Ultimate Situations and Postbreakage Behaviour of Laminted Glass

The office of RFR has an international reputation for its unusual and exploratory approach to projects, which is generally characterized by a strong conjunction of architecture and engineering. Many of these projects are noted for their use of glass in ultimate situations, an issue that has been uppermost in RFR's philosophy from the very first projects. For this, one needs to go beyond a mastering of the materials standard or initial resistance and integrate a fuller understanding of the residual containment and the damage tolerance of the glass after breakage. Many of the projects are within the confines of the public sector, a position that necessitates all the more, a need for the security of people on the inside and outside of the building. This factor plus the evolution of a need for climatic safety, demonstrated recently in the storm of December 1999, has brought RFR to gradually shift away from the original concepts of single, monolithic, point fixed glazing and towards laminated glazing systems. However, even though a large amount of consideration can be brought to a concept, it does not always protect the design from unexpected shocks or vandalism. These possibilities have to be carefully analysed when designing and selecting systems.

The laminated glass employed by RFR for the Stade de France RER station in the outskirts of Paris, was designed with this in mind and demonstrated in situ great efficiency after breakage. In recent projects of RFR, for example the Sporting Club of Monte Carlo, the conception phase included a series of tests performed not only in the laboratory but also on site, even though the local regulations did not impose any official legal requirement for this. This new experimental approach is now becoming a standard for RFR .

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The Authors

Mr. Claude Abou Khalil General Manager and Technical Advisor MGE, Métal Glace Entreprise Claude Abou Khalil works as a General Manager and Technical Advisor at his own structural engineering agency Métal Glace Entreprise (MGE) in Parisian suburb Choisy-le-Roi. Claude has a strong experien... Read more