Structural Use of Adhesives in Glass Shells
Lucio Blandini
University of Stuttgart, Germany
Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK)
Director Prof. Dr. Werner Sobek
Keywords
1 = Adhesives 2 = Shells 3 = Prototype
Abstract
The potential of adhesives as an
innovative joining technology for
structural glass has been investigated
at the University of Stuttgart, especially
in the field of glass shells. On one hand
glass, with its excellent compression
strength, is able to support the loads in
shells. On the other hand, the adhesive
can join the panes, replacing the
metallic clamping systems. The result
is a full transparent continuous glass
skin, combining the optimal use of both
materials, glass and adhesives.
Actually, the adhesive technology
has already been successfully applied in
many fields, from the automobile- to
the aerospace-industry. Yet, only part
of the gained knowledge is transferable
to the building industry. Therefore,
tests were developed and conducted
on many types of adhesives, to
investigate which product yields the best
performance on glass while meeting the
building requirements.
A prototype of a glued double curved
shell was designed and presented
at the Glasstec 2002 in Dsseldorf.
The glass panes are made of 8 mm
annealed glass laminated with 2
mm chemically tempered glass. Both
these technologies, adhesive joining
and chemically tempering, open
new dimensions for the design with
structural glass.
Glass shells
There has been a rapid development
in the field of glazed shells over the
past years, because the use of free
geometries and glass as a transparent
material are not only perfectly suited
for modern structures, but they also
blend well with traditional architectural
systems. Such systems are normally
composed of steel grid-shells as load
bearing structures and glass panes as
cladding skin [1].
However, in order to improve
transparency, glass should be used
not only as a cladding, but also as
a structural material. In 1998, two
research prototypes, Glass Arch I and
II, were designed at the Institute for
Lightweight Structures (now ILEK)
and demonstrated the load-bearing
capacity of glass in curved coverings.
Following the fail-safe concept, the
second prototype was designed to
4 = Chemically Tempering
Figure 1
W. Sobek, M. Kutterer, University of Stuttgart:
Glass Arch II, research prototype at Glasstec 98
show a considerable residual strength,
despite the failure of some panes [2].
Yet, only few structural glass shells were
built (Maximilianmuseum in Augsburg,
Germany [3]), despite their esthetical
quality as well as their structural
efficiency.
The panes of the prototypes as well
as those of the built glass shell, are
joined by metallic clamping systems
located at certain points. There are
two disadvantages to this solution:
The strength of glass is not optimally
exploited, because of the discrete
joint system and the metallic elements
dominate optically, over transparency.
Adhesive technology
The adhesive technology is a promising
alternative to the clamping systems, it
offers solutions to both the problems.
The panes are no longer joined at
certain points, but along the edges;
moreover continuous glass surfaces
are achieved without any kind of
optically disturbing element. Namely,
the adhesives joints are just a few
millimetres thin.
The adhesive technology is seldom
used in glass structures, despite
its enormous potential. The most
important application is in faades,
where often the glass panes are glued
with silicone to the metallic structure
(Structural Glazing). Yet, adhesives have
been successfully used for structural
joints in other sectors for many
decades. The standard of knowledge
about this joining technique has
significantly improved because of the
strict requirements demanded by the
aerospace- and automobile- industry
(in terms of safety and reliability). As
Poster 12
a result, most of the components in
these fields are structurally glued. For
example, the windshield in vehicles
is glued to the body and works as a
structural stiffening element.
However, only part of the
gained knowledge is transferable
to architecture. Some requirements
are different and it is necessary to
investigate the suitability of adhesives
for new tasks. In most of the developed
applications the thickness of adhesives
is just a few tenths of a millimetre:
this is incompatible with the tolerance
values in architecture. In many cases
a thickness of one millimetre would
be acceptable. Yet, in glass shells the
adhesive must not only guarantee
a strong and stiff joint, but also the
capacity to compensate tolerances.
Therefore, the influence of adhesive
thickness on the structural behaviour of
adhesives should be investigated.
Furthermore, the joints are usually
overlapping, in order to improve
the bonding surface. This is due to
the big difference between strength
of adhesives and the mostly metal
adherends. However, when examining
the tensile strength of glass, it shows
that it is close to that of adhesives.
This allows the design of butt joints
without reducing the load bearing
capacity of the structure. Moreover
adhesives achieve a higher strength
in compression than in tension thus
meeting the properties of glass.
Threfore, this type of joint is ideal
for glass shells because it leads to
uninterrupted surfaces, exploiting the
properties of glass and adhesives.
Experimental tests on adhesives and
glass
Since 2001 tests on butt joints between
glass panes have been conducted at the
Central Laboratory of Civil Engineering
at the University of Stuttgart. To answer
the question of whether existing
adhesives are able to resist stresses due
to compression, shear and local tension
existing on glass shells, they were tested
firstly by tensioning the butt joints.
Actually the tensile loading is the worst
possible condition and therefore it was
the first to be investigated. The testing
system was designed by the author,
since usually norms suggest to test lap
joints.
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Figure 2
Tensile test device
Figure 3.1
Adhesion failure in tensile test
Figure 3.2
Cohesion failure in tensile test
Twelve products were tested with
a joint thickness of 1 mm. Each one
was tested three times. Primarily it was
important to investigate the interaction
between adhesives and glass, because
of the lack of knowledge in this field. In
such tests the failure can occur at the
interface between glass and adhesive
(adhesion failure, see Figure 3.1), or
inside the adhesive (cohesion failure,
see Figure 3.2). The first case is of
course unfavourable, because it means
only part of the adhesive strength
is exploited. In order to improve the
adhesion, the pane surfaces were
abraded at the edge.
Five of the twelve products achieved
a good adhesion on glass with a joint
thickness of 1 mm (see Figure 4). They
are acrylics, epoxies and polyurethanes.
Although silicones have been already
successfully used in practice, their
184
Figure 4
Average tensile
strength of adhesives
with 1 mm joint
thickness
Figure 5
Stress-strain tensile
characteristic curve of
the adhesives with 10
mm joint thickness
strength is not sufficient for butt joining
in glass shells. Therefore, they were not
investigated.
These five products, together with
two news polyurethanes, were further
investigated with a thickness of 10
mm. The goal is to allow adhesives to
compensate the tolerances existing in
glass shells. Each one was tested five
times, in order to obtain a statistical
evaluation. Although on average the
strength was half that of the 1 mm Figure 6
- joints, five of the seven products still Prototype of a glass shell using structural adhe-
achieved a strong and stiff joint. The sives assembly
characteristic stress-strain curves were
evaluated, considering the 5% lower
bound value of strength.
Among these five adhesives,
an acrylic demonstrated the best
performances. This is surprising, because
acrylics are usually suitable only for very
thin joints. Furthermore, the product
shows minimal scatter in the five tests
and little dependence on air bubbles
and other imperfections. Actually, the
stringent requirements on handling
adhesives are one of the reasons for the
limited presence of this technology in Figure 7
architecture. Prototype of a glass shell using structural adhe-
sives - detail of gluing
The glass shell prototype at Glasstec
2002
In order to demonstrate the structural thickness varies from 5 to 8 mm, thus
as well as the esthetical qualities of compensating the tolerances (see Figure
structural gluing in glass shells, a 7).
research prototype was designed and The prototype was presented at the
built [4]. Such a glass shell spans special exhibition Glass technology
2,35 m and is made of four laminated live at the glass fair Glasstec 2002 in
spherical curved glass panes joined Dsseldorf, Germany. It was suspended
at the edge with the acrylic (see from the roof by only two thin stainless
Figure 6). As demonstrated by the steel cables, thus enhancing both the
tests, the adhesive is able to work as lightness of such a system and the
strong joint and at the same time as structural strength of the adhesive
gap filler without any problems. The joints.
 Figure 8
Prototype of a glass
shell using structural
adhesives exhibition
at Glasstec 2002,
Dsseldorf (D)
The curved glass panes are made
of 8 mm annealed glass, laminated to
only 2 mm thin chemically tempered
glass. Such a technology, already used in
automobile and aerospace applications,
is new in architecture. Yet, it allows a
considerable reduction of dead weights,
an essential advantage in case of
long span roofing. Namely, chemically
tempered glass guarantees higher
strength than the thermally tempered
glasses both in normal conditions and in
case of failure (residual strength).
The process is independent from the
thickness and the form of glass panes
and is realized by ionic exchange. The
glass is immersed in a hot molten salt.
Then, the smaller sodium ions in the
glass surface are exchanged for the
larger ions in the molten salt, which
leads to compressive stresses at the
surface [5].
Summary
The tensile tests carried out on several
adhesives demonstrated that some of
them are able to work as structural
joints and at the same time as gap filler,
in order to compensate tolerances in
glued glass shells. With the prototype
Figure 9
Schematic diagram of ionic exchange in chemi-
cally tempering [4]
the esthetical quality and structural
efficiency of such a joining system could
be demonstrated. Furthermore, it has
been showed the potential of chemically
tempering, which may considerably
reduce the dead loads in long spans.
There have to be further
investigations of the strength of
adhesives under shear and compression
as well as on their aging and creeping.
Nevertheless, the first results obtained
are very promising for future application
of this joining technique to all the
systems in which glass is used as a
structural material, from faades to
roofing.
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Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank Prof.
Dr. Werner Sobek for supporting
and tutoring his research and all the
members of the Institute involved in
the project for their help. Thanks are
due also to the Gottlieb Daimler und
Karl Benz-Foundation for financing
the research work, to the companies
Isoclima (Finind Group) and 3M for
sponsoring the prototype, and to all the
sponsors of the tests on the adhesives
(BGT Bischoff Glastechnik, 3M, Akemi,
Delo, Sika, Epple)
References
[1] Schlaich, J. ; Schober, H. ; Design principles of
glass roofs, IASS Symposium 2002 Warsaw,
Poland, pages 815-827
[2] Sobek, W. ; Kutterer, M. ; Der Glasbogen auf
der Glasstec 1998, Report 3/98, Institute for
Leightweight Structures (now ILEK), University
of Stuttgart, September 1998
[3] Ludwig, J. ; Weiler H. ; Tragstrukturen aus Glas
am Beispiel einer Ganzglastonne, Bautechnik
77, 2000, pages 246-249
[4] Sobek, W. ; Blandini, L. ; Konstruktive
Verklebungen Prototyp einer Glasschale,
in Transluzente Materialen edited by Frank
Kaltenbach, edition Detail, 2003
[5] Schittich, C. ; Staib, G. ; Balkow, D. ; Schuler,
M. ; Sobek, W. ; Glass Construction Manual,
Birkhuser edition, 1999
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