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| Originally Posted by atomare the patio doors on the maindeck of "sunray" for instance should not be made from 5m high glass panels, but have a division and supporting structure on the inside. |
5m headroom is spectacular. I guessed the doors themselves would be more human sized. The comment I made previously was geared more toward the angled doors on the 60m...be careful that whoever needs to open the doors don't bang their heads on the glass before their hands reach the handle, or maybe you have envisioned an infra-red system that opens the doors automatically before said head / glass interface. Glass that can be made opaque at the flick of a switch would solve the issue of hanging curtains on an angled door too, thats if curtains are as back in vogue as they seem to be. (blinds on tracks are very difficult to engineer on a door that slides open)
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| Originally Posted by atomare The big windows in the hull of the "gorgeous" concept on the other hand would indeed become a problem, unless they could be shut completely in stormy seas. Btw. Can you still see through 150mm thick laminated glass  ? .. Even though the fact, that it is bullet proof might be a nice side effect... If the windows have to be smaller on the inside, they should be also on the outside, there are so many yachts out there with fake windows... I don`t think that adds to the beauty of the structure, what brings me back to "honest construction".  |
Yes you can see through 150mm laminated glass (I stress that 150mm is no more than a stab in the dark, a conceptual take on your concept)
The question is more of can it be made, what will it cost and can your project afford the weight...more importantly can it afford the weight at the height it is relative to the optimum VCG. Storm shutters are an accepted way of appeasing the ruling bodies but with thinner glass...where you could stow barn door sized shutters is another question
As to false windows...I'll take my NA hat off and put my styling hat on...they can serve a styling purpose, honestly. A window band that really makes the profile live, may span internal areas that you just cant see out of...galleys, stairways, walk-in wardrobes, bulkhead positions, trunking etc etc. So instead of extremely thick glass weight and cost wasted in these areas, you could just install nominal 6mm glass on the outside to get the exterior look....or (less honest but from a distance just as convincing) just spray the local area a colour that best matches the look of the adjacent genuine glass from the outside.
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| Originally Posted by atomare is there a rule of thumb for the thickness of the glass window in relation to its size? |
No, theres no rule of thumb I'm afraid. Put simply, glass thickness is clearly defined within rules and regulations depending on...
Applicable rules in force at time of build.
Size of vessel as described within said rules.
Area of operation said vessel will be operating in.
Area of said vessel that the windows are positioned in (fwd facing, sidedecks, aft facing, fwd or aft of midships, hull or first, second or third tier of superstructure etc.
Storm shutters fitted or not, and so on.
RINA Charter Rules, MCA, ABS, Bureau Veritas, Lloyds, Solas etc all have relevant sections on this topic, and not all agree with each other which adds to the fun. Most of these bodies will quote formulae based on either monolithic, thermally or chemically toughened glass, or laminated glass, but its been recently shown that the resultant thicknesses can be reduced yet approved if testing is carried out to the authorities satisfaction. Most calcs are based on a pressure head.
An example (from memory)....120 ft yacht, hull side window toward the fwd end, unsupported clear area 1100mm long, 600mm high (aspect ratio roughly 2:1).....30mm thick laminated glass complies with RINA charter with no need for storm shutters...well it does this year anyway.