Author(s)

A.M. Memari, P.A. Kremer

Abstract

Employing glass panels with rounded corners to mitigate seismic damage in architectural glass wall systems A.M. Memari, P.A. Kremer Department of Architectural Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, United States Abstract Racking motions during an earthquake can lead to serviceability failure (e.g., glazing gasket pullout, sealant damage, glass edge damage and glass cracking) or even ultimate failure (in the form of glass fallout that presents a threat to life safety) in conventionally glazed wall systems - even those that meet current building code provisions for nonstructural elements. A new approach to mitigation of seismic risk in conventionally glazed wall systems with architectural glass panels has been developed at the Building Envelope Research Laboratory (BERL) at The Pennsylvania State University. The essence of the approach is to modify the rectangular geometry of architectural glass panels at the corners through rounding. A pilot study at BERL has sho

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