Evaluation of behaviours of laminated glass

Abstract

Stores have both load carrying capacity and transparent appearance. Glass has high mechanical strength and relatively medium density, however, the risk of sudden brittle failure like concrete or other ceramics determine relatively high conservatism in design practice of glass structures. This should be changed as consumer requirements evolve calling for a safe and reliable design methodology and corresponding building standards. A design methodology for glass and glass laminates should be urgently developed and included as a chapter in Eurocode. This paper presents initial experimental investigation of behaviour of simple glass sheets and laminated glass samples in 4-point bending test. The aim of the current research is to investigate laminated glass characteristic values and to verify the obtained experimental results with finite element method for glass and EVA material in line with future European Structural Design of Glass Components code. Visual appearance of building facades and other load bearing structures, which now are part of modern architecture, is the reason why it is important to investigate in more detail the reliability of laminated glass for civil structures. Laminated glass in particular has become one of the trendy materials, for example Apple