Hybrid glass-acrylic façade struts

To support the glass façade of a recent building extension to the previously existing structure, two 2.7 m long transparent struts have been designed. These will replace the steel struts that are currently in place. The tubular struts consist of a unique hybrid of an outer acrylic tube and an inner tube of borosilicate glass, transferring both compressive and tensile forces without the use of steel parts. The acrylic tube is the primary load carrying element, making the element much less sensitive to incidental damage, whereas the glass tube inside prevents buckling. The glass tube was welded together to obtain the required length. The ends of the tube were hot shaped according to a custom design to create opportunities to connect the tube to acrylic head pieces. Three 1:1 scale prototypes were manufactured and experimentally tested in compression, tension and shock loading. In all these loading situations, the struts provided significant postfailure strength.