Glass in facades and roofs is usually used as infill elements to provide daylight and site in buildings. The load is typically transferred via a substructure. This leads to resource-intensive constructions, whereby the static potential of the glass panes is not taken into account. In a research project this missing efficiency was investigated, resulting in a linear metal fitting that enables load bearing glass structures by transferring tensile, compressive as well as bending forces. The fittings are laminated into safety glass while the use of IGUs provides thermal performance. Since insulating glass is typically not used as a primary load-bearing structure, the entire process chain had to be redesigned and developed, from 3D planning and form-finding to design and structural analysis, manufacturing, testing, assembly and repair measures. The presentation provides an insight into the structural and constructive challenges and presents testing data as well as simulation results of a real-life mockup shown at glasstec 2024.
Isabell Ayvaz
Structural Performance of linearly laminated metal fittings for frameless glass shell structures
Company: Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany
About the speaker:
As a researcher at TU Darmstadt’s Glass Competence Center, I explore what glass can truly do – from crack evolution in Vacuum Insulation Glass, laminated joints for transparent shells to sustainable strategies that reshape how we design façades.
