Experimental analysis on steel reinforced glass beams at different temperatures

Abstract

Whereas glass components were used as infill elements in the past, contemporary architectural concepts include glass components as load-bearing elements. Recent architectural trends and technological developments have brought about unprecedented opportunities in the use of glass in buildings. The increasingly daring structural applications of glass will continue to drive the development of structural glass elements with high post-failure resistances. The present work aims to explore the concepts of structural performance of glass beams and the effectiveness of an embedded steel reinforcement system. The reinforcement system consists in embedding perforated stainless steel plates in the lamination process. The experimental study focuses on the effect of thermal actions and compares the use of soft foils and stiff foils (temperature ranging from approximately 16 ºC to 85 ºC).