Numerical study on adhesively bonded glass‐metal facade elements under different loading scenarios

Several research studies have been completed in the past fifteen years on glass panes adhesively bonded to a metal framing with the aim to enhance the structural potential of the material glass in building envelopes. However, the transfer of the obtained results into prototypes or real projects was often impeded either (i) by the degrading properties of the investigated adhesives under the real environmental conditions which facades are subjected to or (ii) because of the limited strength of the investigated silicone adhesives. This contribution presents selected results from a research project dealing with two configurations for glass‐metal facade elements with composite structural behaviour. In the case of the first configuration, which is more suitable for application in real projects due to the applied connection materials, a silicone adhesive bonding along the perimeter of the glass pane together with grouting blocks near the glass pane corners ensure the stress transfer between glass panes and framing. For the second configuration, the stress transfer is obtained solely by acrylic adhesive bonding along the perimeter of the glass pane. In this contribution, results from finite element simulations for the two configurations under different loading scenarios and levels are presented in order to point out the deformation behaviour of such elements, their structural potential as well as some of their limitations. The applied finite element model was previously validated based on experimental results. Load scenarios resulting from in‐plane and out‐of‐plane load situations as well as from temperature loads are covered by the discussed results.