Topologically optimized cast glass: A new design approach for loadbearing monolithic glass components of reduced annealing time

Up to now, fabricating cast glass components of substantial mass and/or thickness involves a lengthy and perplex annealing process. This has limited the use of this glass manufacturing method in the built environment to simple objects up to the size of regular building bricks, which can be annealed within a few hours. For the first time,...

Topologically optimized structural glass megaliths: Potential, challenges and guidelines for stretching the mass limits of structural cast glass

This paper introduces the use of structural topology optimization (TO) as a new design approach that enables the creation of monolithic load-bearing cast glass components of substantial dimensions with significantly reduced annealing times, rendering such components viable in terms of manufacturing. Using topology optimization, the glass mass...