Glass is a fascinating material with maximum transparency and high strength. All-glass structures and glass façades are getting more impressive and increasingly popular with architects and engineers. Nevertheless, the fire resistance of structures made of soda lime silicate glass is still unregulated and not yet comprehensively studied. A common outcome in experimental fire resistance tests is a melted interlayer within a few minutes of exposure to fire. The most relevant safety aspect is lost. From this point of view, the fire resistance of laminated glass beams is negligible. The glass and the interlayer start to melt within the first 10 minutes in case of fire. To meet the high fire requirements, alternative safety systems such as sprinkler systems must be used in most cases. Therefore, new fire-resistant load-bearing glass beams are under development and examined within a joint research project between Hero-Fire GmbH, Taupitz GmbH & Co. KG and Technische Universität Dresden. Normative assessment of the fire resistance of load-bearing laminated safety glass.
This paper presents the conceptual idea of these beams, how they work in case of fire and gives an overview about the possible applications in building industry. Additionally, a guide to assessing the fire resistance of glass structures according to the European standards is included. This guide is a detailed overview of different standards and how they are connected to each other. Furthermore, a detailed list of all necessary experimental examinations to assess the fire resistance of the components is presented. As an outlook, the proposed fire-resistant glass beams will undergo further assessment to proof their fire resistance while maintaining high transparency and strength at the same time.