Methodology for Structural Design of Spatial Frameless Glass Structures

This paper proposes a comprehensive structural design methodology for spatial frameless glass structures, in which toughened glass panels serve as the primary load-bearing elements and provide sufficient resistance to various design loads, including seismic and wind actions. The authors introduce structural systems with innovative configuration patterns to facilitate practical construction. To develop an Allowable Stress Design (ASD) approach for frameless glass structures, this study summarises experimental results and theoretical formulations for determining the allowable stresses of toughened glass panels subjected to in-plane compression and in-plane bending. Furthermore, the allowable load-carrying capacities of bolted joints and the spring constants required for mechanical analysis models are derived. Finally, a practical design procedure is presented, in which glass panels are modelled as equivalent beams and seismic loads are evaluated to verify structural safety.