Mechanical Enhancement of Fractured Laminated Glass considering Fragment Overlaps and Temperatures

Abstract

The post-fracture performance of laminated glass is becoming a significant focus due to the growing breakage incidents of tempered glass and its long-term replacement. However, the influence of tension stiffening due to the adhesion of glass fragments to polymeric interlayers, one of the main factors affecting the structural capacity of the post-fracture laminated glass, is still unclear, especially when considering different fragment overlaps and temperatures. In this work, two types of uniaxial tensile tests with predefined cracks, including the multiple through-cracked tensile (MTCT) and the multiple offset-cracked tensile (MOCT), were conducted at 20, 50, and 80℃. Both PVB and SG were considered. Additionally, the influence of the overlap length of offset fragments and initial delamination on tension stiffening was investigated based on finite element models. The results show that the mechanical properties of the composite materials, which correspond to a local response in the post-fracture laminated glass, are strongly dependent on the fragment overlap, temperature, and interfacial delamination. Moreover, the influence of the fragment overlap on the mechanical enhancement becomes pronounced even at high temperatures, which should be taken into account for the evaluation of the post-fracture performance of laminated glass.