The Integrated Approach to Structural Glass Safety Applied to Glass Beams

This paper presents a safety classification of 14 different of glass beam designs based on experimental research, using the Integrated Approach to Structural Glass Safety (introduced by the author, [1], [2]). The design parameters included the number of layers (2 or 3), the level of prestress (annealed, heat strengthened, thermally tempered), and laminate type (PVB or SG). Additionally, steel reinforced glass beams were tested. Three different methods were applied to obtain complete redundancy curves (development of residual strength under increasing levels of damage): 4-point bending after no, partial, or full damage. The damage was applied by a custom made impact device consisting of a spring loaded flat steel head that impacted the edges of the glass layers of the beams. The resulting Element Safety Diagrams of each design is discussed. Relativized curves are used to compare the safety of the designs.