Mechanical behavior of glass panels supported by clamping joints in cable net facades

Abstract

In glass panels supported by clamping joints in a cable net facade, the clamping joint restrains movement at the four corners of the glass panel. As a result, the mechanical behavior of the glass panels supported by clamping joints is very different than the behavior of glass panels supported by four hinged corners. Moreover, the deformation in cable net facade is large and nonuniform; thus, the glass panels in cable net facades bear the effects of warping distortion. In this study, a model test and theoretical analysis was conducted to study the mechanical behavior of glass panels supported by clamping joints in a cable net facade. To this end, a cable net facade was designed, and a proper experimental model was constructed. A static mechanical model test was conducted, where the glass stress at different positions in the cable net was measured. A numerical model of the cable net facade was developed, and the results of the experiment and the numerical analysis were compared. Furthermore, the numerical results provided a detailed description of the mechanical behavior of the glass panels in a cable net facade.