Although glass panes have already been proven as load-bearing elements, widespread applications are not established so far. Reasons for this might be unclear redundancies as well as the sudden failure of individual elements in the past, which might have a considerable impact on the safety of the entire structure. Within the current research at the Institute for structural engineering at UniBw M, a building structure is investigated, in order to develop an improved safety concept, considering the glass panes. Basically, this concept assesses the necessity of redundancies as well as the possibilities of relocation of forces to load-bearing reserves of the structure.
Therefore, a building-model, designed with a wooden supporting structure and stiffened with redundant, infilling glass panes, is developed. Subsequently, the model is used to simulate the failure of one or more glass panes, in order to determine the impact on the overall structure in general. The virtual damages will be examined regarding their probability of occurrence and the extent of the expected damage. On basis of that results, qualitative statements about the maximum credible damage can be made.
In addition, a numerical model of the structure is created, in order to investigate the influence of different load scenarios quantitatively and assign them to the respective failure scenarios. The numerical model provides a sound basis for further investigations on a full-scale model.
