Abstract Among the open design issues for structural laminated glass (LG) elements, their mechanical performance during fire exposure stands as a safety concern. This issue is the focus of this… Click to show full abstract
Abstract Among the open design issues for structural laminated glass (LG) elements, their mechanical performance during fire exposure stands as a safety concern. This issue is the focus of this paper. An experimental investigation is conducted to evaluate the effect of non-uniform thermal gradients on the out-of-plane bending capacity of standard LG specimens. The pre-fracture, cracking, and post-fracture performances of LG panels were examined using a three-point bending setup. The bending tests were carried out on un-heated LG samples and heated samples, which were either hot or cooled down. The reliability of available analytical and numerical methods to predict the out-of-plane bending performance of LG is then investigated. The accuracy of the analytical and numerical methods was found to be highly affected by the non-uniform thermal boundaries, as well as by the assigned material properties, which are highly sensitive to the fire exposure.
               
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