Designing and constructing corrugated glass facades

Abstract

Flat glass panels are in use since the time of the Roman Empire. In the ruins of the city of Pompeii, destroyed by the Vulcan Vesuvius in 79 DC, a glass panel in a bronze frame of 300×600mm was found. In this article we describe a mayor improvement in the structural behaviour of glass panels by making the glass curved, or more accurately, corrugated. Both the in- and out-plane loading meet far more resistance against deformation, and the corrugated glass panels have a largely increased bearing capacity with the same thickness of glass the flat panel has. Also architecturally the appearance of a corrugated glass panel in facades is far more appealing.