Adhesive solutions for cast glass assemblies: Ground rules emerging from built case studies on adhesive selection and experimental validation

Cast glass is a promising, three-dimensional expression of the material for architectural and structural applications, particularly for the creation of all-transparent, self-supporting structures and envelopes. Typically applied in the form of solid blocks, cast glass components can be used as repetitive units to comprise fully-transparent, cast...

Fill-In-Glass Restoration: Exploring Issues Of Compatibility For The Case Of Schaesberg Castle

This paper explores a novel restoration approach for consolidating historic structures using structural glass to substitute for the missing elements, preserving at the same time the structural integrity of the structure. A restoration design is proposed for the hypothetical consolidation of the remaining tower of Schaesberg Castle, in Limburg,...

The Production and Performance of Heat Bonded Glass Connections: an Experimental Study

Connecting glass with heat bonds is a way to create all-transparent glass structures. Two methods have been researched in theory and practice, glass welding, through local heating, and glass fusion through global heating. Both methods have been applied to produce 10 mm thick T-sections of soda lime glass while preventing thermal shock failure...

Interlocking cast glass components, Exploring a demountable dry-assembly structural glass system

This paper explores the potential of a novel, reversible all-glass system consisting of dryassembly, interlocking cast glass components. Owing to its interlocking geometry, the proposed system can attain the desired stiffness with the aid of minimal, if any, metal framing. The use of adhesives is circumvented in the system by employing a dry,...

A Novel, Demountable Structural Glass System Out of Dry-Assembly, Interlocking Cast Glass Components

Cast glass components are a promising solution for engineering pure glass structures of high transparency and load-carrying capacity due to their large cross-sectional area and monolithic nature. Currently, the few realized structures employing cast glass components rely either on a steel substructure or on an adhesive of high bonding strength...

Design and experimental testing of the bundled glass column

Engineering the bundled glass column: From the design concept to full-scale experimental testing

This article gives an overview of the research conducted by the authors from the design concept to the engineering and full-scale testing of the bundled glass column. Consisting of adhesively bonded solid glass rods, the bundled column is a promising solution for transparent compressive members. To investigate the feasibility of the bundled...

The construction of the Crystal Houses façade: challenges and innovations

A novel glass brick façade has been designed and engineered to reproduce the original brick façade of a former townhouse in Amsterdam. Based on the original design the resulting façade comprises more than 6500 solid glass bricks, reinterpreting the traditional brick pattern, and elaborated cast glass elements for the replication of the window...

Transparent Restoration

This paper investigates the application of structural glass in restoration and conservation practices in order to highlight and safeguard our built heritage. Cast glass masonry is introduced in order to consolidate a half-ruined historic tower in Greece, by replacing the original parts of the façade that are missing. Dry connections between the...

Developing the bundled glass column

In this paper a bundled glass column is presented as a promising solution for a completely transparent, almost dematerialized structural compressive element. The aim is to ob-tain a glass column that can safely carry loads, achieve a high visual result and be relatively eas-ily manufactured. Different types of adhesives, rod configurations and...