Abstract
In recent years, glass has been a largely used material for load-bearing or non-structural components in buildings and constructions. For this reason, dedicated calculation methods and approaches are required for the major loading and boundary conditions that are of technical interest for safe design purposes. Among others, the resistance and mechanical performance of glass elements under fire exposure still represents an open challenge. This paper elaborates on the failure detection methods for out-of-plane loaded glass panels that are subjected to fire loading and simultaneous mechanical loads. As known, the conventional method for thermal failure detection is based on the maximum temperature gradient in glass, and its comparison with a set of allowable standardized values. However, especially for ordinary glass components in buildings that are required to sustain combined mechanical loads, the overall structural performance is even more complex to predict. This design issue is given to a combination of pure mechanical aspects (i.e., sustained loads and corresponding stress–strain analysis) and thermo-physical phenomena, that depend on the progressive modification of material properties while increasing temperatures. This research study, accordingly, investigates the sensitivity of input parameters on the failure time of a given glass element under fire and sustained mechanical loads. A major advantage is taken from finite element (FE) numerical analyses and standardized failure detection methods of literature, that are selected for comparative purposes. Further, the paper also introduces the “stress approach” that can be used to quantify (in place of the conventional thermal gradient) the actual effects of assigned thermal exposure and mechanical loads.
Highlights
This design issue is given to a combination of pure mechanical aspects and thermo-physical phenomena, that depend on the progressive modification of material properties while increasing temperatures
A major advantage is taken from finite element (FE) numerical analyses and standardized failure detection methods of literature, that are selected for comparative purposes
Given that the experimental setup in [4] was affected by the presence of unprotected steel restraints for glass, the current investigation is primarily focused on linearly supported elements with edge restraints that do not suffer from direct fire exposure
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Ordinary soda-lime silica glass is increasingly being used in buildings as secondary infill of structural frames and as a load-bearing material for building components like floors, roofs, walls, and columns that can be subjected to a multitude of permanent/accidental mechanical loads and combinations In this regard, extended recommendations for structural design are in continuous development and elaboration [1,2]. Ordinary glass finds novel applications in buildings, and major uncercover all the possible load/boundary conditions or combinations with different materials. It is worth noting,available in this regard, that a large amount research efforts reported those studies are focused on the investigation (experimental, analytical, or numerical) of literature is already available for ordinary glass in fire conditions Validated to experiments can be developed in support of design (Figure 1b and [16,17])
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
