Guidance for European Structural Design of Glass Components

This JRC Scientific and Policy Report is a pre-normative document that represents the basis of a new Eurocode on the design of structural glass. It was developed by CEN/TC 250 WG 3 and it presents the available background of both the design of glass components related to up-to-date existing national codes as well as the recent scientific knowledge. The report includes a material part, describing the behaviour of glass and the used interlayer materials. Subsequently, the typical properties of glass products and their placement in existing product standards are mentioned. The principles and basic rules for the design of glass components as well as the safety approach are clarified with regard to the particular characteristic of glass - the absent of plasticity. Furthermore there are different types of construction made of glass. They can be separated in secondary and primary structural elements. For secondary structural elements the existing design rules are presented, for primary structural elements the report gives an overview of the actual state of research work. In form of so called “Code reviews” the existing design and product standards are mentioned and they are also explained to some extent, the so-called “Eurocode outlooks” give a perspective on what and how the content of the future Eurocode on Structural Glass should be.