Today's architecture still shows a growing desire for "demateriatised" building envelopes and components. Therefore, glass is widely used in facades. To achieve even greater transparency, engineers and architects are faced with the challenge of having to design nearly invisible connections for this brittle material. Acrylates permit transparent connections with a high optical quality.

During a research project the lnstitute of Building Construction has already examined the performance of light- and UV-curing acrylates in glass constructions in which different adhesives have been tested. A special focus was given to static and dynamic stress of the lamination, the strengths of the different adhesive samples and the ageing resistance of the joints. These adhesives are analysed both generally as bulk material and in applications as a joint between glass and metaL The use of dumb-bell specimens is recommended to analyze the material behaviour under a variety of influential factors such as temperature and testing speed.
A matter of particular interest was the testing of in situ specimens. To determine the material properties of bonded joints, different specimens with varying geometries can be used. In case of glass construction configurations, the butt-bonded hollow cylinder is particular suitable. The construction had to be modified for joints connecting glass components. Constructions having punctually bonded joints are tested to demonstrate the potential use of acrylic joints in glass treatments. Some components are exposed to natural weathering in order to examine the affects of ageing on the adhesive.