Flexural behaviour of glass panels under dead load and uniform lateral pressure

In the present paper the experimental results relative to flexural tests on out-of-plane loaded large scale panels made of laminated structural glass are presented and discussed. Glass panels are parts of the structural façade of the Fontanarossa International Airport of Catania (Italy). Panels are mounted on a rigid testing frame and loaded with an uniformly distributed lateral pressure. Two different kinds of tests were carried-out, cyclic and monotonic, able to reproduce the serviceability and the ultimate conditions of the glass panels when subjected to the coupled effects of dead load and horizontal forces, the latter reproducing the wind action. Results obtained focused the high performances of structural glasses for structural applications (structural façade) characterised by multiple and progressive failure that did not interest the bearing points neither the zone of the shell near the supports. From a theoretical point of view a simple model based on the structural behaviour of equivalent beams is proposed able to take into account of the flexural behaviour of glass panes including catenary action. The comparison between experimental, analytical and numerical results obtained with non-linear finite element analyses shows good agreement. Finally, the proposed model appears an useful tool for preliminary design of glass panels for practicing engineers.