ABSTRACT
The increasing knowledge on the mechanical behaviour of glass as well as the continuous improvement on manufacturing and refining processes has encouraged its broader use as a structural element. The unique co mbination of transparency with high stiffness and com pressive strength is hi ghly appreciated thus a number of strategies are being developed to counteract its brittleness. Recent investi gations on the post breakage behaviour of glass focus on the co nsequences of failure rather than the probability of failure (Louter, 2011). Only then does the high safety factor commonly adopted for structural glass applications may be di minished, reducing the need for sacrifici al layers and increasing the overall structural robustness. This design philosophy that assumes the possibility of an accident while controlling its dam ages was originally imported from the aeronautics (Schittich et al., 1999) with a pract ical aim to approach glass behaviour to the other ty pically structural materials such as steel or reinforced concrete. After a maximum stress is reached the structural element starts to visually deform , gradually instead of suddenly, still carrying load for the necessary amount of ti me to b e replaced. It is achieved by combining glass with ductile materials such as steel by means of an adhesive interface.
