Glass Engineering without the Concept of Stress

Graham Dodd

The thirty-four panels of an art glass chandelier at Pariser Platz 3 in Berlin were formed from fused, distorted bundles of sandblasted borosilicate glass tube. They were suspended from a glass ceiling above a dining area by thin stainless steel cables. Each panel was unique and of unpredictable form unsuited to stress analysis. Therefore it was impractical to calculate the applied stress in the glass at the highly loaded connection points. The design of connections was developed experimentally and the structural integrity of the panels was tested by a long-term proof test. The proof test was formulated to establish that the stress intensity in each panel was below the static fatigue limit.

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The Authors

Mr. Graham Dodd Associate Director Arup Materials Consulting Trained in manufacturing industry and qualified as a Mechanical Engineer, Dodd has worked in the design of glass structures and facades since 1988; initially with Pilkington Glass and since 1994 with ... Read more