Load bearing and failure behaviour of adhesively bonded glass-metal joints in façade structures

ABSTRACT

In glass and façade constructions, elastic thick layer bonds are used to join glass panes to metal adapter frames and glass support elements. This joining technique is referred to as Structural Glazing (SG) or Structural Sealant Glazing (SSG) and is realized as a line-shaped, load-bearing bond using silicone adhesives, or adhesive tapes. The available technical guidelines (for example, ETAG 002) do no longer adequately reflect the state of the art at two critical levels. Firstly, they impose restrictions on the application, and, secondly, dimensioning specifications available in the technical guidelines are not applicable to modern, large-area façade constructions. This paper summarizes selected findings of a recently finished research program. Two silicone adhesives were experimentally characterized as bulk material and bonded specimens. The main focus of the experimental campaign was set on the investigation of the load-bearing capacity of bonded specimens of different geometries, load directions, and temperatures. These results allowed to set the basis for the developed stress-based design concept, which concludes this paper.

KEYWORDS:

• Silicones
• civil engineering
• destructive testing
• stress analysis
• thermal analysis

Additional information

Funding

The project IGF 18211 N of the FOSTA – Forschungsvereinigung Stahlanwendung e.V., Sohnstraße 65, 40237 Düsseldorf was supported by the Federal Ministry of Economics & Energy through the German Federation of Industrial Research Associations (AiF) as part of the program for promoting industrial cooperative research;