Stacking glass elements, how to build a glass tower

F.A.Veer, W. Lia, P.M.J. van Swieten, G. Hobbelman, F.P. Bos and P.C.Louter, Delft University of Technology & T. Romein, Van Noordenne glas groep & J. Belis, Ghent University

In recent years several designs of large glass beams have been introduced in Germany and Scotland. At Delft University of Technology a project to build an 18 meter reinforced glass beam is in progress. This of course raises the engineering question of supporting such a beam. If the beam is used only to support the glass roof of a concrete building there is no problem, but an all glass atrium with 18 meter roof beams will need 15 to 20 m high glass supports.

This can only be achieved by prefabricating glass sections and stacking them. As this has not been done before, a feasibility study has been conducted to build an 20 meter high glass tower composed of stacked segments.

The functioning of this tower has been analyzed by structural calculations of several alternatives. Two models have been made and tested in a wind tunnel.

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The Authors

	Dr. Frederic Veer Dr. Delft University of Technology Frederic Veer has been involved in glass research since 1995, developing new combinations and structures which use glass as a structural material in innovative ways. Currently the author is head of a ... Read more
	Mr. Freek Bos ir. Delft University of Technology Freek Bos works as a Ph.D. researcher at the TU Delft Faculty of Architecture, where he graduated in 2002 (specializing in both Building Technology and Architecture) on form-finding as a design tool f... Read more
	Mr. Christian Louter ir. Delft University of Technology Christian Louter received his building engineering degree in 2004 from Delft University of Technology. In February 2005 Christian started his Ph.D. research on ‘structural glass components’ at the fa... Read more
	Dr. Jan Belis dr. ir.-arch./Assistant Professor Ghent University - LMO Jan Belis holds a degree in civil engineering/architecture and a PhD degree in structural engineering from Ghent University, Belgium. Since 2006, he is assistant professor at the same institute. His r... Read more