The equivalent wind load for design of glass in buildings

This paper discusses the current methods of determination of wind loads for building glass design and presents the results of the research work in this field, which has recently been carried out at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. All existing methods involve simplifications using an assumed duration for the design wind pressure. The current research has investigated the calculation of the equivalent wind load, using a modified formulation of Brown’s Integral to account for the non-linear relationship between the applied load (pressure) and resultant stress. Both cyclic loading and ramp loading to breakage were used in the testing. The ramp loading was applied at several different rates, to enable an effective index for the non-linear pressure-stress relationship to be determined. The testing has enabled the development of a method of determining the equivalent design wind load that can be used for all types of windstorms, glass types and panel geometry.