Glass as claddingmaterial

Glass is, basically, a compound of silica (Si02), soda (Na2O) and lime (CaO) with trace impurities of iron
from the sand (silica). To obtain special properties, these basic materials are augmented with controlled
additions of other 'impurities' e.g. boron (borosilicate glass) for heat resistant applications such as
laboratory glassware and Pyrex or silver and copper for photo chromicapplications.

Forms of glass cladding : There is a range of glass

cladding forms suitable for both steel framed as well
as solid frame buildings.
• Curtain Walling
• Structural Glazing
• Bolted Glazing
• Fin Supported Glazing
• Cable Stayed Glazing
• Suspended Glazing
Some of the earliest systems used structural glass fins, acting as beams. Glass panels were bolted to the
fins and the fins provided horizontal support against both negative and positive wind pressures whilst
the self-weight was transferred from glass panel to steel fin panel usually to the main structure at the
top of the building. The glass didn't carry its own weight. as in the Crystal Palace, London
Some applications used specially formed mullions, designed to resist the wind pressures in both directions.
These are quite different from the mullions used in conventional stick framed curtain walls. The glass panels are
offset from the mullion using bolted connections. The self-weight of the panel is not carried by the mullion but
transferred by steel rods to a beam spanning across the top of the opening.
Toughened glass
Toughened glass is necessary to accommodate the high stresses at connections. The loads on the glass are
normally transferred at the corners of the glass panels, which are therefore highly stressed. Toughened glass is
necessary. Heating glass to the point where it starts to soften followed by rapid cooling produces toughened
glass. The outer surface of the glass cools faster than the inner layer as the inner layer cools it contracts

Toughened glass
 GLAZED CURTAIN WALLS
Glazed curtain walls are exterior nonloadbearing walls consisting of vision glass or opaque spandrel panels
supported by metal framing. They may be categorized according to their method of assembly.

• Anchors
• Mullions

• Top rail (window head)

•Vision glass (installed from

Stick Systems inside)
The stick system consists of tubular metal mullions • Interior mullion trim
• Bottom rail (window sill)
and rails assembled piece by piece on site to frame
vision glass and spandrel units. It offers relatively low •Spandrel is a panel in a
multistory frame building,
shipping and handling costs and can be adjusted more located between the sill
readily than other systems to on-site conditions. of a window on one level and
the head of a window
immediately below.
 Unit Systems
Unit systems consist of preassembled, framed
wall units which may be pre glazed or glazed after • Anchors
installation. Shipping bulk is greater than with the
stick system, but less field labor and erection time
is required. •Preassembled wall
units

• Anchors

•One- or two-story-high
Unit-and-Mullion Systems mullions

In the unit-and-mullion system, one- or two-story-high • Preassembled wall units

mullions are installed before preassembled wall units
are lowered into place behind the mullions. The panel • Interior mullion trim
units may be full-story height, pre glazed or unglazed,
or may be separate vision glass and spandrel units.
 Column-Cover-and-Spandrel Systems
•Column cover
Column-cover-and-spandrel systems consist of vision • Column cover
section
section
glass assemblies and spandrel units supported by • •Glazing
Glazinginfill
infill
spandrel beams between exterior columns clad with
• Spandrel panel
cover sections.
• Spandrel panel

•Spandrel beams
• Spandrel beams
span between
span between
columns and support
columns and
the outer edge of a
support the outer
floor or roof.
edge of a floor or
details roof.

These details illustrate typical conditions of glazed curtain wall construction. When using standard fabricated wall
systems, there is no need for extensive detailing except when components are modified.

•Metal frames should have •Snap-on covers may be used

to conceal fasteners, provide
thermal breaks.
uninterrupted profiles, and
•Horizontal rails are provided w/ permit variations in metal
weep holes for drainage. finishes
 •Mullion sections are spliced •A backup wall
with the lower mullion fixed to contains the thermal
an internal spline and the upper insulation, vapor
mullion slipping down over the retarder, electrical
spline so that it is free to move wiring, and HVAC
equipment.

• Angle anchors
•All anchors and fasteners must
be detailed to guard against
galvanic action.

•Infill panel or spandrel glass, an

opaque glass produced by fusing
a ceramic frit to the interior
surface of tempered or heat strengthened
glass

•A continuous fire stop is secured

between the wall and the edge of
each floor slab or deck to prevent
the spread of fire.
• Insulating glass

•Glass may be glazed from the

outside using pressure bars
or structural gaskets

•The required size, strength, and stiffness of the

•For high-rise applications, curtain wall frame are determined by the loads
interior glazing is more the frame must carry—primarily lateral wind
convenient and economical. It is loads and relatively light gravity loads. Consult
accomplished by means of fixed the manufacturer for the structural capacity
exterior gaskets and interior of the curtain wall assembly, as well as its
wedge-shaped gaskets; snap-on resistance to water and air infiltration
covers conceal the inner frame
and fasteners.
•Some curtain wall systems may
be glazed from either the outside
or the inside of the building.

‫شكل إسفين‬wedge-shaped
A curtain wall system may utilize
• Vertical mullion
structural gaskets to glaze both
fixed glass units and spandrel
panels. The supporting frame •Structural gasket;
recommended for vertical
members should be of the same use only
thickness as the insulating glass
unit to ensure balanced
support.

When stacking insulating glass

units vertically, the weight of the
• Horizontal mullion
upper glass units can introduce
stresses into the lower glass • Neoprene setting block
units. For this reason, the
•Weep hole may be
horizontal mullion rather
placed in the gasket after
than the gaskets should provide installation.
the necessary support for the
glazing. •Gravity load of glazing
should be supported by
horizontal mullion.

•No gravity load should

be transferred to glass
unit below.
 •Gravity load of glazing
should be supported by
horizontal mullion.
•No gravity load should be
transferred to glass unit
below

• Structural mullion
Flush Glazing
Flush glazing is a glazing system in • Insulating glass unit
which the metal framing members are
set entirely behind the glass panes or •Structural silicone sealant
must be compatible with both
units to form a flush exterior surface. The the glass units and the metal
glass units adhere to the framing with a frame.
structural silicone sealant; the silicone
sealant transfers wind and other • Spacer gasket
loads from the glass to the metal curtain •Structural silicone weather
wall frame without mechanical seal
fastenings. The design should allow for
•Polyethylene foam backer
easy maintenance and replacement of rod
broken glass units. Factory glazing
is preferred for better quality control.
Consult manufacturer for details.
Channel Glass
Channel glass is cast by drawing molten glass over a
series of steel rollers to form a continuous flat U-shape,
which is cut to specified length after cooling. The
translucent channel sections are available in widths from
9" to 19" (230 to 480) and in lengths up to 23 feet
(7010). For exterior applications, the channel sections
have 2-3/8“ (60) flanges and come in three standard widths,
9" (230), 10-5/16“ (260), and 13" (330).
The thermal performance of channel glass can be
enhanced with a low-e coating applied directly to the
inside face of the glass. When greater performance is
required a thermal insulating material can be inserted into
the cavity of a double-glazed wall system, bringing down
the U-value of the system to as low as 0.19.

Channel glass is suitable for interior and exterior

applications. For exterior applications, channel glass
systems can be constructed as double-glazed curtain
walls and store fronts or as single-glazed rain
Screens.
Facade Structures
Structural glass facades are most easily categorized by the structure types
that support them.

•mullion
•truss
•mast truss
•cable truss
•glass fin
•grid shell
•cable net
•cable mullion
 1. Mullion (a vertical bar between the panes of glass in a window.)
Mullion systems comprise a remarkably diverse range of novel structural solutions in facade applications. The simplest form
includes a steel or aluminum section positioned at every vertical joint in the glazing grid. These steel and aluminum sections
can be designed in open or closed positions. Mullion components often consist of built up custom structural sections capable
of accommodating long spans in both vertical and horizontal positions (vertical being the most common). An interesting
variation of this system type, however, employs horizontal mullions suspended from overhead cables and fixed to anchoring
building structure at its ends. Mullion systems also include hierarchical structural frames and braced frames.
2. Truss
Truss systems employ a planar truss design, often in a hierarchical
system that combines element types and tension components. Truss
designs vary widely, with an emphasis on fine detailing and
craftsmanship. They often involve complex steel fabrications,
frequently manufactured to Architecturally Exposed Structural Steel
(AESS) standards. Rod or cable elements may be incorporated into the
truss design, and lateral tensile systems are often used to stabilize the
facade structure. Simple truss elements can be located at every
vertical joint in the glass grid, but are often interspersed with one or
two cable trusses in a repeating pattern as a means to lighten the
structural profile of the facade.
3. Mast Truss
The mast truss utilizes cable bracing as a strategy to reduce visual mass. This
structural type is named after its nautical origins: a central compression element
(or mast) is stiffened by cable bracing that incorporates spreaders to give shape
to tensile elements, thereby stiffening the mast along its length in resistance to
buckling forces. Braces can be positioned with bilateral, trilateral or quadrilateral
symmetry about the center mast. Mast trusses are often used as the primary
structure in a hierarchical truss system.
Mast trusses are
capable of
accommodating a
wide range of scale.
The mast trusses
employed here act as
the primary structural
component, spanning
over 100 feet (33
meters). The same
mast truss is also used
to support a secondary
system of horizontal
cable trusses that in
turn support the glass
4. Cable Truss
With the cable truss, we have crossed an
important line of demarcation in our
progression towards system transparency
and the dematerialization of structure.
While cable trusses vary widely in both
design and configuration (vertical,
overhead, vaulted and domed forms are all
easily achieved), they are most often
characterized by the spreader struts that
act as their only compression member.
Cable trusses rely on the introduction of
prestress forces into the tensile elements of
the truss to provide stability. Depending
upon conditions of span and load, the
required prestress forces can be quite high,
and must be resisted by adjacent building
structure. It is, therefor, important to
identify these forces and communicate
them to building engineers very early in the
design process.
5. Glass Fin
Glass fins represent the earliest form of structural glass facade, dating back to the 1950s
French Hahn system used at the Maison de la Radio in Paris. Here 2-story glass plates were
suspended and laterally stiffened by the use of glass fins set perpendicular to the plates at
the vertical joints between them. But it was the Willis Faber & Dumas Building in Ipswich,
England that popularized this emerging technology in 1972. In this curving facade
designed by Foster Associates, multiple plates of reflective glass are suspended, providing
one of the first examples of an entire building facade in frameless glass. This project
inspired a diffusion of glass-fin technology in numerous applications throughout Europe
and America in the 1970s, and continues to do so today. Glass fin-supported facades still
represent one of the most transparent forms of structural glass facades, and are an
especially economical solution at lower spans.
Glass-fin systems are quite simple in concept, utilizing a glass fin set perpendicular to the
glass pane at each vertical line of the glass grid. The most challenging aspect of a glass-fin
wall occurs when the span is too great to be accommodated by a single piece fin, and a
splice detail must be developed to create a fin comprised of multiple glass pieces. Early
systems used patch plates to fix the glass and fins together. Spider fittings are frequently
used in this application today.
Glass is a transparent
material seen by the
light reflected from its
surface. Thus,
transparency in glass-fin
walls is often
compromised by the
banding effect caused by
the reflected light from
the glass fin’s
perpendicular relation to
the glass plane. These
reflections are highly
sensitive to angular
variation.
Typical splice joint detail
at the glass fin. Note the
drilled point fixings that
tie glass to the fin. A thin
horizontal tensile element
is used here to restrict the
back edge of the fin from
rotation and lateral
buckling.
6. Grid Shell
Grid Shell structural systems
are another means to
minimize the visual mass of
structure. They can be used in
vertical and overhead
applications, as well as to form
complete building enclosures.
Unique configurations can be
vaulted, domed and double-
curved. Systems can be
welded, bolt up, or a
combination of each. Grid-
shell structures with
integrated cable bracing can
produce a highly efficient
structure with a refined
aesthetic. Cable prestress is
required on such systems.
Triangulated grid shells are
stable by geometry and
require no cable bracing.
7. Cable Net
Cable nets represent the ultimate in
elegant minimalist structural systems,
and provide optimum transparency
when the effect of a sheer glass
membrane is desired. Frei Otto
developed and popularized cable nets as
a structural system in the 1960s and 70s.
But it was architect Helmut Jahn and
engineering firm Schlaich Bergermann
that applied the technology in a most
innovative manner for the Kempinski
Hotel in 1992. The Munich hotel’s flat
cable net supported glass facade fueled
worldwide interest in cable nets as a
structural form in glass facade
applications.
This structural system supports glass by a net geometry of pre-tensioned cables. Designs can be flat, or the net can be pulled
into double curvature. A clamping component locks the cables together at their vertices and fixes glass to the net. The net
structure’s large pre-stress loads require early coordination of the facade contractor with the building engineer
8. Cable Mullion
Amongst cable
structures, cable
mullions achieve
optimum
transparency from
one-way spans.
Cables are
tensioned vertically
or horizontally, and
the glass plane can
be straight or
curved in plan.
This headquarters
campus in Seattle
includes a vertical cable-
mullion system that
spans approximately 85
feet.
A dual cable horizontal
cable-mullion system is
used at Newseum in
Washington, D.C. Designs
include steel hangar bars to
provide mid-span support
and reduce cable sag. Note
the unique point fixings
that tie glass to structure.
Glazing Systems
Virtually any type of glazing system can be used with structural
glass facades. Common systems include:
•framed systems
•stick
•veneer
•panel / cassette
•point fixed
1. Framed
Framed systems support the glass continuously along two or four sides. There are many
variations of framed systems, most of which fall into two general categories. Conventional
unitized curtain wall systems are seldom used with structural glass facades.
 Stick frame curtain walls
comprise glazing and cladding
attached to a stick frame of
aluminium extrusions, usually
forming a rectangular grid of
frame and panel on the facade.
to achieve favorable bonding
the system uses high strength,
high performance silicone to
bond the glass. The glazing is
prepared in a factory by
mounting a structural seal
support frame onto the glass,
2. Stick complete with appropriate
Stick-built glass facades are a method of curtain wall construction where much of setting blocks, location blocks
the fabrication and assembly takes place in the field. Mullions of extruded and distance pieces. On
aluminum may be prefabricated, but are delivered as unassembled “sticks” to the site,the support frame is
building site. Mullions are then installed onto the building face to create a frame for attached to the building
the glass, which is installed subsequently. Economical off-the-shelf stick curtain wall
structure by mechanical means
products are available from various manufacturers that may be suitable for
and the gap between the
application in structural glass facades, primarily on truss systems.
glazing is sealed
3. Veneer
Truss systems can be designed with an outer chord of square or rectangular tubing, and may include transom components of
similar material, presenting a uniform flat grid installed to high tolerances. Such a system can provide continuous support to
the simplest and most minimal off-the-shelf glazing system, thus combining relatively high transparency with excellent
economy. A veneer glazing system is essentially a stick-built curtain wall system designed for continuous support and
representing a higher level of system integration with resulting efficiencies. Variations can include 4-sided capture, 2-sided
capture, structurally glazed and unitized systems.
4. Panel / Cassette
Panel systems are typically constructed from
a framed glass lite. The framed panel can
then be point-supported by a supporting
structural system, while the glass remains
continuously supported on two or four sides.
This also allows the panel to be stepped
away from the support system — a practice
that visually lightens the facade. Panel
systems can be prefabricated, benefiting
from assembly under factory-controlled
conditions.

Cassette systems combine properties of stick, veneer and panel systems. While variations exist, the predominant makeup of a
cassette system is comprised of a primary structural mullion system, which is stick built. These provide the support and
facilitate the attachment of the glass panels. The glass lites are factory assembled into minimal frames, which form an integral
connection with the primary mullion system. A cassette system can be designed to be fully shop-glazed, requiring no
application of sealant during field installation.
5. Frameless
Frameless systems utilize glass panes that are fixed to a structural system at discrete points, usually
near the corners of the glass panel (point-fixed). The glass is directly supported without the use of
perimeter framing elements. Glass used in point-fixed applications is typically heat-treated.
Technology has expanded to the stage where glass has now been designed to be able to withstand both external
pressures as well as its own self weight. This has reduced the need to have framed glazing as a cladding and has
provided seamless and beautiful facade.
6. Point-Fixed Bolted
The most popular (and often most expensive) glass system for application in structural glass facades is the bolted version.
The glass panel requires perforations to accommodate specialized bolting hardware. Specially designed off-the-shelf
hardware systems are readily available, or custom components can be designed. Cast stainless steel spider fittings are most
commonly used to tie the glass to the supporting structure, although custom fittings are often developed for larger facade
projects. The glass must be designed to accommodate bending loads and deflections resulting from the fixing method. For
overhead applications, insulated-laminated glass panels require the fabrication of 12 holes per panel, which can represent a
cost constraint on some projects.
7. Point-Fixed Clamped
Point-fixed clamped systems are a solution for point fixing without the perforations in glass. In the case of a spider type
fitting, the spider is rotated 45 degrees from the bolted position so that its arms align with glass seams. A thin blade
penetrates through the seam between adjacent pieces of glass. An exterior plate attaches to the blade and clamps the glass
in place. The bolted systems present an uninterrupted glass surface, while the clamped systems expose the small exterior
clamp plate. Some facade designers prefer the exposed hardware aesthetic. While clamped systems have the potential for
greater economy by eliminating the need for glass perforations, the cost of the clamping hardware may offset at least some
savings, depending upon the efficiency of the design.