Development of reinforced and posttensioned glass beams: review of experimental research

The use of structural glass in buildings is a growing trend, especially with glass beams, which are increasingly used to support roofs, floors, and glazed facades. However, beams consisting of glass laminates only expose a brittle behavior. To overcome this, research has been performed during the last decade to create structural glass beams with enhanced failure behavior. Among a variety of developments, the application of concepts obtained from concrete construction is very promising. Reinforced and posttensioned glass beams were developed and investigated, yielding good results with respect to failure behavior. This paper gives an overview of the research performed on both types up till now. For reinforced glass beams, categorization is made according to the different reinforcement materials. Although remarkable differences in structural performance exist between the different approaches, the majority of the concepts illustrated an enhanced failure behavior, characterized by significant postfracture strength and sufficient ductility. This enhanced robustness on element level is a huge step forward for the application of structural glass beams in practice. However, additional research and optimization is still required to arrive at practical application.