Using glass elements as designated members of the structural design of buildings does not only require conscientious planning of structural redundancies, but also proof of safety for single components. In reality, random loads act in an unknown combination on a component, which is not directly resembled by the modelling process a priori. Hence, understanding the mechanical behaviour of glass components under probabilistic combination of static and dynamic loads is required. To serve this understanding best, the most critically loaded component of a glass shelter was examined experimentally by exposing extracted specimens to on-surface lateral loads and in-plane compressive loads simultaneously. Additionally, in-plane compressive loads were combined with soft-body impacts.
This combination of static loads with short-term lateral loads is interesting in terms of stability and the residual load bearing capacity. The results show how compressive in-plane loads increase stress and deformation according to first and second order deformations and indicate that premature stability failure occurs due to soft-body impacting.