Progressive damage and fracture of laminated glass beams

The use of laminated glass is increasing due to the realization of transparent load-bearing elements for architectural glazing applications. In laminated glass, two or more layers of glass are bonded to thin thermoplastic interlayers to improve the post-breakage characteristics of the glass. After breakage the residual load-carrying capacity of the laminate depends on the mechanical properties of the laminate constituents. Three-point bending tests are presented on laminated glass specimens, made with an internal float glass and two external equal tempered glass panels. The laminated glass specimens, of equal cross section, were characterized by three different combinations of annealed float and fully thermally tempered glass plies. In addition, two sets of specimens were constructed with two different interlayers having significantly different mechanical properties. The flexural load was applied parallel to the lamination plane (in-plane loading) and the tests were conducted at room temperature. The post-failure response and the failure mechanisms detected are presented and discussed. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.