Structural engineering FEA software RFEM is the basis of a modular software system. RFEM is used to define structures, materials, and loads for planar and spatial structural systems consisting of plates, walls, shells and members. The program also allows you to create combined structures as well as model solid and contact elements.
RF-GLASS calculates deformation and stresses of any formed and curved glass surfaces. It is possible to create all glazing types in the module, not only single layer glass, but also laminated and insulating glass.
There is an extensive material library available, including all common types of glass, foil, and gas.
Designs are performed according to the following standards:
An architectural highlight of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is the glass atrium.
The glass facade and the glass skylight are supported entirely by the cable structure. The design was conceived as a cello’s strings fanning over a bridge and fret-board.
The railway station forecourt at Piazza Garibaldi has six hectares in size and includes parks, gardens and fountains.
Between 2005 and 2013, it was restructured along with the metro station of the same name.
The art project Solhjul ("Sun wheel") by the Danish artist Bo Karberg is inspired by an archaeological find of a 5,000‑year old disk wheel in Pilkmosen near Give, Denmark.
The sculpture of 12m-high steel and glass wheel in Give is now the new symbol of the town.
Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA, contains the largest collection of Dalí’s artwork outside Spain.
The architectural highlight is the "Enigma," a glazed atrium that drapes over the side of the boxy reinforced concrete building.
Baku Flame Towers is a striking complex of high‑rise buildings in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan.
The complex consists of three 190‑m‑high towers in shape of a flame as a symbol of several oil wells in the region.
The new headquarters of the Baden farmers' association (BLHV) in Freiburg, Germany, is a unique building.
The timber structure is protected by a glass façade to counteract graying caused by weather conditions.
Four different point-supported glass chandeliers are focal points of the newly renovated shopping mall at Keystone, Indianapolis, USA.
Each chandelier consists of hanging glass plates, which are point-supported from brackets on stainless steel rings.
The transparency of glass material should not be missing in any building. In addition to the typical application areas such as windows, this building material is being increasingly used for facades, canopies, or even as a bracing for stairways. Of course, the planning architects often set a very high standard of transparency on fixation of the glass panes. This requires special glass fittings that couple the glass panes.
As mentioned in Part 1 of the article, the current standard for glass structures DIN 18008-3 requires point-supported fittings for glass components created using FEM in order to design the sufficient load-bearing capacity. The rules are described in Annex B of the standard [1].
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Product Video: RF-GLASS Add-on Module
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