Glass in Engineering Science - Vol 2  J A Hemsley

Glass Under Load

This second volume on glass in engineering science encompasses some particular aspects of glass subjected to applied loading, and comprises two distinct parts. The first deals with architectural glazing, based on three notable construction projects. The second is concerned with brittle fracture, based on the observed behaviour of glass cylinders under diametral compression.

Examples of the analysis and design of architectural glazing are described for selected international building projects, foremost among them being the celebrated Sydney Opera House. Because of the prevailing dearth of published technical data on the structural aspects of glazing, much of the basic flexural behaviour of glass panels had to be deduced from first principles, and then carried forward to practical design. Other problems associated with glazing integrity also required investigation, and although some of the details might nowadays be modified to suit current practice, the original underlying strategy remains substantially valid and intact. The theoretical background to this project work in establishing benchmark results for the elastic flexure of monolithic and laminated glass panels under static transverse loading is relegated to several appendices, which include extensive numerical results in graphical and tabular form incorporating previously unpublished material.

Early experimental results on the diametral compression of solid and hollow glass cylinders carried out by the writer are re-visited, in order to better understand the observed mode of fracture. The nature of this commentary assumes far wider influence in the important field of
materials science, especially in regard to the tensile strength and fracture mechanics of brittle solids. It is emphasised that there can be appreciable difficulties in deducing tensile strength from this ubiquitous form of testing, while the fracture toughness of pre-cracked cylinders is also discussed. As before, summaries of theoretical analyses relating in this instance to the fundamental elastostatic problem of a cylinder in diametral compression are given in substantial appendices, and embrace hitherto unpublished results. Finally, to help draw together interrelated work in many disparate fields, a comprehensive bibliography is appended to cover most of the additional theoretical and experimental studies on diametrically compressed cylinders that have been reported worldwide in numerous publications.

First published November 2016, premium hardback, 757 pages (175 x 250 mm) with black and white and colour litho illustrations, ISBN 13-978-0-900682-75-9.

Contents (pdf)