Glass Canopy in Požega, Croatia

The glass canopy is covering the main entrance of probably the first multi-story steel structure in the small town of Požega, Croatia.

Fig.1 - Main entrance view

The structure has been designed by dipl.ing.građ. Darko Domičić, from Domino Dizajn d.o.o.

You can find out more about their impressive structures on their official website.

The structure is supported by four point connections, two flexible supports on top and two rigid at the lower side.

Fig.2 - Glass canopy side view

A dilatation joint is present between the two laminated glass panes

Fig.3 - Glass Panes Joint detail

SCIA Engineer 18.1 was used to determine the stress and deflection in the 3D model and to design all structural elements.

The 3D model is created with linear (1D) members for modelling the steel supports and surface (2D) members for the laminated glass panes.

Fig.4 - Full FEM model of Glass Canopy

The structure has been designed for the combinations of Self-weight, Snow and Wind. In the picture below we can observe the stress concentration that builds around the point connection.

Fig.5 Principle stress distribution in laminated glass pane

Because glass is a brittle material with no possibility of accepting local yielding it was essential to make sure that the stresses are bellow the capacity.

Fig.6 The 3D deformation of the structure.

The analysis of deflection is also important to ensure a proper usage of the canopy without causing fear for its users.

For the capacity check of the glass panes the laminated glass module GD.02 has been used.

The laminated glass used was build from two heat-strengthen glass panes and a PVB foil of 1.52 mm belonging to Family 1 Type.

Fig.7 Laminated Glass package configuration.

The structure was checked according to the European prEN16612 and in the image below the unity check is displayed for every shell element.

Fig.8 Unity check for structural glass.

The rest of the steel elements have been designed according to EN 1993-1 using SCIA Engineer Steel Design Module.

"Thanks to the multi-material design capabilities of SCIA Engineer, it was very easy to provide a professional and transparent engineering report in Croatian that covered all design stages including checks according to Eurocode and other European Standards."

dipl.ing.građ. Darko Domičić, manager at Domino Dizajn

Thank you Domino Dizajn for sharing the project with us and we wish you further success in the design of your future projects.

If you would like to test the glass module for yourself you can use this form to order a 30 days FREE Trial license.