FEM Modeling of Point-Supported Glass

Glass structures have been used for a long time to make partitions and facades, and recently they are increasingly used in load-bearing elements. Modern architecture often requires slender and lighter structures where glass has much to offer with its high compressive strength and transparency. Glass is a material characterized by brittle failure in tension, and therefore a detailed stress analysis is very important. The problem of local stress concentration is especially emphasized around the holes of point-supported structures. Finite element discretization of irregular geometric regions or concentrated force application points can be critical since stresses increase dramatically as the mesh is refined. High-stress gradients can serve as a warning sign meaning that the results are not physically meaningful. This paper deals with four strategies for modeling point-supported heat-strengthened glass and treating stress singularity in the software package Dlubal RFEM. The obtained results were analyzed and recommendations for practical application were given.