Free-Form Shape

Cold-Bent Structural
Silicone Glazed Façades -
Design Concept
and Challenges
Benjamin Beer
Technical Director

Meinhardt Façade Technology

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

GPD 2017
Tampere, Finland
30th of June 2017
Complex Geometry - Panelization Options
Single Corner Cold-Bending vs. Free-Form Cold Bending:

Principle penalization options for complex geometry facades

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Complex Geometry - Panelization Options

Recent complex geometry façade projects in Dubai

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Complex Geometry – Cold-Bending Options
Single Corner Cold-Bending vs. Free-Form Cold Bending:

Comparison Cold-Bending panelisation options

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Complex Geometry – Cold-Bending Options
Single Corner Cold-Bending vs. Free-Form Cold Bending:

Single corner cold-bending structural silicone glazed façades, Credit Libanais, Beirut
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Complex Geometry – Cold-Bending Options
Insulated Glass Panel – ‘Cold Bending’ Assessment

1. 2. 3.

4. 5. 6.

Single corner cold-bending structural silicone glazed façades

Credit Libanais project
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Complex Geometry – Cold-Bending Options
Single Corner Cold-Bending vs. Free-Form Cold Bending:

Free-form shape cold-bent structural silicone glazed façades (partially hot bent-glass is used)
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Complex Geometry – Cold-Bending Options
Single Corner Cold-Bending vs. Free-Form Cold Bending:

Free-form shape cold-bent structural silicone glazed façades (partially hot bent-glass is used)
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Complex Geometry – Cold-Bending Options

Principle overview of the most common cold-bending geometries

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Complex Geometry – Free-Form Cold-Bending
Free-Form Cold Bending:

Inwards and outwards bending option for spherical concave cold-bending

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Complex Geometry – Free-Form Cold-Bending
Free-Form Cold Bending:

Inwards and outwards bending option for spherical concave cold-bending

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Complex Geometry – Free-Form Cold-Bending
Free-Form Cold Bending:

Comparison of edge warp and edge rotation due to cold-bending

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Besides the permanent tensile forces in
the structural silicone, the edge rotation
angle and resulting permanent shear
deformation is one of the key problems
when designing cold-bent structural
silicone glazed facades. This applies to
both structural silicone seals:
 Primary Seal - between the IGU inner
glass pane and aluminium frame
 Secondary seal - between IGU inner
and outer glass pane
Method “Workshop Cold-Bending & Site
Re-Bending”. A comparison of the two
cold-bending options for single corner
cold-bending is listed below:
 Option A - Site cold-bending
 Option B - Workshop cold-bending
and site re-bending

Single corner and free-form cold-bending –

Mullion, glass and silicone details with shear deformation
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Free-Form Cold-Bending: Silicone Design Concept
New Design Concept for Structural Silicone:
A. Initial simplified assessment of the structural silicone seals assuming flat glass and flat
framing (no cold-bending) using ETAG 002 “Structural Sealant Glazing Systems Part 1:
Supported and Unsupported Systems. This is for initial guidance only an helps to assess
the silicone’s capacity available for additional (cold-bending) stresses.
B. Set up and analyse a FE model (with hyperelastic material constitutive modelling) to
simulate the ETAG-002 H-test model already tested by the silicone supplier as per ETA
(European Technical Approval). This model acts as a validation model to derive a
conversion factor between the true Finite Element (FE) Stress derived from the FE
models, and the Engineering Stress as per the allowable design limit stress stated in the
ETA of the silicone supplier.
C. Set up and analyse a FE-Model for each free-form shape cold-bent glass panel. The
structural models include 3D volume elements of the structural silicone and all loads
including long term (e.g. cold-bending) and short term loads (e.g. wind pressure and
suction).
D. Assessment of the FE-Stress results and conversion from “FE-Stress” to “Engineering
Stress”, result overview using the allowance stress approach as per [4]. Local stress
peaks might be assessed using the “corner cut-out” method explained in [1].

New Design Concept for Structural Silicone

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Free-Form Cold-Bending: Silicone Stress Peaks
Single Corner vs. Free-Form Cold-Bending:

Silicone tensile stress models for single corner and free-form cold-bending
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Free-Form Cold-Bending: Conversion Factor
Validation model to derive conversion factor :
Stresses and strains are derived for this model and compared with the actual test results.
This H-test FE model use the same setting (analysis software Marc Mentat 12, setting, FE
mesh density, etc.) as the FE models of the complete glass panels being cold-bent:
 Neo-Hook: 𝜎 = 𝐺 [λ−1/λ^2 ], 𝐺 = 0.67 𝑀𝑃𝑎
Two load cases were set up to derive the conversion factors for a typical 0.14 N/mm2
silicone stress limit (as per silicone supplier’s ETA), and a silicone overstress of 1.0 N/mm2:
 Load case 84 N tensile load to derive conversion factor for 0.14 N/mm2 silicone stress:
Nominal tension stress in silicone: 84 N / (12 mm x 50 mm) = 0.140 N/mm2
 Load case 600 N tensile load to derive conversion factor for 1.0 N/mm2 silicone stress:
Nominal tension stress in silicone: 600 N / (12 mm x 50 mm) = 1.0 N/mm²

H-test specimen FE model to derive conversion factor “Engineering Stress” to “FE Stress”
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Free-Form Cold-Bending: Conversion Factor
Taking the Van Mises stress output of the load case 84 N and 600 N models, the following
conversion factors “Engineering Stress” to “Finite Element Stress” were derived:
 Load case 84 N (equivalent to 0.14 N/mm2 Engineering Stress): 3.59
 Load case 600 N (equivalent to 1.0 N/mm2 Engineering Stress): 3.52

H-test specimen FE result for normal tensile stress, load case 84 N, course mesh (top)
H-test specimen FE model result for equivalent von Mises Stress, load case 84 N, course mesh (bottom)
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Free-Form Cold-Bending: Conversion Factor
Taking the Van Mises stress output of the load case 84 N and 600 N models, the following
conversion factors “Engineering Stress” to “Finite Element Stress” were derived:
 Load case 84 N (equivalent to 0.14 N/mm2 Engineering Stress): 3.59
 Load case 600 N (equivalent to 1.0 N/mm2 Engineering Stress): 3.52

Conversion Factors for Van-Mises & Frist Principle Stress at 0.14 and 1.0 N/mm2 Engineering Stress
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Free-Form Cold-Bending: FE Mesh Density
FE Mesh Density:

H-test specimen FE result for equivalent von Mises Stress for load case 600 N, fine mesh (top)
H-test specimen FE result for equivalent von Mises Stress for load case 600 N, fine mesh (bottom)
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Free-Form Cold-Bending: Actual Models
FE-Models:

Full scale FE model at pre-cold-bending stage, detail (top)

Full scale FE model at post-cold-bending stage, detail with deflection plot (bottom)
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Free-Form Cold-Bending: Contact Approach
The process of load application at the edges during step 1 is iterative, the load amount and
load spacing must be varied up to the status of continuous contact between the silicone and
framing at all locations.

Full scale FE model, contact check of primary seal structural silicone to frame (yellow: 1 - full contact, blue: 0 - no contact)
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Free-Form Cold-Bending: Evaluation FE Outputs
FE analysis stress outputs for the following load cases and load combinations shall be
checked to evaluate compliance to allowable stress limits:
 Dead load - Long term load
 Post-cold-bending (cold-bending forces released) - Long term load
 Climate loads (isochronic pressure, summer or winter) - Long term load
 Wind load (pressure or suction) - Short term load
 Combinations of the above load cases including wind load case – Combination of long and
short term loads
The results evaluation is further complicated by the different stress limits for long term loads
and short term loads, where the stress limits for long term loads is usually 1/10 of the limit for
short term loads. Due to the nature of the cold-bending process reflected in the steps during
FE analysis, the short term load case 4 (wind load) can only be run in conjunction with the
long term load case 2 (cold-bending forces released: post-cold-bending).

Full scale FE model, contact check of primary seal structural silicone to frame (yellow: 1 - full contact, blue: 0 - no contact)
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Free-Form Cold-Bending: Evaluation FE Outputs
Looking at the overall stress plot for one glass panel, the evaluation of FE results can
differentiate between “Overall”, “Peak” and “Non-Peak” areas.

FE analysis stress plot of primary seal (Van Mises stress) for load case 1, showing local stress peaks (top)
FE analysis stress plot of primary seal (Van Mises stress) for load case 1, excluding corner cut-out areas
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 Tensions resolved?
Visual appearance?
No more need to hide?
Cold-Bent Glass – Visual Appearance
Combination of hot-bent, single corner cold-bent and free-form cold-bent glass:

Free-form shape cold-bent structural silicone glazed façades (partially hot bent-glass is used)
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Single-Corner Cold Bent - Warp Modes Summary

Local Warp Modes in relation to global facade models – Architectural Implications

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Single Corner Cold-Bent - Warp Modes
 Warp Mode 1 (center warp ˃ 0)
 Warp Mode 2 (center warp = 0)
 Warp Mode 3 (center warp ˂ 0)

Analysis approaches for varying geometries and support conditions

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Single Corner Cold-Bent - Warp Modes
Local warp (plate buckling) function of:
 Glass panel geometry
 Glass thickness
 Support conditions
 Degree of edge warping.

01

36
200
71 150

100

Local Warp Modes in relation to global facade models – Architectural Implications

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 Thank You Benjamin Beer
Technical Director

Meinhardt Façade Technology

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

benjamin.beer@mfacade.com

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