Thermal stress and fracture of building glass

The finite element method was used to calculate the temperature and stress fields of building glass that is exposed to solar radiation. A number of factors that influence the temperature field and the stress field of building glass, such as absorptivity of glass, solar intensity, dimensions of glass pane, shadow on glass pane, boundary conditions and edge cover of frame, are identified and investigated. The calculated results are tested by experiment. Characteristics of thermal fracture of building glass are obtained which can be useful to determine the type of fracture of building glass, and the formula of maximum tensile stress in the glass pane are obtained which can be used to design building glass against thermal fracture.