High Displacement Glass Seismic Systems

The intent of this technical paper is to present and document the seismic performance of three new structural glass systems, each of which was designed to accommodate the elastic and inelastic seismic displacement criteria for high displacement in areas with high seismic activity. These systems include a rail-supported seismic glazing system, a point-fixed seismic glazing system, and a point-fixed seismic fin glass system. These systems may be used for cladding facades of buildings in areas of high seismicity and in particular in the state of California Seismic Zone 4. The California Building Code is now the underlying design methodology for the design of building cladding systems in California As most point supported glazing systems that are commonly used are not able to accommodate large building drifts, there was a need for an alternate point supported cladding system to address the design criteria imposed by current building codes. The performance of these systems was verified by mock-up testing, demonstrating that the proposed glazing systems can be used for cladding facades of building structures in areas of high seismicity, such as the state of California. The mock-up testing verified that the glass would translate horizontally and distribute seismic drift evenly over the height of the glazing systems, without breaking any components or glass. The testing also demonstrated that the silicone would withstand the shear demand imposed without rupturing the seal. The authors of this paper contributed to these three new glazing systems in ways of system engineering, design development, component finite analysis, preparation of engineering reports, test procedures, mock-up test result analysis, and project management for the actual implementation on the three successful installations. After successful completion of the mock-up test structures, each of these individual systems was used in real project applications; these projects are currently completed with the glazing systems fully installed. Please refer to the actual technical paper for detailed analysis on these systems.