Week 11

Glass Part 2

Glass Code AS 1288-2021

 Glass in buildings
Glass panels used in facades are subject to forces of
nature (such as wind loads) and loads such as self
weight and maintenance loads (or live loads).
In Australia, the design of glass is carried out in
accordance with the Australian code AS1288.
The next slide shows the cover of the glass code
AS1288. Students are encouraged to download a
copy of the glass code.
 AS 1288 - 2006
AS 1288 is a Limit States Code.
In general, glass must be designed for wind loads (in
accordance with AS 1170.1), Dead and Live Loads
(AS 1170.2) and other loads eg earthquake, bomb
blasts where applicable.
For most normal buildings such as commercial and
residential buildings, it is fairly normal to consider
wind loads as the primary load on vertical glass
facades.
In this lecture, we will go through the relevant
sections of the code for the design of glass
 Section 1 - Scope and General
Section 1 of AS1288 defines the scope of the code
and what it applies to (and what is excluded).
However, students are asked to pay extra attention to
section 1.4 Definitions.
Refer to this section to understand common terms
used when designing glass. For example, what is a
bite, a chair rail or a sightline. Have a read of this
section. You may not understand all of it now but as
you begin to master this code, the terms will become
clearer. The next slide is a snap shot of one of the
pages from this section.
 Section 2 - Materials
This section describes glass and other materials.
For glass we have annealed glass, heat strengthened glass and toughened
glass. This section of the code provides a clear distinction between these
types of glass based on surface compression.
Heat strengthened glass have a surface compression of 24 to 69 Mpa. Note
that anything more than 52 MPa can lead to an increased risk of
spontaneous glass fracture due to material impurities.
Toughened glass has surface compression greater than 69 MPa. Heat
soaking is a process used to minimise the risk of nickel sulphide induced
spontaneous fracture in toughened glass.
This section requires all safety glazing materials to comply with AS/NZS
2208 and all insulating glass units (IGU) or DGU shall comply with
AS/NZS 4666.
Properties of glass are also given.
 Other Glazing Materials
This section also provides guidance on other materials as
follows:
• Structural sealants shall be silicone to comply with ASTM
C1184
• Characteristic strength greater than 0.21 Mpa
• Linseed oil putty
• Steel sash putty
• Gaskets
• Preformed butyl and foam tapes
• Setting blocks – resilient load bearing non absorbent rot
proof, compatible, shore A hardness 80 to 90 for setting
blocks, 55 to 65 for location and distance pieces.
 Section 3 - General Design Criteria
This section describes the design requirements for
glazing. The first part of the calculations is to calculate
S* due to external loads (which can be determined by
elastic structural analysis).
The next part is to calculate the capacity of the glass.
AS1288 describes the Ultimate design capacity =
φRu = φc1c2c3[f’tX]. X is a geometric factor and
excluded in order to get a stress value only. So we
normally calculate ultimate design capacity as =
φRu = φc1c2c3f’t where φ = 0.67
The aim is to check that S* is < or = φRu
The values of c1c2c3 is as per the following slide.
 Serviceability Limit States
Glass to be designed for serviceability limit states by
controlling or limiting deflection.
The limits are as follows
• Span/60 for 2, 3 or 4 edge supports
• Height/30 for cantilevered panels
• Span/90 for each pane of a double glazed unit
 Laminated Glass
For the design of laminated glass where the loads are
short term loads (eg wind) - Use actual total Glass
thickness
For medium and long Term loads - Check the
strength of each sheet. In order to check the strength
of each sheet, the loads are proportioned as follows:
• Proportion of load is ksheet=[t3sheet/ it3i] or
ksheet=[t2sheet/ it2i] whichever is larger
• For example, laminated glass with 2 sheets of
equal thickness, ksheet = 0.5
 Insulating Glass Unit

For Insulating glass units or double glass units, each

pane as an individual sheet is checked. The
proportion of loads are as follows:
• kpane = 1.25t3pane/ it3i < 1.0
• For glass units with 2 panes of equal thickness
kpane = 0.625
Below are some images of double glazed units.
 Deflection Limits

Frames to be designed for span/250 as per AS

2047
 Design Thickness of Glass
The design thicknesses of glass should be based on
actual glass thickness or minimum thickness of the
range for the standard nominal thickness.
The next slide is table 4.1 from the glass code. Note
the glass thicknesses that should be used for design.
 Design using the formula
As mentioned in an earlier slide, we need to calculate S* due
to external loads. There are two ways to calculate this:
1. Use Finite Element Analysis FEA to calculate the stress. In
the next two slides, students can see the results of an FEA.
2. Calculate the stress by hand using the maximum moments
and section properties
If calculating the stress by hand, determine if the load is short
term or long term loads. If not monolithic, the loads must be
distributed depending on whether the glass is laminated or an
IGU.
Calculate the ultimate capacity φRu = φc1c2c3f’t.
Ultimate capacity φRu = φc1c2c3f’t.
For example, let us assume a heat strengthened glass which is
10 mm thick.
Φ = 0.67, c1=1.6 (from table 3.1), c2= 1.0 (from table 3.2) and
c3=1.0 for wind loads (table 3.3)

t= 9.7 (table 4.1)

Therefore capacity f’t.= 48.96 Mpa away from edge or 39.1
Mpa at the edge.
Ultimate capacity φRu = φc1c2c3f’t. = 0.67x1.6x1.0x1.0x48.96
=52.5 Mpa (away from edge) or 41.9 Mpa (at edge)
Strength
Based on the finite element analysis (see previous 2 slides), the maximum
stress is 37.5 Mpa, that is, S* = 37.5 MPA (away from the edge).
At the edge, the stress is estimated to be less than 22 Mpa.
These values are then compared with the Ultimate capacity φRu which is
=52.5 Mpa (away from edge) or 41.9 Mpa (at edge)
S*< Ultimate capacity φRu which shows that the 10 mm heat strengthened
glass is structurally adequate.

Serviceability
The next step is to check the serviceability of the glass.
Deflection is limited to Span/60 where the span is the shorter width for four
side supported glass. For two side supported glass, the span is the actual
span between supports. (students, what is the span if the glass is 3 sided
supported?)
The glass in this example is supported on 4 sides. If the glass is 1500 mm
wide by 3500 mm length, the span is 1500 mm.
Allowable deflection is span/60 = 1500/60 = 25 mm.
FEA shows that the deflection is 23.6 mm < 25 mm, therefore the glass
satisfies deflection criteria.
There are a number of ways to secure glass to an aluminium
frame. The glass panel may be captured in a glazing system
with gaskets (much like what students will see in domestic
windows).
However, in commercial curtain walls, the glass is supported
against wind forces with structural silicone (the self weight is
supported off the horizontal transoms).
This part of the lecture is aimed at learning how to design
structural silicone.
The examples given are from the glass code
 Structural Silicone

When designing structural silicone, the capacity is

0.011 MPa for dead and live long term loads
For wind, which is considered a short term load, the
capacity is 0.210 MPa for ultimate wind loads only
These load capacities do not apply for silicone
immersed in water. An example of structural
silicone is Dow Corning eg DC 795. There are other
types of structural silicone such as DC 995
 Structural Silicone Glazing
There are a number of terms students have to learn
when designing structural silicone. The first is bite.
Bite is the width of silicone used to bond the fin or
frame to the edge of the glass panel. The bite is t
(see diagram in next slide). For wind loads, the
capacity is 0.210 Mpa. The equations are as follows:
Assuming a 4 sided supported panel with width B,
• t = T/0.210 where t (mm) is the minimum bite and
T is the tension load N/mm
• T = (Pz x B)/2 where P is the ultimate wind
Structural silicone bite
• The following 3 examples are from the
Glass Code. (See Appendix F)
 Example
• For a structurally glazed piece of glass 2.0
m x 1.2 m under a wind load of 2.0 kPa is
applied. The minimum structural silicone
bite is :
• T = 2.0 x 1.2/2 = 1.2 N/mm
• t = 1.2/0.210 = 5.7 mm
Therefore a bite of 5.7 mm is required.
Normally, a façade engineer would require at
least 8 mm to account for tolerances.
 Example 1 (F.2)
• No setting blocks
• Tension only
• A structural silicone with a movement
capacity of 12 % is applied in a joint of 8
mm depth. Calculate movement capacity
• Tension movement = 0.12 x 8 = 0.96 mm
 Example 2 (F.2)
• No setting blocks (means the structural silicone is
to be designed to support the weight of the glass)
• A glass panel 1200 x 1000 mm x 6 mm is
supported without setting blocks
• Calculate joint bite
• Weight of glass = 176 N
• Shear Capacity of silicone = 0.011 MPa
• Minimum bite = 176/[0.011x2(1200+1000)] =
3.64 mm
Unfortunately example 3 has an error in it. Can
Students see the error?
 Structural silicone installation
In order to maintain the design capacities, the fabrication of
the glazed panels must ensure the following:
• Bonds well if glass is clean
• No Contamination. This works well in a clean
environment and factory conditions are recommended.
• Ensure adequate curing. The curing time depends on the
type of silicone and whether the silicone is one part or two
parts.
• One part silicone is normally air cured and estimated to be
1mm per day
• It is best to avoid movement of the glass until cured
 Alternative way of designing glass
The glass code provides an alternative way of
designing glass instead of using finite element
analysis.
This is described in section 4 of the code.
 Section 4 –
Design for Wind Loading
Section 4 is a deemed to comply methodology for
compliance with strength limit state and
serviceability limit state deflection for wind (AS
1170.2).
This section limited to ultimate limit state wind
pressures or other loads 3 s duration or less and not
greater than 10 kPa.
This section also provides a deem to comply
methodology for laminated glass with 2 equal
thickness sheets
 Maximum span for glass panels
subjected to wind loading
Section 4 provides graphs for the design of the glass
supported as follows:
• Rectangles of glass supported on all 4 edges
• Rectangles of glass supported on 2 opposite sides
• Refer to figures 4.1 to 4.34 in section 4
In the case of laminated glass, only tables for
annealed glass is given. For heat strengthened
laminated and toughened laminated, divide design
wind pressure by glass type factor C1. (Students
may want to ask for clarification during the lecture)
 How to use the graphs
Example 1.
Assume a piece of heat strengthened glass 1500 mm by 3000 mm
supported on all 4 sides. Assume an ultimate wind load of 2 Kpa.
The aspect ratio of the glass panel is 3000/1500=2
Trial a 12 mm thick glass. The relevant graph is fig 4.26 for monolithic
12 mm heat strengthened glass (next slide).
By drawing a line (in red) on 2 Kpa on the x axis and intersecting the
curve for AR=2, we get a span of approximately 3350 or thereabouts. For
a more accurate number, students can use the tables and formula at the
bottom of the graph to calculate the span.
Since the span of the glass is 1500 mm and less than 3350 mm, the 12 mm
heat strengthened glass is structurally adequate.
It is now up to the designer if he or she wishes to redo the calculations
with a graph for a smaller thicknesses of glass (there are graphs for 10 mm
and less in section 4). Alternatively the designer may wish to use
annealed glass or toughened glass. Again, there are graphs for these.
The next step is to calculate serviceability. The designer need
to input the serviceability wind pressures into the graph. See
next slide.
If ultimate wind is 2 Kpa and assuming the building is in
Sydney, then service wind is 2x(37/46) ^2=1.3 Kpa.
From the graph (see next slide) B/t = 250 approximately.
Therefore B= 250 x 11.7 = 2,925 mm > 1500 mm.
Therefore the glass panel satisfies the deflection criteria of
span/60

However, students can see that this glass is more than

sufficient to support the design wind loads. Try with 6 mm
heat strengthened glass. Does it work?
Example 2.
Assume a piece of heat strengthened laminated glass 1500 mm by 3000
mm supported on all 4 sides. Assume an ultimate wind load of 2 Kpa.
The aspect ratio of the glass panel is 3000/1500=2
With laminated glass, section 4 only have graphs for annealed glass.
In order to assess the structural adequacy of heat strengthened glass, the
designer divides the wind load by the glass type factor C1.
Therefore ultimate wind load = 2 Kpa/1.6 = 1.25 Kpa.
Let us trial a 10 mm thick laminated glass (see next slide).
From the table the maximum span is close to 2800 mm which is greater
than 1500 mm.
Therefore the 10 mm thick heat strengthened laminated glass is
structurally adequate.
The next step is to check serviceability. For serviceability, students must
use the service wind but do not divide by the glass type factor.
Students should try to repeat the calculations with a thinner glass
including checking the serviceability of the laminated glass.
 Section 6
- Sloped Overhead Glazing
Clause 6.1 defines sloped overhead glazing as glass
that is glazed overhead and sloped with an angle less
than 75° to the horizontal and operable roof light
windows
Examples of overhead glazing
 Clause 6.2 – Loads and Actions
Glass must be designed for the following loads:
• Wind to AS 1170.2
• Dead loads
• Snow and ice to AS 1170.3
• Live loads to AS 1170 applied as a distributed area over 0.01 m2 for
panels inclined at less 30° than to the horizontal. (Students, why 0.01
m2 ). For glazed panels, the live load shall be 1.1 kN vertically.
• For medium term duration (up to 10 min), the area of application shall
be 0.02 m2 (Students, why 0.02 m2 ).
• Panels inclined at 30° or greater, point live load of 0.5 kN applied
vertically.
• For IGUs, apply the above live point loads on the upper pane.
• Other loads as required by designer. The next two slides show the
loads roof canopies are designed for. Refer AS1170.1
 Clause 6.2
• Clause 6.2 describes the required loads and
actions.
 Clause 6.2.1
• Clause 6.2.1 describes the loads. These
loads include wind, dead, snow, ice and live
loads
 Clause 6.2.2 - Load Combinations

This section states the combinations for stability,

ultimate strength and serviceability must be taken
account in the design of overhead glazing.
Designers should refer to AS 1170.0
 Clause 6.3 – Design Criteria

This section requires overhead glazing and its

components to be in accordance with Section 3 –
General Design Criteria
It also requires all sloped glazing shall be Grade A
laminated safety glass
Grade A toughened safety glass may be used where
the highest part of the glazing is less than 3.0 metres
above the finished floor level and span size is less
than 500 mm.
 Clause 6.4 –
Selection of overhead glass
Deemed to satisfy requirements of clauses 6.2 to 6.3
by compliance with this section.
Designers have to address the following:
A) Wind + Dead….(upward/downward wind)
B) Dead + Live Loads
C) Deflection
 Glazing inclined at less than 30 degrees
The steps are as follows:
• Work out dead loads and resolve as necessary
• Designers calculate the weight of glass.
• Combine loads as per clause 6.4.2 ie case 1: Dead (max) + wind
(downward) [1.2G, Wu] and case 2: Dead (min)+wind (upward) [0.9G.
Wu]
• Add in the load duration factor
• Combine loads to determine service loads
• With glazing inclined at less than 30 degrees to the horizontal, use
figures 6.1 to 6.7. These tables will provide the maximum span for
wind and dead and the charts will provide the glass thickness for live
loads based on the span and length.
Glazing inclined at more than 30 degrees
The steps are as follows:
• Work out dead loads and resolve as necessary
• Designers calculate the weight of glass.
• Combine loads as per clause 6.4.2 ie case 1: Dead (max) + wind
(downward) [1.2G, Wu] and case 2: Dead (min)+wind (upward) [0.9G.
Wu]
• Add in load duration factor
• Use figures 4.1 to 4.35 to determine the ULS capacity of the glass and
the allowable span.
• To determine the capacity of the glass for live loads, refer to Tables
6.1, 6.2 and 6.3
 Section 7 – Barriers or
Balustrades
• Structural balustrade panels
• or
• Infill balustrade panels
 Loads
• Design for stability, ultimate strength and
serviceability
• Imposed live load
• wind load
• Other loads
 Handrails
• Load supporting handrails…..normally for
infill balustrade panels
• Non load supporting handrails… glass
supports loads
• Interlinking handrail… non load supporting
unless panel breakage occurs. If one
breaks, the remaining handrails must be
capable of resisting the loads
 Selection of balustrade glass
• Grade A safety glass shall be used in all
balustrades
• May be designed in accordance with section
3 - General Design Criteria
• or
• Design to clauses 7.4.2 to 7.4.6 as deemed
to comply
• Monolithic toughened safety glass not to be
used as barriers protecting falls greater than
or equal to 5 metres
 Clause 7.4.2
• Structural Balustrade
• Cantilevered Glass
• Difference in level of less than 1000 mm
• No handrail or non load supporting handrail
• Minimum 10 mm glass thickness
• Refer table 7.1
 Clause 7.4.3 to 7.4.7
• Students are encouraged to go through the
code to understand the various types of
balustrades