Technical Information

Structural bonded glass corners with

Dow Corning® Silicones

Typical silicone based materials for structural bonded glass corners are either the
bi-component Dow Corning® 993 or the mono-component Dow Corning® 895.

Applications with mono-component silicone Dow Corning® 895 are only

recommended for single glass panels (float glass, laminated glass, tempered
glass) or IG units with metal spacers.

Chemical compatibility has to be ensured between the secondary sealant of the

IG unit and the Dow Corning materials for structural bonding. Only UV resistant
silicones like Dow Corning® 3362 (bi-component) or Dow Corning® 3793 (mono-
component) can be used.

It is not permitted to exceed the maximum combined design stress of 0.14 MPa
within the structural sealant joint. Only dynamic loads like wind loads (wind suck
and wind pressure) or working loads are permitted. Permanent loads on the
structural sealant, like dead loads, are not allowed.

Four different construction types are possible for structural bonded glass corners:

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 Technical Information
Structural bonded glass corners with
Dow Corning® Silicones

Glass corner example 1:

Stepped IG unit
(position #2)
pacified with
Dow Corning® 895
or
Dow Corning® 993

Backerod

Dow Corning® 895

or
Dow Corning® 993

Figure 1: Glass corner example 1 - for one stepped IG unit and one standard IG unit

Explanations for example 1 - one stepped IG unit and one standard IG unit:

The recommended parameters:

- Stepped IG unit should be pacified on position #2 with Dow Corning® 895
or Dow Corning® 993
- Secondary sealants of the IG unit have to be UV-resistant silicone based
sealants like Dow Corning® 3793 or Dow Corning® 3362
- close celled backerod have to be used
- joint bite: ≥ 8mm
- joint thickness: 10mm to 12mm; maximum 14mm for monocomponent

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 Technical Information
Structural bonded glass corners with
Dow Corning® Silicones

Glass corner example 2:

Backerod

Dow Corning® 895

or
Dow Corning® 993

Figure 2: Glass corner example 2 - for stepped IG units

Explanations for example 2 - stepped IG units:

The recommended parameters:

- Stepped IG units; bevel of stepped IG unit has to be filled with structural
silicone sealant in advance
- Secondary sealants of the IG unit have to be UV-resistant silicone based
sealants like Dow Corning® 3793 or Dow Corning® 3362
- close celled backerod have to be used
- joint thickness: ≥ 8mm
- joint bite: 10mm to 12mm; maximum 14mm for monocomponent

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 Technical Information
Structural bonded glass corners with
Dow Corning® Silicones

Glass corner example 3a / 3b:

Dow Corning® 895

or
Dow Corning® 993
joint thickness
≥ 8mm

Figure 3a: Glass corner example 3a - for single glass panes

glass thickness Backerod

≥ 24mm

Glass pacified with

Dow Corning® 895
Dow Corning® 895 or
or Dow Corning® 993
Dow Corning® 993

Figure 3b: Glass corner example 3b - for glass thickness ≥ 24mm

Explanations for example 3a / 3b – single glass panes:

The recommended parameters:

- close celled backerod have to be used for glass panes with more than
24mm glass thickness
- joint thickness: ≥ 8mm
- joint bite: ≤ 14mm for mono-component sealant Dow Corning® 895

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 Technical Information
Structural bonded glass corners with
Dow Corning® Silicones

Dow Corning® product information:

For mono-component materials like Dow Corning ® 895 maximum joint bite is around
14mm. To grant an exemption it is permitted to carry out higher joint bites than 14mm if
there are more working steps guaranteed. That means the first applied joint with 14mm
bite has to be fully cured before the second application is carried out. At +20°C / 50% r.h.
the curing depths of the sealant can be estimated with 12mm in 10 days.
To avoid curing problems for one-component materials it is not permitted to apply joints
with less than 8mm joint thickness and higher joint bite than 14mm. This can cause
failures - for example shrinking cracks, bubbles, gaps or delaminations.
For bi-component materials like Dow Corning ® 993 there are no joint bite limitations
given. Applications with deep joint bites Dow Corning ® 993 can be filled within one
working step.

Backerod material:
Recommended backerod materials are closed celled Polyethylene (PE) backerods. In
this case it is essential that the joint is fully applied without gaps or air bubbles. This is
very important because any condensation water within the gap can harm the long term
functionality of the IG unit. In this case the IG manufacturer has to explicitly approve the
structure.
Alternative silicon based hollow sections can be used. Openings on the top and on the
bottom must ensure air circulation and draining of condensation water within the joint.

Surface pretreatment:
If stepped IG units are used with backerod materials and sealants different colour
shades would be visible through the glass. To ensure a optical uniform look of the
stepped IG units it is possible to .pacify the glass steps. That means the step of the IG
unit is covered with a 1 to 2mm thick homogenous sealant layer. Cure time for the thin
sealant layer is around 24 hours under normal room conditions (+23°C / 50% r.h.).
During production of the stepped IG unit it is already possible to pacify the step of the IG
unit (position #2) with Dow Corning® 3362 or Dow Corning® 3793.

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 Technical Information
Structural bonded glass corners with
Dow Corning® Silicones

Before applying the material it must be ensured, that all surfaces are dry, clean, dust-
free and degreased. We recommend Dow Corning® R40 cleaner (additional details of
cleaning procedures are shown in the Dow Corning® Structural Glazing Manual).
In general dust, grease, oils, liquids, ice and any other possible dirt have to be avoided.
Recommended application temperature of Dow Corning® 895 or Dow Corning® 993 are
+5°C to +40°C.

Curing phase:
Proper curing for the structural sealant bonding has to be ensured. There is no stress or
movement allowed before total curing. If the application takes place on site the structure
has to be mechanically fixed to avoid any stress or movement until complete curing of
the sealing.

Calculation:
Calculations of structural bonded glass corners have to be calculated regarding linear
bedding. Dead loads of the glass have to be supported with adequate glass unit
beddings (setting blocks). The joint is not to be affected by stress.
Regarding the calculation methods of the European Guideline for Strucutural Sealant
Glazing ETAG 002 it is recommended to use calculation for vertical structural bondings.

Formula In the case that the glass is… :

1 W
PE = B×H × linear bedded on three sides
2 (B + H )

1 linear bedded on two horizontal sides

PE = H ×W and
2 the glass height < glass width

1 linear bedded on two horizontal sides

PE = B ×W and
2 the glass unit height > glass width
1
PE = B ×W linear bedded on the other vertical side
2

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 Technical Information
Structural bonded glass corners with
Dow Corning® Silicones

Legend for formulas:

PE linear load impact [kN/m] – is taken over from the structural bonding
B glass width [m]
H glass height [m]
W maximum windload [kPa]

The calculation of the linear load impact of the IG unit can be separated for both single
glass panels. The maximum windload is calculated for only one glass panel. The
calculated structural sealant joint has to overtake all mentioned load impacts. Therefore
the allowed design stresses for Dow Corning® 895 and Dow Corning® 993 are shown in
the table below:

Dow Corning® 993

Dow Corning® 895

Design stress in tension 0.14 MPa

Design stress in dynamic shear 0.11 MPa
Allowed combined stress 0.14 MPa

For calculation it is allowed to assume either the inner joint or the outer joint of the glass
corner. For this purpose the different impacts like pull stress or shear stress have to be
considered.

The minimum structural joint dimension is calculated by following formula:

 kN 
PE  
b[mm] > m
allowedstress[MPa ]

For structural bonded glass corners like shown in example 2 the resulting linear load
impact has to be split into the tear stress σ and shear stress τ. With these values the
comparing design stress can be calculated using the following formulas:

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 Technical Information
Structural bonded glass corners with
Dow Corning® Silicones

σ V = σ 2 + 3τ 2 with σV < 0.14 MPa.

The linear load can be assumed to be continuous through the complete height if the
deflection is lower than H/100.

If IG units are used the secondary sealant has to be calculated to take over the wind and
climatic loads. More information for these calculations can be found in the Dow
Corning® IG Manual.

Structural bonded glass corners without dead load support

Sometimes it is not easy to take over the dead load support of the glass because of the
construction of the structural bonded glass corner. If there is no metal post integrated
into the glass corner (this could support the dead load impact) the dead load support is
only possible through the force transmission of neighboring posts.

There are three different possibilities given.

a) mechanical solution:

Dead load caused through vertical impact is transferred through a mechanically fixed
bedding to the post. The horizontal impact caused through the torque is transferred
through mechanical fixed bedding in the top of the post. In this solution no permanent
load must be taken over by the structural bonding of the glass corner.

b) Structural bonded solution:

Dead load caused through vertical impact is transferred through mechanically fixed
bedding to the profile. Further impacts are taken over through the structural bonding to
the profiles. In this case the structural bonding has permanent shear load. The structural
bonding has to be carried out with Dow Corning® 993 which is tested and approved
regarding ETAG 002, the static dimensioning must also consider the permanet load.

To simplify the calculation it can be assumed that the post is bending resistant.
Additionally it is assumed that there are pin supported transoms fixed to the post.

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 Technical Information
Structural bonded glass corners with
Dow Corning® Silicones

3⋅G ⋅ B
Minimum width of the structural bite: jo int with ≥
τ ⋅ H (6 B + H )

Joint thickness ≥ 6mm

c) Absolute structural bonded solution:

Equivalent to solution b) but without any bedding.

3⋅G ⋅ B
Minimum structural bite for the transom: jo int with ≥
τ ⋅ H (6 B + H )

3⋅G ⋅ B G
Minimum structural bite for the post: jo int with ≥ +
τ ⋅ H (6 B + H ) τ ⋅ H

Joint thickness ≥ 6mm

G = dead load of the glass [N]

H = height of glass [mm]
B = width of glass [mm]
T = allowed stress with permanent load impact for Dow Corning ® 993 = 0.011MPa

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 Technical Information
Structural bonded glass corners with
Dow Corning® Silicones

Wal Post Statically

active bonding
a) b) c)

Bedding Bedding

For further information please contact the technical department:

Dow Corning S.A.

Parc Industriel – Zone C
B - 7180 Seneffe

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