A unique structural design was made for the glass façade of the Co-Creation Center building in Delft. The roof is completely carried by the glass fins. The fins are laterally stabilized by being included in the triple glazed façade. To certify the safety of the design full scale tests on the fins were done at Delft University of Technology. Due to a transportation accident the fins were damaged at one end. This allowed an additional study into the effect of this pre-test damage on the residual compressive stressed induced by the tempering. It was found that the residual stresses were not significantly affected by the damage. During the compression tests no cracks developed at the damaged ends. A load of 200 kN, more than double the maximum design load did not produce failure in the prototypes. After intentionally seriously damaging all plies of the fins, the fins could still carry the 200 kN load for 30 min without buckling or other failures being noted. Measurement of the residual stress in the outer plies of the fins after damage showed that sufficient residual stress was present in the larger fragments of the prototype to provide enough stability in combination with the Sentryglass laminating foil.@en

Connecting glass with heat bonds is a way to create all-transparent glass structures. Two methods have been researched in theory and practice, glass welding, through local heating, and glass fusion through global heating. Both methods have been applied to produce 10 mm thick T-sections of soda lime glass while preventing thermal shock failure and minimizing residual stress. These specimen, and specimen with an adhesive joint, have been tested destructively. It is concluded that it is possible to connect 10 mm thick soda lime glass by welding, if the glass is preheated and the surrounding temperature remains elevated during the welding process. Additionally, glass fusion of a similar product through global heating is possible for the applied temperature schedule. The mould has a paramount influence on the quality of the product. For both production methods, the annealing schedule was adequate to reduce residual stress. The average strength of the fused specimen was 44% larger. The standard deviation of the welded specimen was smaller: the standard deviation relative to the mean value was 9% for the welded specimen and 60% for the fused specimen. However, the amount of tested specimen is little. This research is a proof of concept for heat bonding soda lime glass of a structurally relevant thickness. @en