Redundancy of reinforced glass beams : temperature, moisture and time dependent behaviour of the adhesive bond

The most important aspect of the reinforced glass beam concept, which provides ductility and redundancy for structural glass beams, is the adhesive bond between glass and reinforcement. To guarantee structural safety, this adhesive bond has to service under all conditions. The effects of elevated temperature, moisture exposure and load duration on the adhesive bond, have separately been investigated through three series of bending tests on 1.5 m reinforced glass beam specimens. A first series has been tested at 60 C; a second series has been tested after 8 weeks of salt-water-spraying; and a third series has been loaded until initial failure whereupon it has been left statically loaded for at least 72 hours. The results show that the reinforced glass beam concept is a redundant system which shows, dependent on the applied adhesive, a significant residual strength even at extreme temperature and moisture conditions, and for a significant period of time

All-glass shell scale models made with an adjustable mould

Ever since Lucio Blandini developed a doubly curved synclastic shell with adhesively bonded glass components, the concept of building a self-supporting glass-only shell has almost become within reach. In the current contribution a small-scaled experimental concept is presented of a self-supporting anticlastic all-glass shell scale model, created by means of an adaptable mould. First, different manufacturing parameters of relatively small shells are investigated, such as mould type, glass supporting system and dimensions, oven temperature and shell curvature. Next, an adjustable mould for the bending of glass is developed, built and tested. With this mould it is possible to make glass panels synclastic and anticlastic in a great variety of forms. With this new moulding technique we were able to create different prototypes. They are forming the basis an intended larger shell, composed of smaller segments. The objective is to join the latter by using fusing techniques, which result is completely transparent monolithic all-glass shells. Therefore, additional experiments have been performed to explore different variants of glass fusion techniques to be applied for double curved glass shells

Post-breakage behaviour of laminated glass in structural applications

Firstly is introduced what the post-breakage behaviour of laminated safety glass is, and why it's important to can model it for designing structural glass elements. A general description of post-breakage behaviour and the different possible mechanisms leading to failure are presented. We then focus on the mechanical properties of the interlayer material, more specifically in the perspective to model its behaviour at large strain up to break. Typical results of standard uniaxial tensile tests on SGP samples (SentryGlas (R) Plus, interlayer of DuPont de Nemours) are shortly presented, and we then explain why those are insufficient to calibrate numeric material models to use in finite elements softwares. Finally perspectives for further experimental investigation with aiming to calibrate material models are presented

A story about standardization for design of glass works

This contribution attempts to give an overview of the European standardization framework which is related to the design and calculation of glass works in buildings. The different work levels, institutions, technical committees and workgroups, and the various types of documents and their statute will be introduced, explaining the difference between draft, experimental and final standards, between harmonized, support and design standards, the general and particular meaning of harmonization and implementation. The standardization framework is explained firstly from the point of view of European standardization policy and history, and secondly regarding the standardization framework in Belgium. In particular, an attempt is made to highlight some particularities existing in harmonization efforts of design methods and codes for glass works