Curved glass panels for façades with a high optical quality that can be individually adapted to free-form shapes and are invisibly fixed from the outside can be realised without complex factory bending processes. The process, which the Institute of Building Construction at TU Dresden is presenting at glasstec 2024 in cooperation with Polartherm Flachglas and Contura Ingenieure facilitates industrial production and application in façades.
Cold-bent insulating glass panes in combination with an invisible load-bearing bond to the substructure make it possible. The BOND2BEND research project uses flat insulating glass units bonded to a carrier that is able to transmit short and long-term loads. On the construction site, these s can be screwed onto the curved substructure via the adapter and thus forced into the shape. They are able to assume the function of insulating glazing with visually outstanding quality and invisible fastening. Their high degree of prefabrication also speeds up installation on site.
The demonstrator shows a section of a curved façade consisting of three cold-bent insulating glass units. The glass is connected to the timber adapter and its screw connection to the substructure via the load-bearing adhesive bond. The construction does not require any additional mechanical brackets or blocks.
