The challenge
The ambivalent load-bearing capacity of glass is characterized by a pressure resistance of 900 N/m² and a tensile strength of only 30 N/m². By thermal toughening these values can be increased, however the disproportion between compression and tension resistance remains. Is there a way to improve the load-bearing capacity of glass sheets?
The invention
The RES-Glass Sandwich Element uses an upper and a lower glass sheet held apart by spacers as shear connectors between the sheets. This sandwich element surpasses the load-bearing capacity of a single glass sheet by far. The sandwich technique for float glass has been published for the first time in Glasforum 3-1991, p. 41 pp.
The advantages
- Introduction of a lightweight strategy to building with glass
- Wide span overhead elements
- Glass elements with integrated safety properties
- Thermal separation
The applications
- Interior design elements such as walls and desks
- Wide span elements for the building envelope
- Thin glass composites