Glass Competence Center

GCC

Glass and Polymer Research

Glass and plastics have now gained a firm foothold as structural materials in the field of engineering. When glass is used in construction, the main feature is usually its high degree of transparency. The special material properties of glass and, above all, its brittleness, require special attention in construction, design and dimensioning.

GCC – Glass Competence Center

The Glass Competence Center brings together the expertise of the Institute of Structural Mechanics and Design (ISM+D) and the Materials Testing Institute (MPA-IfW) at TU Darmstadt in the field of structural glass engineering.

Miriam Schuster,
Junior Research Group Leader Glass and Polymers

Glass in the building industry has long since ceased to be limited to classic windows. Ever larger glass formats are leading to almost completely transparent building envelopes. Ever thinner glass panes enable flexible structures. 3D printed glass elements enable new connection details. Vacuum insulating glass combines slim glass structures with good structural-physical properties. Glass-polymer laminates ensure residual load-bearing behavior in the event of glass breakage.

Main Topics

The Glass Competence Center brings together interdisciplinary expertise in materials development, quality assurance, sustainable construction, and digital technologies in glass engineering – ranging from innovative glass products and advanced joining techniques to forward-looking approaches such as circular economy and artificial intelligence.

The current research projects of the GAP team are:

Glass Products	Product Qualification	Polymeric Materials	Glass Strength and Quality	Sustainability	Other Topics
Laminated Safety Glass (LSG)	Testing – Monitoring – Certification	Glued All-Glass Constructions	Surface and Edge Strength	Reuse/Repurpose	Artificial Intelligence
Insulating Glass Units (IGU)	Standardization	Polymeric Interlayers for LSG	Thermal Fracture	Remanufacture	Glass 3D Printing
Vacuum insulating Glass (VIG)			Inclusions in Glass	Reduce
Thin Glass			Tempered Glass	Recycle
			Photoelasticity and Anisotropy

Links & Downloads

Head

	Name	Contact
	Dr.-Ing. Matthias Seel Head of Research Group Glass	seel@ismd.tu-... +49 6151 16-23015 L5\|06 661
	Dr.-Ing. Miriam Schuster Glass and polymers \| Substitute professor in structural analysis (01.11.2023 - 31.03.2024)	schuster@ismd.tu-... +49 6151 16-23013 L5\|06 628
	Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Kraus Chair of Structural Analysis	kraus@ismd.tu-... +49 6151 16-23013 L5\|06 620

Team

	Name	Contact
	Isabell Ayvaz M.Sc.	ayvaz@ismd.tu-... +49 6151 16-23032 L5\|06 607
	Leon Bohmann M.Sc.	bohmann@ismd.tu-... +49 6151 16-23035 L506 626
	Christin Gandyra M.Sc.	gandyra@ismd.tu-... +49 6151 16-23019 L5\|06 632
	Nils Meinhard, M.Sc.	meinhard@ismd.tu-... +49 6151 16-23014 L5\|06 659
	Franz Paschke M.Sc.	paschke@ismd.tu-... +49 6151 16-23062 L5\|06 665
	Dr.-Ing. Alexander Pauli	pauli@ismd.tu-...
	Dr.-Ing. Timon Peters	peters@ismd.tu-... +49 6151 16-23017 L5\|06 609
	Hans Ignacio Scholz Campos, M.Sc.	scholz@ismd.tu-... +49 6151 16-23014 L5\|06 659
	Kerstin Thiele M.Eng.	thiele@ismd.tu-... +49 6151 16-23014 L5\|06 659