Overall response of 2-ply laminated glass plates under out-of-plane loading: Fid-Bau Portal

Overall response of 2-ply laminated glass plates under out-of-plane loading

Biolzi, Luigi / Simoncelli, Marco

Highlights • An experimental–numerical investigation on the response of undamaged and damaged 2-ply Laminated Glass plates in three different configurations is presented. • Three different interlayers are considered, polyvinyl butyral (PVB), SentryGlas (SG) and Saflex DG41 (DG41) characterized by different rheological properties. • Three different configurations were tested: undamaged plates (configuration 0), configuration I plate with a broken ply on the bottom and configuration II plate with a broken ply on the top. • For the post-breakage behavior, two different numerical strategies are discussed: a) the equivalent temperature variation and b) elastic-fragile constitutive law. • Parametric numerical analyses are proposed by changing: i) plate geometry (size effect); ii) interlayer thickness; iii) glass thickness; iv) additional glass ply (3-ply LG plate). • Definition of the critical length: from the critical length the plate behaves as monolithic, independently of the stiffness of the interlayer.

Abstract The results of an experimental and numerical investigation on the mechanical response of undamaged and damaged 2-ply Laminated Glass (LG) plates with different interlayers are presented in the paper. Three different interlayers, polyvinyl butyral (PVB), SentryGlas (SG) and Saflex DG41 (DG41) characterized by different rheological properties and fully tempered glass plates were considered. Simply supported plates under out of plane loads were tested in three different configurations: configuration 0, undamaged; configuration I, partially damaged, with a broken ply below (bottom ply) and configuration II, partially damaged, with a broken ply above (top ply). In the three configurations the top ply is always subjected to compression while the bottom one is in tension. The main aspects and the different response of each configuration were discussed and compared. Experimental results highlighted the influence of the interlayer properties on both the pre- and post-breakage behavior. Moreover, numerical models were developed to reproduce the experimental results. For the post-breakage response two different strategies were developed: a) the equivalent temperature variation and b) elastic-brittle constitutive law. Differences and advantages associated with both solutions are discussed. Finally, extensive parametric numerical analyses are proposed to underline the influence on the mechanical response of different parameters: i) plate geometry (size effect); ii) interlayer thickness; iii) glass thickness; iv) additional glass ply (3-ply LG plate). It is underlined that the size effect plays an important role on the mechanical response of LG plates and it should be always considered in the design. The numerical findings were used to define a critical length from which the plates behave as monolithic, independently of the stiffness of the interlayer.