Abstract The study investigates the mechanical response of glass shells cold bent into hyperparaboloid shapes used in building technology. Focus is addressed on two subjects: the application of the cold bending procedure to vertically oriented rather than horizontal plates, which allows to minimize the disturbance produced by the initial deflection due to self-weight, and the effect of wind load on curved glass panels installed in glazing facades. The particular case of a vertical monolithic glass plate (2000 × 2000 × 10 mm) loaded symmetrically on two diagonally opposite corners is studied experimentally and numerically, developing a finite element model, and the results compared each other. Both experiments and numerical analyses show that a mechanical disturbance, introduced e.g., on the centre of the plate, promotes a change in the deformation mode during the bending process. Geometrical instabilities which impair the optical quality of the glass, and trigger a serviceability limit state failure, are evidenced. A parametric analysis is conducted to investigate the influence of the size and the aspect ratio of the glass plate on the cold forming procedure. The examined response parameters include the geometrical distortion of the glass plate, involving the possible occurrence of optical distortion and the maximum tensile stress in the plate. In the second part of the study, the effect of wind load on curved glass shells is numerically evaluated. The results point out the possible trigger of a limit equilibrium stability, with a “snap-through” transition from an equilibrium state to another non-adjacent equilibrium configuration which can result in a sudden break of the glass plate. This phenomenon is affected from the size of the glass plate and the curvature imposed to the plate during cold bending. The proposed methodology could represent a convenient tool to assist practitioners in selecting the appropriate thickness of facade glass panels.

中文翻译：

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垂直玻璃板的冷弯：风荷载和几何不稳定性

摘要 本研究调查了建筑技术中使用的玻璃壳冷弯成超抛物面形状的机械响应。重点关注两个主题：将冷弯程序应用于垂直定向而不是水平板，这可以最大限度地减少由于自重引起的初始偏转产生的干扰，以及风荷载对安装的弯曲玻璃面板的影响在玻璃幕墙中。通过实验和数值研究了垂直单片玻璃板（2000 × 2000 × 10 mm）对称加载在两个对角上的特殊情况，开发了有限元模型，并将结果相互比较。实验和数值分析都表明，机械扰动，例如，在板的中心引入，促进弯曲过程中变形模式的变化。几何不稳定性会损害玻璃的光学质量，并引发适用性极限状态故障，这已得到证实。进行参数分析以研究玻璃板的尺寸和纵横比对冷成型过程的影响。检查的响应参数包括玻璃板的几何变形，包括可能发生的光学变形和板中的最大拉伸应力。在研究的第二部分，风荷载对弯曲玻璃壳的影响进行了数值评估。结果指出了极限平衡稳定性的可能触发因素，从平衡状态到另一个不相邻的平衡配置的“快速”转变，这可能导致玻璃板突然断裂。这种现象受到玻璃板尺寸和冷弯过程中施加到板的曲率的影响。提议的方法可以代表一个方便的工具，以帮助从业者选择合适的外墙玻璃面板厚度。