations that allows timber frame and light gauge steel manufacturers to install fully glazed, fully finished windows into wall panels as part of the factory production process, reducing on-site disruption and labour costs.

A signed copy of the test is available on request.

If you would like to discuss this test or any other technical support, please email us at technical-centre@eurocell.co.uk

To discuss InSite, please call us on 01684 217316

Previous article:
Next article: