Wind Loading and Strength of Cladding Glass

摘要

A procedure for investigating glass cladding behavior under arbitrary loads, including fluctuating wind loads, is presented. The procedure accounts for the fact that internal stresses are nonlinear functions of the external loads, that initial glass strengths are random functions of position and direction, and that glass strength undergoes degradation under the action of external loads in accordance with basic fracture mechanics laws. Numerical examples are presented, and corresponding probability distribution curves are calculated, indicating the probability of failure of a specified panel subjected to fluctuating wind loads and to 1-minute constant loads. These curves are used to illustrate a method for assessing current glass cladding design procedures.