Adhesively bonded reinforced glass beams

Researchers at the faculty of Architecture at Delft University of Technology have developed an unconventional construction method for large span structural glass beams based on two concepts: 1) glass beams are reinforced with a small stainless steel section bonded at the tensile zone, 2) large spans are created by adhesively bonding overlapping glass segments. The effect of cross-section geometry, reinforcement geometry and glass-reinforcement bond on the structural behaviour of the beams has been investigated experimentally by bend tests on several small and large scale specimens. The knowledge gained from these experiments will be implemented in the design of an 18 m adhesively bonded reinforced glass beam, which is planned to be constructed to validate the concepts for large span glass beams.