RESEARCH
Thin ´Smartphone Glass´ as Façade Glazing Research undertaken at TU Delft and TU Dresden in the field of novel thin glass applications in the building industry shows promising results. Thin glass can be applied as an adaptive façade glazing system, thereby providing appealing glazing solutions which can change their shape in function of external parameters. Moreover, thin glass in combination with 3D-printed polymer cores offer strong and stiff yet very lightweight composite façade glazing panels with an appealing appearance. Benefit of such panels is their ease of installation, reduction in transport energy and possibilities for sun-shading and daylighting control within the design of the 3D-printed core. Further studies are currently being developed.
Researchers and students at the TU Delft and the TU Dresden are exploring the possibilities for using very thin glass for architectural applications. The basic idea is to adopt thin glass that is normally applied on smartphones and apply it in the building industry. The benefit of this thin ‘smartphone glass’ is its small thickness of around 0.5 mm, its high strength
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and its high flexibility. This provides the opportunity for the creation of very lightweight yet strong façade glazing. Compared to traditional glazing a significant weight reduction is thus obtained, which directly translates into easier installation and less transport energy. Also, due to its high flexibility, the glass can easily be bent at room temperature,
without the need for cost and energy intensive hot shaping techniques. This offers opportunities for an easy creation of architectural appealing curvatures and the creation of adaptive and flexible façade glazing. The research follows two distinct routes, which are explained in this article.