Effects of support condition and dimension of glass plates on the wind load resistance

The effects of support condition and dimension of glass plate on the wind load resistance are investigated by performing full-scale breakage tests and numerical simulation that can predict glass failure pressures. Full-scale breakage tests were carried out using window specimens whose edges were supported as used in practice, called "elastic support condition", in order to investigate the application of the existing numerical simulation to such a support condition. The results indicate that the numerical simulation can capture the load resistance obtained from the full-scale breakage tests by adjusting the parameters related to the material properties and testing environment, especially relative humidity. By using the numerical simulation, the examination of the effects of support condition and dimension glass plate, and the comparisons with the Japanese and USA design codes are performed. The results show that the support condition of glass plates affect slightly on the wind load resistance. On the other hand, the load resistance depends on size and aspect ratio more significantly than expected in the Japanese code. Therefore, it is found that the Japanese code seems to overestimate the wind resistance of glass plates because it does not reflect the effects of size and aspect ratio of glass plate, which are considered in the USA code.