glass shear panel 1

[shepherd]

Anyone ever tried using glass as a shear panel. Application would be for a small enclosure (still not sure the building offical will accept it just yet). Boundary members would be steel attached to glass with adhesive. Any experience or literature that you could share, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks

 

[kkoloj]

I have done some glass railing calc's. with a modulus of rupture of 17 ksi (a value my former employer found), but never shear walls with glass.

 

[shepherd]

kkoloj,
Thanks, I've done some glass design for flexure, but never for this type of application. 17Ksi sounds a little high even for fully tempered glass, I have used a max of about 10ksi for short term loads.

 

[kkoloj]

shepherd:

Do you have a reference for the 10 ksi value? Like I noted, I have done some glass railing calc's., but I would like to have a more accurate value. It seems more and more owners are looking for glass railings for their decks, and sometimes they ask me for calc's. Thanks

 

[shepherd]

kkoloj,
GANA glazing manual

http://www.glasswebsite.com/publications/default.asp

 

[shepherd]

Also look at ASTM E1300

 

[jnichol]

wouldn't the glass panel rack under lateral loading because of the way it frames into the mullions? To me it seems that this ability to rack' which is incorportated to allow for thermal movements, negates any lateral capacity.

Just my thoughts however.

 

[shepherd]

Jnichol,
I agree that with the normal type fittings, this would not be possible (they allow movement). However, the fabricator is proposing to apply the glass to boundary steel with adhesive. There will be some resistance to lateral loading, I just don't think you're going to be able to determine how much. I don't believe there is any research available on this application.

 

[kkoloj]

shepherd:

Be carefull about "fixing" the edges of the glass. What about thermal expansion? I was involved in a custom home where the owner and contractor went to great lengths to ensure that the glass windows at the back of the house facing the ocean would not crack due to thermal expansion.

Just something to think about, if you haven't already.

 

[Alanator]

I read about a contractor who built a house in Florida and was faced with a similar problem. One of the walls was mostly glass. Since he couldn't do a shear wall, he built a steel moment frame and attached wood nailers so that it could be easily covered and blended into the remaining structure.