The new glass design approach used in Australian standard, AS1288

Dr Ignatius Calderone, Director, Calderone and Associates Pty Ltd.

There is a trend for glass designers around the world to make reference to standards from other countries. Therefore, in order to avoid improper use of the new Australian standard, it is important that the rationale used and the limitations of the standards are well understood. This paper presents the methodology used in developing the new design charts used in the revised Australian Standard, AS1288, which was published on 16 January 2006. The change to ultimate limit state design in the Australian wind loading code necessitated the corresponding upgrading of the wind loading charts in AS1288. The new charts are also an improvement on the old charts, with the inclusion of criteria such as the aspect ratio and slenderness factor. Separate charts are given for each glass type and thickness.As well as covering the rationale behind the new ultimate limit state design stresses used in the new charts, comparisons are made with the previous Australian code requirements and other existing and draft international standards. These comparisons will highlight the dangers of improperly using a 50-year return wind loading with the new Australian design code, which is applicable to 1000-year return period wind loads.

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The Authors

Dr. Ignatius Calderone Director Calderone and Associates Pty Ltd Dr Ignatius Calderone is a Director of Calderone and Associates Pty Ltd, Consulting Engineers based in Melbourne Australia. His expertise is in the areas of building façade design particularly with re... Read more