Prediction of seismic cracking capacity of glazing systems

This research formulates a closed-form equation to predict a glass panel cracking failure drift for several curtain wall and storefront systems. An evaluation of the ASCE 7-10 equation for Dclear, which is the drift corresponding to glass-to-frame contact, shows that the kinematic modeling assumed for formulation of the equation is sound. The equation proposed in this paper builds on the ASCE equation and offers a revision of that equation to predict drift corresponding to cracking failure by considering glazing characteristics such as glass type, glass panel configuration, and system type. The formulation of the proposed equation and corresponding analyses with the ASCE equation is based on compiled experimental data of twenty-two different glass systems configurations tested over the past decade. A final comparative analysis between the ASCE equation and the proposed equation shows that the latter can predict the drift corresponding to glass cracking failure more accurately.