The effect of temperature on the bending of laminated glass beams

Abstract

Laminated glass is comprised of multiple plates of glass bonded together with polymorphous interlayers. The interest in the use of architectural laminated glass in the construction industry has increased due to its possible advantages over monolithic glass. Some of the advantageous properties of laminated glass include a greater impact resistance, improved sound resistance, and better thermal insulation inside the structure. The most important advantage of laminated glass as compared to monolithic glass is its improved safety. Should failure of laminated glass occur, the interlayer would adhere to the surrounding glass plates. This would prevent the glass from shattering and potentially harming any inhabitants of the structure. Although these advantages are generally accepted, the performance of laminated glass is highly disputed. Of particular interest are the performance of laminated glass at various temperatures and its response to loading over a duration of time. There are two primary objectives of this thesis. First, the effect of temperature on the elastic bending stiffness of laminated glass with a polyvinyl butyral (PVB) based interlayer is to be resolved. The creep response with respect to temperature will also be observed. Second, the design method for laminated glass will be evaluated. This includes determining the effectiveness of the existing models of laminated glass. This investigation will include typical three point loading on two types of architectural laminated glass. These tests will be conducted at various temperatures to determine the effect of temperature on the bending of laminated glass. The results of these experiments show that temperature is the most influential property in the determination of the behavior of laminated glass beams. It is shown in this thesis that at cold temperatures, laminated glass approaches the performance of the true monolithic model. Furthermore, it is shown that at hot temperatures, laminated glass is bound by the performance of the layered model. The results of this thesis indicate that a return to the traditional design procedure is warranted until further research is conducted.