Glass PDF
Glass PDF
Glass PDF
Note 35 Level 1
38 TheStructuralEngineer Technical
March 2014 Technical Guidance Note
Introduction to
structural glass
Introduction ICON W
Glass as a
structural material
As with all materials, the design of structural glass elements requires a good LEGEND
understanding of how the material behaves when placed under load. Glass is a
W Applied practice
very strong material, but also extremely brittle. This key attribute causes it to
fail suddenly as it cannot yield, unlike more traditional materials such as steel
and timber. This fact presents unique challenges to structural engineers when W Further reading
Glass as a
structural material
Glass has been in use for more than 5 500
years, with the earliest examples being
from Egypt in the form of coloured jewellery
and small vessels to store liquids. Glass
manufacture was further developed by the
Romans (Figure 1) who were the first to use it
as a glazing material. It was very rare to have
glazing in households during the Roman
era, being considered highly prestigious.
The manufacture of glass changed little
during the Iron Age and it wasn’t until the
19th century that technology developed to
the point where large glass panes could be
created. This led to its wholesale adoption
as a cladding material in the 1970s, but its
use as a structural material is even more
recent.
39
Results of 740 tests on 6mm annealed glass using EN 1288-2 test method,
Number of results samples were from nine European factories
Figure 2
Test results of failed annealed glass panes, 6mm thick N Figure 3
Stress/strain curves for steel and float glass
after the manufacturing process. In order If, however, the minimum thickness at any
of characteristic strength (low to high) the section is known and the quality of the glass
forms of glass are: itself is of a reasonable standard, then it
can be used as a base against which the full
• wired glass stress capacity can be applied.
• patterned glass
• annealed (or basic annealed) glass Basic annealed glass
• heat-strengthened (or semi-tempered) Commonly made using the Float Process, and
glass hence sometimes referred to as ‘float glass’; it
• thermally-toughened (also referred to as is made from silica sand, soda ash, limestone
heat-toughened, fully-toughened and fully- and salt cake. These are blended together
tempered) glass into a cullet, which includes recycled broken
• chemically-toughened (also referred to as glass, and heated in a furnace to 1 500ºC
chemically-tempered) glass until it becomes molten glass. This is then fed
• laminated glass onto a tin bath and controlled heating allows
the glass to flow into a uniform thickness.
What follows is a very brief description of The molten glass is then slowly cooled within
each. For a more detailed explanation refer an annealing lehr/oven. The speed at which
to Chapter 2 of Structural use of glass in the glass passes through the lehr defines
buildings: second edition. its thickness. Basic annealed glass has no
N Figure 4
Large deflection theory vs. simple deflection theory intentional locked in stresses and breaks into
Wired glass large shards when it fails.
Wired glass has a welded mesh that has
Another behavioural aspect of glass been laid into the glass while in its semi- Heat-strengthened glass
elements is that they typically deflect more molten state. It is sometimes thought of as Also known as ‘partially toughened’ or
than their own thickness. This requires the stronger than basic annealed glass because ‘semi-tempered’, this type begins life as
adoption of large deflection theory when the wires are thought to act as a form of basic annealed glass which is then heated
designing structural glass elements, which is reinforcement. In fact, the opposite is true as to approximately 620ºC. It is then quenched
an unfamiliar approach to most. Historically, the wires act as crack inducers that weaken by jets of cooled air. This has the effect of
stresses in glass have erroneously been the glass. However, they do provide greater cooling and solidifying the surface, before
expressed as if small deflection theory were post-breakage strength as the wires reduce the interior has a chance to cool. As the
valid using ad hoc methods, leading to the the risk of glass panes falling from their interior cools it tries to shrink and goes
correct thickness. This gave rise to the use supports. into tension. This is opposed by an equal
of unrealistic allowable stresses and typically compression in the quenched surfaces. The
led to the oversizing of glass elements by Patterned glass maximum thickness of heat-strengthened
making them thicker than they needed to be. Patterned glass is manufactured by passing glass is around 10-12mm due to the way in
Quoted design stresses for use with small float glass between two rollers (which is why which it is manufactured. Its mode of failure
deflection theory will be larger than realistic it was formerly known as ‘rolled glass’), one is similar to that of basic annealed glass, i.e.
design stresses used with large deflection of which forms an impression or pattern in large shards.
theory. This is described diagrammatically in the glass. It is very difficult to ascertain the
Figure 4. base thickness (and therefore the strength) Thermally-toughened glass
of patterned glass. This is due to the varying Thermally-toughened glass is sometimes
Glass types thickness of patterned glass panes as well called ‘fully tempered’, although it must be
There is actually only one core type of as sandblasting and other causes of flaws borne in mind that the strength range is
soda-lime glass; basic annealed. It is from that tend to be found in the material. Due different depending on the term adopted.
this glass that all other forms are derived, to this uncertainty the draft methodology Its creation follows a similar process to that
as they are essentially panes of basic text prEN 16612 advises a factor of 0.75 be of heat-strengthened glass, but with more
annealed glass that are treated during or applied to stress limits for this type of glass. pronounced and effective locked-in stresses.
40 TheStructuralEngineer Technical
March 2014 Technical Guidance Note
S Figure 5
Broken thermally-toughened glass
N Figure 7
Section through laminated glass indicating bending
stress within plies for short-term and long-term conditions
over thermal toughening are that there is "There is actually • Poisson’s ratio = 0.22
minimal deformation during the toughening
process and thinner sheets of glass can only one core type The characteristic strength of glass
be toughened. The disadvantage is a much
thinner surface compressive layer, which is of soda-lime glass" increases if it is pre-stressed. The values
provided in Table 1 are based on a single
likely to be less resistant to surface damage pane of glass.
than the thicker layer produced by thermal
toughening. It is also significantly more The coefficient of thermal expansion of
expensive than thermal toughening. glass depends on its chemical composition.
In basic annealed glass additives such as
Laminated glass alkalines can vary the coefficient from
Laminating is a process in which two or more 8-9 # 10-6K-1. Borosilicate glass has a
pieces of glass are bonded by means of a coefficient of 3-5 # 10-6K-1 and purer silicone
viscoelastic interlayer, to give redundancy dioxide glass (i.e. fused silica or quartz
post breakage. The six materials that are glass) has lower values around 5 # 10-7K-1;
used for the interlayer are: this makes it useful in the construction of
cooking surfaces such as ceramic hobs.
• polyvinyl butyral (PVB)
• thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) Design criteria
• ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA) Draft methodology for determining the
• polyester (PET) design strength of glass (prEN 16612) is
• resins (such as acrylic)
• ionoplast
N Figure 6
Section through toughened glass showing comparison
between stresses in thermal and chemical processes
based on applying material factors on the
glass itself, and coefficients that address the
41
42 TheStructuralEngineer Technical
March 2014 Technical Guidance Note
Eurocode 0.
Applied practice Glossary and
further reading
British Standards Institution (2013) Cullet – crushed glass that is ready to Pre-stressed glass – method of
13/30281354 DC: BS EN 16612: Glass be melted as part of the manufacturing re-heating basic annealed glass that
in building. Determination of the load process of float glass. introduces a surface compressed stress,
resistance of glass panes by calculation thus making it stronger in bending.
and testing (draft for public comment) Enamel – A glassy material which is
London: BSI melted into the surface of the base glass Further Reading
at high temperatures to form a ceramic The Institution of Structural Engineers
British Standards Institution (2000) coating. (2014) Structural use of glass in buildings:
BS EN 1288-2:2000 Glass in building. second edition London: The Institution of
Determination of the bending strength Float glass – Glass which has been Structural Engineers
of glass. Coaxial double ring test on flat manufactured by floating the molten
specimens with large test surface areas glass on a bed of molten tin until it sets,
Eurocode 0.
London: BSI producing a product with surfaces which
are flat and parallel.
Web resources
British Standards Institution (2002) BS
EN 1990:2002 Basis of Structural Design Interlayer – The material used to bind The Institution of Structural Engineers library:
London: BSI plies of glass together in laminated glass. www.istructe.org/resources-centre/library
Errata
In Technical Guidance Note No. 9 (Level 2) ‘Designing a reinforced concrete retaining wall’ (The Structural Engineer, January 2014) the worked example
contained errors which impact on the calculation of the bearing stress under the wall base:
• In Figure 3, the location point about which the wall rotates should have been positioned at the level of the base slab and not at the bottom of the heel
beam (see revised version below)
Assumed
excavation
Corrected pivot
point at toe Incorrect pivot point as
used in original Figure 3
• The surcharge should have been included in the bearing stress calculation, which equates to an additional 30kN/m of unfactored load being applied to
the section of the base below the surcharge
• The corrected pivot point results in a revised calculated design bearing stress under the base of the wall of 226.06 kN/m2 (maximum) and 51.19 kN/m2
(minimum). Therefore, there is no resulting tension between the soil and the base of the wall