The Future of all glass structures

This paper is new developments in structural engineering related especially to the use of the material glass. After a philosophical discussion about why glass is the material for the Future, all glass elements and related techniques are presented from which an all glass building can be assembled. To conclude this paper ,all glass structures like a glass bridge, glass columns, a glass brick wall and a corrugated glass faced are shown in realised projects.Structural EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience

Over sterkte, stijfheid en beweging, de latente koppeling tussen voelbare beweging en veiligheid.

Intreerede uitgesproken op 1 februari 2008 ter gelegenheid van de aanvaarding van het ambt van hoogleraar Ontwerpen en Draagconstructies aan de Faculteit Bouwkunde aan de Technische Universiteit Delft.Architectur

Editorial

Structural Glass is defined as an application of the material glass in a main bearing structure of for example a building or a bridge. Involvement started for the author in 1986, with designing and building of the Sonsbeek pavilion and continues, up to present, with the completion of the Taipei Performing Arts Centre expected in 2019. This editorial is divided in four chapters; the first one concentrates on bridges, the second on facades, the third on cast glass and the last chapter is on future developments. Ongoing research is discussed at the end of each chapter.One could say that the Roman, bronzed framed, glass panels, known from excavations in Pompeii, were the first application of glass as “structure”: they had to withstand wind load and the influences of the outside climate. However, this is a secondary structure, what we are now looking for is the use of glass in primary structures and, very important, because glass is a delicate material, these primary glass structures have to be robust, according to the demands of the Eurocodes.Applied MechanicsOLD Structural Desig

The bearable lightness of all glass structures

This paper is new developments in structural engineering related especially to the use of the material glass. After a philosophical discussion about why glass is the material for the Future, all glass elements and related techniques are presented from which an all glass building can be assembled. To conclude this paper ,all glass structures like a glass bridge, glass columns, a glass brick wall and a corrugated glass faced are shown in realised projects.Structural EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience

The glass truss bridge

A Glass Truss Bridge has been constructed on the Green Village on the campus of Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) by the Glass & Transparency Research group (faculties of Architecture and CiTG). The bridge has been fitted with as many glass components as was structurally feasible, showcasing the group’s research into the structural application of glass in the built environment. The diagonals in the truss are glass bundle struts and the nodes of the truss are cast glass components. The lenticular truss will serve as a temporary bridge. Because of the experimental nature of the truss, with its unusual and novel applications of structural glass, a number of demonstrative proof loadings were performed to ease concerns about the safety of the structure. The glass bundles have been proof-loaded to twice their maximum expected load just prior to their installation in the structure. The whole bridge, once installed, has then been proof-loaded for several critical load combinations (static and dynamic) just after installation. During the proof-loading the strains in the glass diagonals have been measured. These lie well within the acceptable limits. In the paper the structural design of the bridge, in particular the glass node connector and the glass bundle diagonals will be explained. Then the proof-loading of the bridge will be described and the results of the proof-loading are presented and discussed.OLD Structural DesignApplied Mechanic

Building and Testing Lenticular Truss Bridge with Glass-Bundle Diagonals and Cast Glass Connections

On the campus of Delft University the Glass and Transparency Research Group is preparing to build a pedestrian bridge as a low arch consisting of dry-stacked glass blocks. As temporary support for the arch, a lens-shaped truss has been constructed and placed on location. This truss has been fitted with as many glass components as was structurally feasible. The diagonals in the truss are glass bundle struts and the nodes of the truss are cast glass components. The lenticular truss will serve as a temporary bridge during the time the team needs to prepare for construction of the eventual Glass Arch Bridge. Due to the experimental nature of the truss, with its unusual and novel applications of structural glass, a number of demonstrative proof loadings were performed to ease concerns about the safety of the structure. The glass bundles have been proof-loaded to twice their maximum expected load just prior to their installation in the structure. The whole system has then been proof-loaded for several critical load combinations (static and dynamic) just after installation. During the proof-loading the strains in the glass diagonals have been measured. These lie easily within the acceptable limits. In the paper the structural design of the bridge, in particular the glass node connector and the glass bundle diagonals will be explained. Then the proof-loading of the bridge will be described. Then the results of the proof-loading are presented and discussed.OLD Structural DesignApplied Mechanic

The Application of Waste Float Glass, Recycled in Structural Beams made with the Glass Casting Method

It is not obvious to talk about glass recycling when we realize that a mature recycling procedure for glass bottles is already working well. However, apart from glass bottles, unfortunately, that a large amount of glass will disappear into landfills. This large quantity of unrecycled glass indicates that there is a large potential in upgrading the glass recycling process. In the field of architecture, we see a fast-growing interest in using glass, also for structures. The glass bricks of Crystal Houses in Amsterdam are a good illustration. Aiming at maximizing the recyclability of glass, this paper focuses on the structural use of the glass components made from recycled glass through kiln casting method. An overview of the existing glass recycling industry is given at the beginning, followed by a discussion of glass type to be recycled. After this the experimental process of the glass recycling is introduced, which uses coated float glass with tints as the basic material to be recycled. Following this, a further exploration in three structural properties of the recycled products is conducted, namely: Young’s modulus, coefficient of thermal expansion and the fracture strength, with mechanical experiments. Finally, the test results are analyzed together with the chemical composition of the recycled products, which is derived from X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis. The result contains the value of mechanical properties and it evaluates the possibility of the structural use as a recycled-float-glass beam. In the end of this paper, the future possibility and feasibility in structural application of recycling waste float glass are discussed.Applied MechanicsStructural Design & Mechanic

Demonstration of the Structural Resiliency of Damaged Sentryglas Laminated Heat Strengthened Glass Fins in Full Scale Testing

A unique structural design was made for the glass façade of the Co-Creation Center building in Delft. The roof is completely carried by the glass fins. The fins are laterally stabilized by being included in the triple glazed façade. To certify the safety of the design full scale tests on the fins were done at Delft University of Technology. Due to a transportation accident the fins were damaged at one end. This allowed an additional study into the effect of this pre-test damage on the residual compressive stressed induced by the tempering. It was found that the residual stresses were not significantly affected by the damage. During the compression tests no cracks developed at the damaged ends. A load of 200 kN, more than double the maximum design load did not produce failure in the prototypes. After intentionally seriously damaging all plies of the fins, the fins could still carry the 200 kN load for 30 min without buckling or other failures being noted. Measurement of the residual stress in the outer plies of the fins after damage showed that sufficient residual stress was present in the larger fragments of the prototype to provide enough stability in combination with the Sentryglass laminating foil.Structural Design & MechanicsApplied Mechanic

Concrete shell structures revisited: Introducing a new 'low-tech' construction method using vacuumatics formwork

This paper provides a new perspective on the construction process of concrete shell structures and introduces a new cost saving approach for constructing (single curved) concrete shells using Vacuumatics formwork.Structural EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience

Double-curved textile reinforced concrete panels with tensile strain-hardening characteristics

The construction of buildings with fi-ee-form surfaces can be accompanied with relatively high costs. An innovative method to produce free-form surfaces in concrete is the application of double-curved precast panels produced with a flexible re-usable mould technique. Traditional placing of reinforcing bars to strengthen such panels causes practical problems, since only thin rebars are able to follow the movement of the mould during the production process. The use of flexible textile reinforcement can overcome such production limitations and effectively strengthens the panels. This paper discusses results of an experimental study on the behaviour of glass fibre textiles in concrete produced with a flexible re-usable mould. The movement of the mould during production might affect the position o f the textiles and thus the flexural capacity of the panels. The accuracy of the production method related to the position of the textiles was determined by measurements and indicated that the textiles were able to follow the deformation o f the mould. The friction of fibres inside a bundle not directly bonded with the mortar assured ductility of the panels. The proposed method to reinforce the panels proved feasible and a pronounced strain-hardening behaviour was obtained due to the action of the textiles.Structural EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience