Energy, Environment and Material Science

Glass – structural material of buildings

Marcela Karmazínová and Jindrich Melcher

 challenges for the industry of the glass production, as well as

Abstract—In the period of several last decades, glass is used not for structural engineers.
only as a transparent filling of building openings, but also as the Similarly as traditionally in the case of load-carrying civil
statically and dynamically loaded civil engineering structural structures, glass requires – in dependence on the support type,
component. Structural glass is brittle material without elastic or
load intensity and material properties – the verification of the
elasto-plastic behaviour, so the missing pliability of the material
cannot help to decrease the influence of the local stresses reliability, durability and effectiveness, as it is, in civil
concentration. Also the deformations of the slab structures can engineering practice, necessary in the case of other structural
significantly exceed the slab thickness, so it is necessary to apply the materials.
theory of the large deflections, i.e. geometrically nonlinear theory of For the reasons mentioned above, the attention is paid to the
the 2nd order of thin slabs. Thus, the design of load-carrying research, realization and development of methods for the
structures made of structural glass requires diametrically different
design and resistance of the load-carrying structures made of
approaches than in the case of conventional building materials. The
paper presents some examples of the arrangement of load-carrying structural glass, over the world. For further development of
structural systems and inclusion of the glass components into the the usage of load-carrying structural glass in civil engineering
buildings, structural details and used basic materials. Significant structures, it is important to develop the new technologies and
parts of the verification of the reliability of structural glass systems procedures of the glass production, which are ensured by
are experiments and loading tests realized for the real load and many significant producers of the diverse assortment of glass
boundary conditions and for the real composition of used materials
components, as well as respective supply companies.
corresponding to the verified structure. In the paper, basic typical
failure modes of the components made of float glass and laminated
float or tempered glass with intermediate foil. Also the examples of II. MATERIALS AND COMPOSITION OF STRUCTURAL GLASS
realized buildings using load-carrying components of structural glass ELEMENTS
are mentioned, respectively also their damage and crash.
A. Annealed Glass, Float Glass
Keywords—Structural glass, float glass, tempered glass, The basic type of building glass, which can be modified and
material property, building, civil engineering, failure. treated by tempering, staining, sandblasting and cutting, is
clear float glass. The input raw material for its production is
I. INTRODUCTION silica in the form of sand, soda in the form of carbonate and

T HE basic classic materials of building load-carrying

structures (masonry, concrete, steel, timber) are more
significantly complemented (in the last period) by structural
sulphate, and limestone as a stabilizer. Flat clear glass is an
input raw material for the wide range of the usage of glass in
building structures (interiors and claddings of buildings). The
glass, which is not only traditional filling of smaller window basic overview of the heat-strength treatments of float glass
openings, where their dimensions (thickness) arising from the with appropriate technical terminology is shown in Fig. 1.
long term practical experience has not been usually verified
by the static assessment. Emerging trends in the architectonic
creation of the buildings requiring large glazed areas of civil
structures, but – on the other hand – also the possibilities of
their realization related to the development of the production
technology of the large scaled glass components, bring new

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports
of the Czech Republic under the research projects LO1408 “AdMaS UP –
Advanced Materials, Structures and Technologies”, within the “National
Sustainability Programme I”.
Marcela Karmazínová, Professor of Civil Engineering, is the head of the
Department of Metal and Timber Structure of the Faculty of Civil Engineering
at the Brno University of Technology, Veveří St. 331/95, 602 00 Brno, Czech
Republic (corresponding author to provide phone: +420 541 147 310; fax:
+420 549 245 212; e-mail: karmazinova.m@ fce.vutbr.cz).
Jindrich Melcher, Professor of Civil Engineering, is the head of the Pooled
Testing Room for Load-Carrying Structures of the Department of Metal and
Timber Structure, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Brno University of
Technology (e-mail: melcher.j@ fce.vutbr.cz). Fig. 1 composition and terminology of structural glass components

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B. Fully Tempered Glass, Toughened Glass advantage is, that this type of glass has no nickel sulphide
The increasing of the mechanical resistance of float glass inclusions (NiS) and resists to the temperature difference of
can be reached using the technology of heat-toughening up 100 °C.
(tempering) that means glass is heated to the specific D. Laminated Safety Glass
temperature (about 650 °C) and subsequently it is cooled by
Laminated safety glass is composed of two or more panes
the sharp airflow. Due to the cooling, inside the structure of
of tempered or heat-strengthened glass with the usage of
heat-strengthened glass the tensile stress occurs, while on the
intermediate foil inserted in autoclave at the temperature of
surface the compression stress occurs.
about 140 °C and the pressure of 0.8 MPa. Most often used
Thus, the physical properties from the viewpoint of the
intermediate foils are polyvinyl butyral (PVB) or ethylene
strength are significantly changed. In the case of breaking,
vinyl acetate (EVA) foils. The thickness of the foil is,
glass will break into small pieces, so the risks of personal
according to the type, 0.38 mm or 0.76 mm.
injury and property damage are minimized. The new
In the case of breakage, safety glass remains glued to the
distribution of the stress in toughened glass affects the
foil and the personal injury and property damage are avoided.
essential change of glass properties.
In the cases, when one of glass is not damaged, the wholeness
Fully-tempered glass will obtain the resistance to the strike,
of glass pane is maintained.
and further, the flexural strength and thermal resistance up to
Safety glass has the application there, where it is required
200 °C will be increased. Thanks to these properties, this glass
avoiding injury, to protect against burglary and firearms and
is classified as safety glass. Glass must be finally machined
noise protection. The combination of laminated heat-
(drilling holes, grinding edges, etc.) before tempering, because
toughened glass is also used for walkable glass slabs.
its further machining after toughening is not already possible.
Safety laminated glass with acoustic effect uses PVB foil
The usage of heat-toughened glass requires significant
and reaches improved characteristics for avoiding the noise
attention from the viewpoint of the elimination of safety risks
spreading. The properties of this glass depend on the specific
associated with keeping technological limits of dimensions
composition and combination of the glass panes and foils. The
and shape of the component, initial deformations and failures,
maximal value of the sound attenuation is 45 dB.
details of bearing on the support structure, and so on. The
special problem can also be spontaneous explosion of heat-
III. PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN OF STRUCTURAL GLASS
toughened glass.
COMPONENTS
The problems mentioned above are in detail discussed, for
example, in the sources [4] and [5], which define the basic The default illustrative comparison of the static behaviour
causes of the failures of glass: of glass, steel and concrete is evident from stress-strain
- the breakage of glass due to the temperature shock; diagrams for these materials drawn in Fig. 2. The course of
- the failure of glass due to the assembly mistake; those diagrams indicates the response of the relevant material
- the failure of glass caused by the poor machining; to the load.
- the condensation in the interspace of insulating double It is evident, that structural glass is ideal elastic brittle
glass or triple glass; material without elastic-plastic or plastic behaviour, and thus,
- the spontaneous explosion of heat-toughened glass. pliability (ductility) of the material cannot decrease the
In the cases, when the risk of the spontaneous breakage of influence of the concentration of local stresses in the case of
glass with nickel sulphide (NiS) inclusions is inadmissible, it intensive loading.
is recommended to use so-called “heat-soak” test of already From the viewpoint of the design of structural details and
heat-treated glass panes. So it is practically avoided the usage connections, it is necessary to eliminate the direct contact of
of glass, which can crack without previous warning due to glass and supporting steel structure, for example using plastic
anomalies caused in the tempering process. washers, inserts, eventually sealants or backed silicone
profiles, which allow to exclude failures arising from the
C. Heat Strengthened Glass, Partly Toughened Glass rigidity of locally loaded glass component.
The next type of heat-strengthened glass is semi-hardened In addition, the deflection of slab structures – particularly in
partly toughened glass. Its mechanical properties of soda- the case of one-layer panes – can significantly exceed the slab
lime-silica glass do not change during the progressive heating thickness, so for the static analysis it is necessary to utilize the
at least up to 200 °C and they are not influenced by the theory of the large deflections, i.e. geometrically nonlinear 2nd
temperatures below freezing. order theory of thin slabs, instead of the classic Kirhoff’s
In the production process, glass is subjected to the special theory of thick slabs. In this case, the flexural effects are
heat treatment, which is different from usual heat toughening. supplemented by the membrane components of the load in the
The temperature of glass heating and the time of the whole slab plane.
treatment process are different. Then, the result is glass with The principles of the design of the load-carrying structures
increased mechanical resistance (compared with float glass), with the application of structural glass require markedly
and in the case of breakage, the pane is broken to the larger different approaches than in the case conventional building
pieces. The resistance to the heat stress is also higher. The materials.

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The philosophy, methodology and procedures of the design

of load-carrying structures for the basic materials (concrete,
masonry, steel, timber, steel-concrete) are in detail elaborated
and introduced in the unified European Standards
(Eurocodes).
In general, for structural glass, all the principles defined in
EN 1990 – Eurocode: Basis of Structural Design and EN 1991
– Eurocode 1: Loading Actions, where the principles for the
loads by snow, wind, dead load, live load, etc. are mentioned,
are valid.
Normative uniform European document allowing the static
(a)
design of load-carrying systems with the usage of structural
glass is however in the stage of the proposal and it is not
definitively approved. Therefore, in this paper, informative
data only, following the concept of selected procedures for the
design of building structures with the usage of structural glass
are mentioned, in the meaning of prepared normative
documents arising from the methodology of limit states.
A. Strengths of Structural Glass
The basic characteristic strength of float glass fkg, as a basic
material property, can be given as the value of

fkg = 40 N/mm2 . (1)

(b) The characteristic strength fk of the component made of

structural glass can be determined according to the formula

fRk = kmod · ksp · fkg , (2)

where kmod is the factor of the type and duration of the load,
which reaches the values in the range from 0.29 to
1.00;
ksp is the factor of the type of the surface of glass
component, which reaches the values in the range from
0.32 to 0.55.
The basic characteristic strength of heat-strengthened glass
can be given as the value of
(c)
fkg = 70 N/mm2 . (3)
Fig. 2 characteristic stress-strain diagrams of (a) glass, (b) steel, and
(c) concrete
The basic characteristic strength of heat-toughened glass
can be given as the value of
Basic material, mechanical and physical characteristics of
soda-lime-silica glass are mentioned in Table 1.
fkg = 120 N/mm2 . (4)
Table 1 characteristic values of soda-lime-silica glass
The characteristic strength of the components made of
structural heat-treated glass can be in principal determined
Quantity Symbol Value and unit according to the same formula as for float glass, i.e. formula
Density (specific weight) ρ 2 500 kg·m-3 (2), where, similarly as in the case of float glass, kmod is the
factor of the type and duration of the load and ksp is the factor
Young’s modulus of elasticity E 70 000 N·mm-2 of the type of the surface of glass component.
Shear modulus of elasticity G 30 000 N·mm-2
B. Resistance of Structural Glass Load-Carrying Systems
Poisson’s coefficient μ 0.23 The verification of the resistance of load-carrying system
Coefficient of thermal expansion α 9·10-6 K-1 with the usage of structural glass for the ultimate limit state

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can be performed according to the design reliability condition: The glass stair, suitably integrated to the interior of the
Audio-Video Centre in San Francisco, is shown in Fig. 3
Ed ≤ Rd , (5) (photo J. Melcher). Glass does not prevent the vista to the
internal space of the building. The stair grades, as well as the
where Ed is the design value of the load effect; vertical supporting structure stiffened by supporting
Rd is the design value of the resistance of the structural transverse ribs, are designed and made of glass. Transverse
component or system. stiffening ribs are necessary, with respect to the insurance of
The design strength fRd of the structural glass component can the resistance of the high slender wall subjected to the vertical
be determined according to the formula: compression load.

fRd = fRk / γM , (6)

where the value of the reliability safety factor γM is

recommended to take as

γM = 1.2. (7)

From the viewpoint of the serviceability limit state, the

permissible values of the deflections δlim are given as (up to)

δlim = L / 100, (8)

Fig. 4 Juilliard School in Lincoln Center, New York
where L is the span of the component between supported
edges. The structures in the areas of Lincoln Centre in New York
All the indicated design factors, material characteristics and stiffened by twisted rope are illustrated in Fig. 4. Partition
reliability coefficients will be more in detail defined after the peripheral or external walls or, eventually, railing fillings
approval of the prepared European document EN 13474 Glass without significant effects of the basic loadings (vertical load,
in Civil Engineering. wind, and so on) shall be assessed according to the technical
In conclusion of this paragraph, it should be noted, that it is document ČSN EN 12600 Glass in Civil Engineering –
not recommended to use and design the thickness of one layer Shuttle Test – Method of Impact Test (ČNI Prague, 2003) and
of load-carrying structural glass less than 3 mm and greater ČSN 74 3305 Protective railings (ČNI Prague, 2008).
than 25 mm. High glazed peripheral building walls – with respect to the
significant effects of the wind load (compression or sucking) –
IV. SELECTED EXAMPLES OF REALIZATIONS AND STUDIES shall be necessarily stiffened by the steel load-carrying
The development of the use of the building load-carrying structure, which create the support system of peripheral glass
systems with the application of structural glass is further cladding.
indicated by the selection of illustrative examples of buildings
and project studies realized over the world, but also in the
Czech Republic.

(a) (b)
Fig. 5 (a) wall in Waterloo Station, London; (b) hall of International
Fig. 3 stairs in Audio-Video Shopping Center, New York Forum, Tokyo

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In Fig. 5 (a) (photo J. Melcher), the structure of the glazed composition of roofing panel, it can be effective, to eliminate
wall in the area of Waterloo Station in London, with the steel this problem by supplementary technical modification, which
support structure, which is created by the truss system with will exclude the fall of the failed specimens. The proposed
ties and struts placed both outside and inside the building, is modification lies in the inserting protective rope (see Fig. 7)
shown. In Fig. 5 (b) (photo J. Melcher), the structure of the under glass slab. The rope is anchored to the shackles in the
glazed wall of so-called Glass Hall in the areas of the axis of the bolts of circle connecting plates, and it is lead
International Forum in Tokyo, with steel support structure, diagonally and further along the line connecting four support
created by the truss system with ties and struts placed inside nodes of glass slab. The utilized steel rope had the diameter of
the building, is shown. 5 mm; in general it is enough to design the rope according to
From the shots mentioned the arrangement of the relevant the corresponding self weight and the number of the hangings.
structural system is evident, and mentioned examples indicate The failed pane composed of laminated tempered glass is
large diversity of the composition and structural design of detained by the protective rope, it remains undivided thanks to
load-carrying systems with the usage of structural glass. the stiffening effect of the foil and in addition, it is capable of
The illustration of the successful usage of structural glass in transport and manipulation when replacing.
the Czech Republic is the oblique façade of the store Sykora
Home Prague [6] in Fig. 6. The wall of the façade is along the
top line inclined from the vertical plane. The laminated glass
panels are through the targets anchored to the steel load-
carrying structure created by lattice crosspieces, which are
supported by steel columns inclined in parallel with the
façade. The lattice tube crosspieces are supported by the
system of rectifiable parallel ties DETAN.

Fig. 7 roofing of platform of bus station, Ostrava - Svinov

In the period of the last years, the usage of the large-scale

glazed façades of buildings has been significantly spread.
Their necessary stiffening, in relation to the adverse effects of
compression and sucking of the wind, is ensured by the
transverse glass ribs, so-called fins, which are inserted, in
parallel in the certain distances, into the façade system.
Various possibilities of the composition of the glass walls
of the mentioned type are documented by the examples of the
realizations over the world, but also in the Czech Republic.
Fig. 6 structure of oblique façade of Sykora Home building, Prague

The example of the usage of structural glass for the roofing

of the platform of bus station near the railway station Ostrava
– Svinov is shown in Fig. 7. The work has been ensured by
the company METALPROGRES Inc. Tetčice, and on the base
of this, the experimental programme [7], [9] of the verification
of load-carrying capacity and deformations of the panels made
of structural glass corresponding the real composition and
supporting of test specimens, has been realized. Relevant
loading tests are more in detail mentioned below in the
chapter 5.
The roofing component made of two-layer tempered glass
with intermediate foil showed the possibility of the fall of
glass slab to the covered space in the case of the failure
around metal targets. With regards to otherwise favourable (a) (b)
deformation and strength characteristics of proposed Fig. 8 (a) South Bank University, London; (b) Holiday Inn, Paris

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Fig. 8 (a) shows the shot of the structural glass wall satisfactory adhesion of sealant to metal and glass, and the
stiffened by transverse glass ribs in the building of London failure always occurred on the shear area going through
South Bank University. Another example of the similar silicon part of the specimen – for more see e.g. [8].
solution of the restaurant glass wall in Holiday Inn Hotel in
Paris is shown in Fig. 8 (b) (photo J. Melcher). Further, the
solution realized in Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai is illustrated
in Fig. 9, and finally, the glass wall in the building of Harbour
Grand Kowloon Hotel in Hong Kong is in Fig. 10 (photo J.
Melcher).

Fig. 11 structural glass façade stiffened by transverse ribs – Faculty

of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Ostrava

Fig. 9 Burj Al Arab Hotel, Dubai

Fig. 12 tests of sealant for glass façade for Faculty of Civil

Engineering, Technical University of Ostrava

The special structural group with the usage of exposed

load-carrying glass components are large aquariums in the
areas of ZOOs or social centres.
Fig. 10 Harbour Grand Kowloon Hotel, Hong Kong

From the structures of the similar type realized in the Czech

Republic, it is documented the glass façade stiffened by
transverse ribs, which lines the stairs tower of the new
building of the Faculty of Civil Engineering of Technical
University of Ostrava, as indicated in Fig. 11 (photo J.
Melcher). This work was tasked by the company TOLZA,
Ltd., Brno. The tests of the connection of the transverse rib to
the façade of the type of “metal plate – glass” with the usage
of two-component silicon sealant, have been performed, as
illustrated in Fig. 12.
The specimens with surface treated by powder-coated Al-
profile, with coating represented by polyester thermoset
powder of PE GREY RAL7015 GLOSS, or eventually,
powder coating of Interpol D1036 Lesk 85, showed the Fig. 13 aquarium on area of exposition of ZOO Park

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The example of the aquarium in the interior of the building to glass, characterized by the small weight and the high
of ZOO Park is shown in Fig. 13. Probably due to the resistance to the fragmentation failure. Its widening in the
imperfect structural solution of the spot support of the load- practice has been introduced after 1933 year under the
carrying structure near the edge of the glass wall, the trademark Plexiglass, later ACRYLITE®, Lucite and Perspex.
aquarium has been failed when filling by water, as evident
from Fig. 14 (photo J. Melcher). The vertical wall of the
aquarium composed of laminated glass with the thickness of
3 x 8 = 24 mm with inserted intermediate PVB foil had the
width of 4 800 mm and the height of 2 800 mm. It was
divided by vertical gaps, at the thirds of the length filled by
silicon sealant. The illustrative utilization of ANSYS software
(J. Kala) for the elaboration of the expertise of the crash is
briefly shown in Fig. 15.

Fig. 16 aquarium in shopping centre Dubai Mall

V. VERIFICATION EXPERIMENTS AND STRUCTURAL GLASS

COMPONENTS TESTING
The authors’ workplace, i.e. the Department of Metal and
Timber Structures of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at Brno
University of Technology (BUT), pays long term attention to
the verification of the resistance and analysis of the actual
Fig. 14 damage of aquarium after filling by water behaviour of load-carrying structural components and systems
composed of steel, timber, steel-concrete, glass-fibre-concrete,
glass, combined structures and also composites, eventually
other materials, with considering the influence of their
imperfections (geometrical, structural and constructional) –
see e.g. [9], [7] and [10] to [20].
This tradition, which is continuously following, has been
already introduced under the action of Professor Ferdinand
Lederer on the authors’ workplace, together with the accent to
the questions of the theory, calculation methods and static and
structural design of the load-carrying components and systems
made of these materials.

Fig. 15 illustrative utilization of ANSYS software for elaboration of

static assessment

In this connection it is also interesting to mention the

transparent wall of the greatest world aquarium in the
shopping centre Dubai Mall in Dubai illustrated in Fig. 16.
The transparent front wall has the width of 32.88 m, the Fig. 17 traditional method of uniform loading of planar components
height of 8.3 m and the thickness of 750 mm. The weight of
the wall is 245 614 kg. Technically it is not the material Within the loading of the structural glass load-carrying
corresponding building glass, although it is sometimes marked components, the primary problem is the realization of the full
as acrylic glass. Chemically it is the transparent thermoplastic uniform load simulating compression or sucking of the wind,
PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate), often used as an alternative eventually snow load. The loading process should allow

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monitoring and recording the deflections, and also damage of support nodes or targets (c), anchored to the helping frames,
tested specimens in the progress of increasing or decreasing similarly as in the real load-carrying system. The slab
the load. specimen supported as mentioned, is installed to the separate
It is evident, that the traditional method of the loading of testing box (d) represented by the rigid peripheral timber
the planar structural components by full uniform load using frame, and the tested specimen together with the box are
weighed ballast gradually loaded at the tested specimen, used covered by the transparent plastic foil (c) glued to the
sometimes even at the front foreign research or university stiffened floor of the testing room. The floor must be
workplaces (see Fig. 17), is imperfect and unsuitable method stiffened, with regards to the significant effect of sucking in
for the verification of the actual behaviour of the glass panes. the closed testing box.
In the testing room of the Department of Metal and Timber From the space closed under the transparent foil the air is
Structures of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at BUT, the sucked, and then, the tested specimen is ideally uniformly
new efficient so-called vacuum test method allowing the loaded by the effect of the atmospheric overpressure. The
uniform loading of the planar structural components, has been overpressure is measured by the electrical sensor with the
developed after 1980 year. Fig. 18 shows one of the first digital pressure gauge, and in parallel, for checking, it is
experiments of the type mentioned, used for the verification verified using the liquid barometer. The regime of the uniform
test of the resistance of glass fill of the railing of the bridge of loading and reloading may be simply regulated and the load
Vysočina at Velké Meziříčí (given by the task of A. Pechal), intensity is determined measuring the overpressure between
to the uniform load corresponding the effects of compression the external environment and the space closed by foil. The
or sucking of the wind. illustrative shot of the real test of vacuum loading of structural
glass is in Fig. 20.

Fig. 18 loading test of railing fill – bridge of Vysočina

Fig. 20 illustration of arrangement of real test of structural glass

Fig. 21 failure of single-layer float glass – test specimen T1

Fig. 19 scheme of arrangement of vacuum loading test of structural

glass planar component

The basic scheme of the arrangement of the vacuuming in

the loading test of the structural glass component is shown in
Fig. 19. The component tested (a) is supported as corresponds
with the real structure, for example line supports or single Fig. 22 failure of single-layer float glass – test specimen T1

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Experiments verifying the actual behaviour of the glass Characteristic examples of the failure of the glass
components allow analysing the deformations (deflections) specimens tested within the research programme [7], [9] are,
and the ultimate load-carrying capacity, as well as the failure for the illustration, indicated in figures below. Failure of the
mechanism in dependence on various material and structural test specimen made of single-layer tempered glass (T1) is
composition of the glass component. characterized by breaking up to small fragments – see Fig. 21.
The test specimen made of laminated double-layer
tempered glass (T2) has been failed by tearing from the
supporting targets and by the subsequent falling of the whole
specimen – see Fig. 22. The essentially different failure
mechanisms of the test specimens made of laminated float
glass (T3, T4) and laminated tempered glass with intermediate
foil (T5, T6) are evident from the shots in Figs. 23 and 24, in
comparison with Figs. 25 and 26.
On the base of tests realized on the authors’ workplace, the
failure mechanism of the component made of structural glass
of different composition arrangement is indicated further. It is
Fig. 23 failure of laminated float glass – test specimens T3, T4 the wall component made of insulating triple-layer glass in the
arrangement according to Fig. 27 (a). The tests have been
realized for the company GLASS EXPERTS, Ltd., Žlutice.

(a)

Fig. 24 typical failure around local target support – specimens T3, T4

(b)
Fig. 27 loading test of pane made of insulating triple-layer glass: (a)
composition of glass component; (b) failure of glass component

On the base of the tests realized on the authors’ workplace,

Fig. 25 failure of laminated tempered glass – test specimens T5, T6
the failure mechanism of the component made of structural
glass of different composition arrangement is indicated
further. It is the wall component made of insulating triple-
layer glass in the arrangement according to Fig. 27 (a). The
tests have been realized for the company GLASS EXPERTS,
Ltd., Žlutice.
The test specimen is the wall component made of structural
float glass created by 3 parallel elements with the thickness of
3 x 6 mm, the width of 700 mm and the length of 2 470 mm,
which are connected by structural silicon on the longitudinal
sides. The glass part of the test specimen is on the perimeter
mounted in the steel frame, the basic part of which is
represented by the square hollow thin-walled cross-section
Fig. 26 influence of safety rope on failure of specimens T5, T6 with the dimensions of 60 x 60 x 4 mm.

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The failure occurs suddenly, at the initiation of the fracture For this reason, the test specimens have been supported on
of glass due to the deformation in the area of the anchorage of the shorter opposite sides of the plate, as the simply supported
glass panes into the rigid peripheral steel frame. The character structural members. The theoretical span of the member was 2
of the failure corresponds to the unfavourable arrangement of 294 mm. The specimens have been subjected to the uniform
used float glass, as illustrated in Fig. 27 (b). loading up to the load value about of 10 % of the predicted
load-carrying capacity. The specimens have been repeatedly
VI. EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION OF STIFFNESS loaded and unloaded and the relationships of “load –
PARAMETERS OF STRUCTURAL GLASS deflection” ( “pE – wE”) have been monitored. The “pE – wE”
Within the loading tests of the structural glass panes relationships obtained from the tests for all test specimens are
intended for the roofing bus station platform (see above), the illustrated in Fig. 28. Using the regression analysis, the linear
verification of stiffness parameters of glass has also been relationships have been derived (see Fig. 29). From them,
performed, to verify the actual values of Young’s modulus of Young’s modulus of elasticity, the flexural stiffness, and the
elasticity and, in the case of laminated double-layer glass, the effective second moment of area can be determined (Table 2).
actual values of the flexural stiffness and from these arising
the actual values of the second moments of area influenced by Table 2 stiffness parameters (per width of 1 m)
the non-stiff connection between glass layers given by the
intermediate foil. Specimen T1, T2 T5, T6 T3, T4
According to the producer of glass plated structural
E Ieff [Nmm-2] 8.654·109 18.029·109 29.568·109
components mentioned above, the value of Young’s modulus
of elasticity of glass has been recommended as E = 70 GPa, I = 1/12 bt3 [mm4] x) 144·103 341·103 667·103
but this is only generally considered value, which has not been k (Ieff = k I) 1.0 0.879 0.879
verified by the producer. Therefore before the loading tests,
the experimental verification of the Young’s modulus has E [GPa] 60.1 60.1 50.5
been performed at first. In this connection, as the second one, x)
t is total thickness of layered glass (12 mm, 2x8 mm, 2x10 mm)
it was to verify the flexural stiffness of the test specimens with
regards to their composition (laminated glass with the Using the relationship between the load pE and
intermediate foil) and the production technology of glass. corresponding deflection wE in the mid-span, the effective
TEST T6 - M TEST T4 - M TEST T2 - M

0,50 0,50 0,50

flexural stiffness EIeff,1 can be derived, if E is the modulus of
elasticity and Ieff,1 is the effective second moment of area. For
0,40 0,40 0,40
single-layer tempered glass (test specimens T1, T2), the
effective second moment of area is in the form of
Ieff,1 = I = 1/12 (b·t3), thus k = Ieff / I = 1, and from where the
0,30 0,30 0,30
pE [kPa]

pE [kPa]

pE [kPa]

0,20 0,20 0,20 modulus of elasticity E of tempered glass can be derived

directly. Using this value of the elasticity modulus for
0,10 0,10 0,10
tempered layered glass (tempered glass of the same
0,00 0,00 0,00
mechanical properties) with intermediate foil (test specimens
0 5 10

wE [mm]
15 20 25 0 5 10

wE [mm]
15 20 25 0 5 10

wE [mm]
15 20 25
T5, T6), and using the stiffness EIeff, the effective second
T6 - M:bod A T4 - M: bod A T2 - M: bod A
moment of area of double-layer glass can be derived as
Fig. 28 relationships “pE T– -wM
TESTY E” obtained directly from tests Ieff = k I, where the coefficient k expresses the reduction of the
0,5
second moment of area I considered for the solid cross-section
with the thickness of t, due to the influence of the pliability of
the foil connection. Assuming, that also for laminated non-
0,4
tempered glass (test specimens T3, T4) the influence of the
foil on the effective second moment of area may be expressed
0,3
pE [kPa]

by the same coefficient of the pliability k, then the (at least

tentative) value of the elasticity modulus of non-tempered
0,2
glass can be derived.
0,1
VII. CONCLUSIONS
0 Structural glass is already the important part of the wide
0 5 10 15 20 25 spectrum of the materials of load-carrying structures of civil
w E [mm] engineering buildings over the world and also in the Czech
T2 - M T4 - M T6 - M Republic. Nevertheless, the typical examples mentioned above
cannot systematically illustrate all the possibilities of the
Fig. 29 relationships for stiffness derivation structural composition and structural detailing from the

ISBN: 978-1-61804-352-8 32
 Energy, Environment and Material Science

viewpoint of the usage of glass in civil engineering structures, [7] J. Melcher and M. Karmazínová, “The experimental verification of
actual behaviour of the glass roofing structure under uniform loading, In
but they can indicate the modern trends of the architectonic Proceedings of the 4th European Conference on Steel and Composite
creation of the buildings requiring the large glazed areas of Structures “EUROSTEEL 2005”, Druck and Verlagshaus Mainz, Gmbh
civil engineering structures and also the possibilities of their Aachen, Maastricht, 2005, Vol. B, pp. 2.4-1 – 2.4-8. ISBN 3-86130-
812-6.
realization in the connection with the development of the
[8] J. Melcher and M. Karmazínová, “Strength and deformational
production technology of the large scale glass components and characteristics of structural sealant in load-carrying connections of
with the new challenges for the industry of the glass structural glass components” (“Pevnostní a přetvárné charakteristiky
production, as well as for the structural engineers. strukturálního tmelu v nosných spojích dílců z konstrukčního skla” –
original in Czech language), In Proceedings of the International
The paper was focused on the significant field of the design Conference “70 years of Civil Engineering Faculty of Technical
and realization of buildings with the application of structural University in Bratislava”, STU: Bratislava, 2008, 6 pp. ISBN 978-80-
glass including the verification of the dimensions of the glass 227-2979-6.
[9] J. Melcher and M. Karmazínová, “The design and experimental
components in relation to the material, load intensity and verification of actual behaviour of the structural glass in roofing and
boundary conditions on the one hand, and the verification of facade systems”, In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on
the theoretical assumptions and design methods through the Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Computation “SEMC 2010”
held in Cape Town, Millpress: Rotterdam, 2007, pp. 657-658. ISBN
experiments and loading tests taking into account the 978-90-5966-054-0.
influence of the initial imperfections of the real load-carrying [10] J. Melcher, “Behaviour of Thin-Walled Corrugated Sheets and
system on the other hand. Restrained Beams”, In Proceedings of the IABSE Colloquium Stockholm
The general philosophy and methodology of the static and 1986 Thin-Walled Metal Structures in Buildings, IABSE, ETH –
Hönggerberg, Zürich, 1986, pp. 199-206.
structural design of buildings using structural glass arises from [11] J. Melcher, “Full-Scale Testing of Steel and Timber Structures”, In
the similar general principles, as in the case of other materials Proceedings of International Seminar "Structural Assessment" – The
of load-carrying structures. However, glass has many role of large and full-scale testing (K. S. Virdi and others, Ed.), E&FN
SPON: London, 1997, pp. 301–308. ISBN 0 419 22490 4.
fundamentally different properties that can influence its [12] J. Melcher and M. Karmazínová, “Glass and metal – modern materials of
behaviour in the structure (thermal shock, failures of glass civil engineering buildings” (“Sklo a kov – soudobé materiály
caused by the material inhomogeneity due to the inclusions, občanských staveb” – original in Czech language), In Proceedings of
the National Conference Steel Structures, Hustopeče 2001, Czech
spontaneous explosion, material brittleness without elasto- Society for Steel Structures.
plastic or plastic behaviour and without the possibility to [13] J. Melcher and M. Karmazínová, “On problems of the design of load-
decrease the influence of the concentrations of local stresses, carrying systems made of structural glass” (“K problémům dimenzování
nosných systémů z konstrukčního skla” – original in Czech language), In
necessity of the utilization of geometrically non-linear 2nd
Proceedings of VIII. Conference Ecology and New Building Materials
order theory of thin slabs, etc.). This paper thus also tried at and Products”, Telč, VUSTAH: Brno, 2004.
least briefly to warn to some problems mentioned above, [14] J. Melcher and M. Karmazínová, “Structural glass in systems of
requiring more detailed consideration and cognition. buildings roofing” (“Konstrukční sklo v systémech zastřešení budov” –
original in Czech language), In Proceedings of the 2nd International
Conference Buildings Roofing, BUT – Faculty of Civil Engineering:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Brno, 2004, pp. 13-18. ISBN 80-214-2588-1.
[15] J. Melcher and M. Karmazínová, “On problem of the design of structural
The paper has been elaborated within the research project glass”, In Proceedings of the International Conference VSU 2005, Sofia,
No. LO1408 “AdMaS UP – Advanced Materials, Structures 2005, Vol. II, pp. 233-238. ISBN 954-331-003-3.
and Technologies” supported by the Ministry of Education, [16] J. Melcher and M. Karmazínová, “On problems of the design of load-
carrying structures made of structural glass” (“K problémům
Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic, within the framework dimenzování nosných konstrukcí z konstrukčního skla” – original in
of the National Sustainability Programme I. Czech language), Konstrukce, Konstrukce Media, s.r.o.: Ostrava, 2005,
Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 21-24. ISSN 1213-8762.
[17] M. Karmazínová and J. Melcher, “Structural glass in metal load-carrying
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ISBN: 978-1-61804-352-8 33