Glass Pavilion Rheinbach - Stability of Glass Columns

Frank Wellershoff, Gerhard Sedlacek

The Glass Pavilion in Rheinbach is the first building where all vertical and horizontal loads are carried by columns made entirely of glass. For this application a special approval of the relevant regulatory authority had to be granted. The safety concept developed includes scenarios with exceptional loads like human impact or vandalism. Therefore full scale tests were conducted to determine the stability of the glass columns under all possible load cases and pre-damage conditions.

The glass columns are clamped in steel shoes and the in pane loads are transmitted by steel bolts covered with aluminium rings and additional mortar. By testing the full scale columns information was gained about the load carrying capacity of the bolt connection and the rotation capacity of the clamped connection, which significantly affects the effective length and the stability of the glass columns.

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