Fire Resistance Testing of a Timber-Glass Composite Beam

Glass structures have been increasingly utilised in modern construction for decades with load-bearing walls or facades as the most common elements. However, the use of glass beams has recently been given more attention but its application as load-bearing elements has been limited by the low tensile resistance, its brittle behaviour during failure and concerns of its performance in case of fire. Parts of these aspects can be covered by using Timber-Glass composites beams, with timber flanges and a glass web. Previous research and practical application show high potential for this type of composites in ambient temperatures but its performance in fire has not yet been assessed and thus not completely understood. This study describes what to our knowledge is the first full scale fire resistance tests of Timber-Glass composites beams. These tests results are also analysed using finite-element simulations in order to understand the mechanisms of failure during the tests. It was shown that adding a timber flange to a glass web can have severe complications for the fire resistance, however, there are many possible ways to circumvent these issues.