THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF ALL GLASS STRUCTURES

Philip WILSON1, Gennady VASILCHENKO-MALISHEV1

1
Malishev Wilson Engineers, 96a Inderwick Road, London N8 9JY
E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

ABSTRACT

In the last decade, we have seen a dramatic increase in the use of structural glass in buildings, due to increasing
interest from architects and improvements in glass technology. The obvious reason to choose glass is because it
is a transparent yet durable material, resistant to the effects of weathering. By using supporting glass structures
and frames, like beams and fins, this increases the transparency even further.

The paper outlines the experience gained from the design and construction of all-glass structures: from glass
stairs and glazed roofs, with supported beams spanning up to 8.0m, to external glass portal frames that are auto
stable. The information in this paper will give an insight into the design of glass structures, with particular
reference to the methods of making connections. The presentation of design problems, and the importance of
working closely with glass fabricators, is referenced to built projects where glass acts as a structural material,
starting with early work at Dewhurst Macfarlane and Partners on annealed glass beams, then entire structural
frames.

Consistency in design can be achieved more easily where there are well established codes of practice, but the
situation with glass is that currently no international design standards exist and engineering judgment needs to be
applied from first principles. To distribute load in glass, glass has traditionally been supported on its edges.
More recent advances transfer load in glass through bearing in holes, since the first application for the Yurakucho
canopy for the Tokyo International Forum in 1996, to friction clamped connections in laminated safety glass,
such as the glass cube for the Arab Urban Development Institute in Riyadh in 1998 with a 8.0m x 8.0m all-glass
roof structure.

INTRODUCTION

Glass, being a brittle material, fails abruptly without first yielding or permanent deformation. Although strong,
glass is sensitive to surface imperfections. Failure always results from a tensile component of stress. A key
principle in the design is that of redundancy in the event of sudden failure of an element or leaf of glass, due to
impact loading or spontaneous fracture by impurities inherent in glass, and to design to avoid the possibility of
collapse disproportionate to the cause of breakage. With the application of appropriate factors of safety, and the
use of lamination for critical structural members, glass can be designed to be safe under working loads, and also
‘failsafe’.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Soda-lime Glass

There are many different glasses produced using chemical compositions appropriate to their application. The
majority of sheet glass used in the construction industry is soda-lime glass. This glass has generally a green tint
due to the presence of iron in the mix used to lower the melt temperature and to reduce float glass production
costs. Some of the properties of soda-lime glass are given in Table 1.

Table 1 Properties of Soda-Lime Glass

Density 2500 kg/m3
Refractice Index 1.52
Hardness (MoH scale) 6
Youngs Modulus 70 kN/mm2
Poisson’s ratio 0.23
Coefficient of thermal expansion 7.75 x 10-6/°C
The viscosity of glass increases very rapidly with decreasing temperature. The term glass transition
temperature (Tg) has been given to the approximation when glass changes instantly from an infinitely mobile
fluid to an elastic solid and is also noted as the ‘annealing point’ as defined in Table 2.

Table 2 Temperature Data

Strain point 510°C
Annealing point 555°C
Softening point 740°C

Design Stresses

The design thickness of glass should be the minimum tolerance allowed for monolithic glass. Standards of
production in the UK set the design thickness of 12mm thick glass as 11.7mm and for 15mm and 19mm
thicknesses the design thickness would be 14.5mm and 18mm respectively.
The properties of glass have been known for some time, notably the publication by E B Shand [1]. The
forthcoming Eurocodes (prEN 13474-1, Glass in Building – Design of Glass Panes) [2], currently in draft form,
obtained data from 740 samples of 6mm thick annealed glass from 30 batches from 9 different float plants over
Europe tested for bending strength. The range of failure stresses, between 30 N/mm2 and 120 N/mm2, was very
wide, with a mean of 70 N/mm2, and no significant variation between different suppliers. Based on these data,
the draft Eurocode gives the following characteristic strengths (strength exceeded by 95% of samples tested):

Table 3 Characteristic Strengths

Annealed 45 N/mm²
Heat-strengthened 70 N/mm²
Toughened 120 N/mm²

For the TIF Yurakucho canopy tests were carried out at City University, London, where the load and reactions
for a three-point bending tests were applied to the glass sample through holes in bearing rather than edge loading.
Failure in each test was at the extreme fibre and not at the point of loading which may often be the case.
Results showed a mean strength of toughened glass as 160 N/mm2. A guide to allowable stresses for initial
design of glass for short duration loads, based on unfactored loads and using simple elastic formulae, can be
taken as the mean failure strength with a factor of safety of 3. The allowable stress for annealed glass can be
assumed as 23 N/mm2 and toughened glass as 53 N/mm2.

Annealed Glass

Standard thicknesses, in mm, are 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 19, and 25. Typically the maximum sheet size is 3.0m x
6.0m, but 3.2m x 8.0m is possible, and larger by special order. Annealed glass is subject to stress corrosion
cracking under long duration loads. This phenomenon is due to chemical corrosion at the tips of surface
micro-cracks caused by the action of water, which elongate the crack. There is a threshold stress below which
stress corrosion cracking is no longer a significant factor and this is taken as 7 N/mm2.

Another phenomenon to which annealed glass is vulnerable is thermal shock. This causes cracking due to
internal stresses resulting from temperature differences between different parts of the same sheet of glass. The
critical temperature difference has been found to be 33°C. The possibility of thermal shock is greatest where
parts of the glass are in shadow, within the frame rebate for example, while other parts are exposed to direct sun.
If thermal shock is found to be a problem then the glass needs to be specified as heat-strengthened or toughened.

Heat strengthened and Toughened Glass

Annealed glass can be tempered by re-heating the glass, to a temperature around 650°C, and then rapidly cooling
the outside surface in a carefully controlled manner. The cooling prestresses the outside skin and greatly
enhances the capacity of the extreme fibres to resist tensile stress. The magnitude of stress, referred to as
‘residual’ are determined largely by the rate of cooling. Toughened glass is often specified to have a minimum
residual surface stress of 100 N/mm2, and heat strengthened glass to have a minimum residual surface stress of
between 40-50 N/mm2. Glass thickness for heat strengthening follows annealed glass up to a maximum
thickness of 12mm. For toughened glass all thicknesses are possible although 25mm thick glass is difficult to
toughened adequately. Maximum sheet size depends on the furnace used, and is normally 2.14m wide and
4.5m long. Larger tempering furnaces are available up to a maximum of 3.0m x 6.0m.
To minimise the risk of spontaneous shattering due to nickel sulphide inclusions, toughened glass may be
specified to be heat soaked following toughening. Heat soaking would take place at a temperature of around
280°C. It is important to note that, while heat soaking will minimise the risk of spontaneous shattering, there is
still some small residual risk. This spontaneous shattering due to nickel sulphide inclusions is caused by the
rapid cooling during toughening inhibiting the phase change of nickel sulphide crystals. It is therefore a
phenomenon that is a problem for toughened glass, but not for heat-strengthened glass, where the cooling rate is
slower.

Laminated Glass and Interlayers

Interlayers are either in sheet materials, such as PVB (PolyVinyl Butrly) or polyurethane, or liquid cast resins.
The design thickness of a laminated glass depends on the duration of load and the temperature. Following the
guidance of the Canadian Code (CAN/CGS 12.20-M89, Structural design of glass for buildings) [3], leaves in
glass should be treated as composite only under wind loads and at temperature less than 70 °C. For all other
situations, the glass should be treated as two separate leaves, with the load divided between the leaves in
proportion to their stiffness. The performance of an interlayer, whether acting as a composite or layered, is
related to the Tg. Generally, when designing in laminated glass, it should be assumed that, under serviceability
conditions, when deflection is usually the design criterion, both sheets are acting. When checking for
robustness with one sheet failed, the stress in the remaining sheet is important, but not its deflection.

CONNECTIONS

In order to go beyond the production limits of a single sheet of flat glass, to support a span of over 5.0m, a
connection which links a series of elements becomes necessary and this joint becomes the critical area in the
design of the glass structure. The designer’s choice of connection type is based on various criteria, notably
strength requirements, adequate tolerance for construction, cost, method of fabrication and aesthetics. The
transfer of load through a bearing connection makes use of the high strength capacity of glass and minimises the
depth and complexity of the connection. Alternative connections such as friction grip connections result in
deeper sections to achieve sufficient moment capacity with a greater number of parts to install on site.
However, the bearing detail requires a high level of machining precision in the fabrication of both metal and
glass elements.

Edge Bearing Connections

To distribute load, glass has traditionally been supported around its edges. The load transfer between the
horizontal glass beam and glass fin is by bearing through an acetal, acrylic or nylon block. The overlaping
beam and fin allow for redundancy in the event of failure of a single element. An example of this type of
construction is the glass conservatory for Woodcote Cottage, Harpenden, UK (2004). The glass beams are each
4.0m long, and made of 10mm annealed sheets of triple compound glass. The joint with the 2.2m high vertical
fin is similar to a timber ‘mortise and tenon’ joint, with the two side wings of the beam resting on the two side
wings of the fin. This is an adequate method because the joint is not required to resist moment, and the lateral
stability is provided through the attachment to the building.

Fig 1: Woodcote Cottage, Harpenden

Hole Bearing Connections

This solution were first developed for the glass canopy of the Yurakucho subway station at the Tokyo
International Forum (1996) *. The glass canopy is around 5m wide with a cantilevered span of 11m. As the
maximum length of toughened sheets of glass available at that time in England was 5m, a series of laminated
toughened beams with leaves 19mm thick are joined together by a bearing connection through holes in each of
the beams. The number of beams that overlap increases towards the support, in line with the bending moment
and force in each pin connection.

Fig 2 TIF Yurakucho canopy

The key to the design was the method of transferring force at the connections, to ensure that the bearing areas
were sufficient and accurately fabricated to prevent high stress concentrations which would cause failure. The
process of toughening the glass puts the whole surface of the glass into compression, including the internal
surface of the holes provided. Detailed analysis of the stresses, by using conventional formulae with stress
concentration factors, or by finite element analysis, or by physical testing with strain gauges, allows the stress
around holes to be accurately determined.

Initial tests at a University laboratory on a 48mm diameter hole in a 19mm thick toughened glass sample with
the load applied in pure tension gave a mean failure capacity of 77 kN. These results compared well with
predication by elastic analysis of stress concentrations around holes and led to full scale testing of single and
laminated glass beams.

Fig 3,4 Full scale testing of glass beam showing stress concentrations around hole

The interlayer material used was a UV cured acrylic resin. Before the glass beams were shipped out to site
each individual toughened glass element was fully tested to three times working load.
The principle of carrying load through holes in glass was applied to other projects including the glass link
structure for Teesdale, Surrey (2004), a glass roof for De Havilland Hall, Guernsey (2005) and a glass
cantilevered stair for Packwood House (2005).

The glass link structure for Teesdale, joins two existing wings of a large, single-storey listed house designed by
Erno Goldfinger in 1963. The overall height of the existing building was quite small, and led to the option of
glass beams and fins on the outside, which leaves the entire internal space free of obstruction. The length of the
glass beams, comprising three sheets of 12mm thick toughened laminated glass, worked out at 6.9m long. The
aesthetics of the glass beam to fin connection was borrowed from the original design of the house.

Fig 5,6 Glass link structure, Teesdale, Surrey

Structural glass was chosen as the best design solution to a maintenance problem for a swimming pool roof on a
private estate in Guernsey, where stainless steel cable trusses had corroded just two years after installation. The
new all glass roof, supported by five 8m long glass beams at 1.8m spacing, was completed in 2005. Each glass
beam is made up of spliced glass elements with a central element of 2no. 19mm thick toughened and laminate
glass a maximum of 600mm deep, bolted to outer glass elements of single 19mm thick toughened glass that
taper to 300mm deep.

Fig 7 Glass roof over swimming pool for a private estate in Guernsey
The same principal hole bearing connections was applied to the design of two all-glass staircases inside a large
new build country house development in Warwickshire, UK. The staircases, leading from large entrance halls
at ground floor level to bedroom accommodation above, have 18 stair treads supported on a six metre long glass
stringer.

Fig 8,9 Glass cantilevered stair, Packwood House

Friction Grip Connections

These were first pioneered by Pilkington Glass and have been used for many years with single-ply toughened
glass. For the Glass Reading Room of the Arab Urban Development Institute in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia * (1998)
a solution was found to friction-grip laminated glass and overcome the problem of interlayer creep relaxing the
bolt tension and hence losing the friction in the long term.

The cube is 8m x 8m x 8m and has no internal structure. Toughened glass beams 2.67m in length formed of
two 15mm thick leaves were joined using friction grip connectors to create portal frames which carry the glazing
loads and provide stability. Because of the high forces that arise when the bolts are tightened, an aluminium
spacer of low temper yet creep-resistant was inserted between the glass leaves at the connection.

We have found that for these connections attention to detail at manufacturing stage is vital. Key things to
watch for are: the steel surfaces at the friction connection must be milled perfectly flat; the fibre gaskets must be
used only once and should be made of semi-flex vulcanised fibre; the thickness of aluminium must be carefully
matched to the edge tape thickness to provide 5-10% compression to the tape; the joint must be clamped during
UV curing of the resin.

Fig 10,11 Glass cube, AUDI, Riyadh with detail of roof construction
Compression Plates

The use of glass plates in compression presents the possibility of withstanding high loads. The concept of
stacked glass plates for a structure over 30m high was first conceived for the Construction Tower competition *
(2000). The tower reached 100 ft and comprised 2000 sheets of 15mm thick annealed glass. Tests on the
flatness of glass plates was carried out to determine whether high points could cause the glass to fracture. The
structure was both robust and durable as it could withstand breakage of multiple sheets. Chosen as the winning
entry the project was never built.

Fig 12 Construction Tower, Birmingham

The same concept is being applied to the construction of stacked glass sculptures for Isle of Capri Casino’s in
Coventry, UK and Florida, USA. The sculptures comprise a total of 700 sheets of 10mm thick annealed glass
1070mm long and 240mm wide. Four 32mm diameter stainless steel pipes are inserted within the stacked glass
to facilitate the flow of water that exits at the top of the sculpture. The tubular sections as add to the stability of
the structure. Tests were carried out at Imperial College in London to measure the coefficient of friction
between the faces of the glass sheets when wet due to the passage of water by capillary action.

Fig 13 Stacked glass water sculptures for Isle of Capri casino

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

Early tests on double-overlap joints using a cast resin interlayer gave positive results in the short-term. The
average failure shear stress of 3.0 N/mm2 was found to be greater than the figure of 1.1 N/mm2 reported by the
manufacturer. However, creep tests of the resin interlayer, at an elevated temperature of 60°C, gave a poor
performance with a delay period of 100hrs and failure of the sample after 120hrs, with an applied constant stress
of less than 0.1 N/mm2. The reason for failure can be understood when realised that the Tg for resin interlayers
is only 17°C and approximately 20°C for PVB interlayers. The test results were conclusive, under the
conditions set, in indicating that the resin laminate overlap joint would not be suitable for the proposed structural
design. However, the composite performance of laminates are of special interest to the manufacturers, with
DuPont now marketing a higher grade material, Sentry Glas-Plus, of higher stiffness and a Tg of 55°C.

SUMMARY

The selection of the connection method depends largely on the tolerance of production processes available.
The transfer of load through a bearing connection requires a high level of precision in fabrication.

The work carried out over the last decade has shown that, with suitable attention to detail in both design and
construction and by the provision of redundancy by using laminated glass where appropriate, glass can be used
as a structural material with adequate safety.

* The author was project manager for these projects prior to establishing Malishev Wilson Engineers.

REFERENCES

[1] E B Shand (1958) Glass engineering handbook

[2] prEN 13474-1, Glass in Building – Design of Glass Panes

[3] Canadian Code CAN/CGS 12.20-M89, Structural design of glass for buildings

[4] P Wilson (2005) Construction of all-glass structures with external glass frames, Glass in Buildings 2, Bath
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