Abstract
The goal of this thesis is to develop an approximate dynamic analysis of sealed insulating glass (IG) units subject to uniform blast loads, the formulation of which will be incorporated into a computer program that will be used as a tool to estimate their dynamic response. The formulation of this approximate dynamic analysis of IG units is achieved by modeling the unit with two equivalent single degree of freedom systems consisting of equivalent masses, equivalent structural stiffnesses, equivalent forces, and by incorporating air space compatibility relationships into this model. The equations of motion which define the behavior of this dynamic model are incorporated into a computer program that computes the dynamic response of an IG unit subjected to a prescribed blast loading. This response includes the displacements, velocities, and accelerations of the glass plates of the IG unit. The blast loading will be idealized in order to simplify the analysis. The program will approximate the positive pressure phase of a blast load with an equivalent triangular loading. IG units designed by existing methods will be analyzed using the program, and their performance evaluated. This analysis will not only provide valuable data on the behavior of the IG units to blast loadings, but will lend insight into the acceptability of the existing design approach. The results will also indicate the acceptability of the technique developed in this thesis as a tool in the design and analysis of IG units subject to blast loads.
Sequeira, Miguel Angel (1995). The development of an approximate dynamic analysis of insulating glass units. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -1995 -THESIS -S47.