Annealed glass has the propensity to fast fracture. So, the need for redundancy in structural glass elements is a fundamental necessity. Currently, redundancy is provided by laminated glass, whereby, if one glass pane fails, then the remaining intact pane(s) sustain the loads. However, for the in-service (unbroken state) condition the element is at least twice as thick as necessary. This leads to increased weight and increased cost. The presented work develops and investigates a cheaper, lighter alternative redundant system using a GFRP sheet bonded to one annealed glass pane. Consequently, a new material, Reinforced Glass, is created. For the in-service (unbroken state) condition it is shown that, under load, the Reinforced Glass has a similar structural response to ordinary annealed glass. A review of annealed structural glass design methods is presented - facilitating design for the unbroken state. Design recommendations are given. For the broken state an analytical, predictive model was developed, which was validated through experimental testing. The model draws similarities to Reinforced Concrete, whereby a compression block is generated in the broken glass - which is balanced by the GFRP tension reinforcement. Unique predictive equations are produced for application in design for the broken state. The model is validated for various thicknesses of glass.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:539244 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Whittlestone, G. S. |
| Publisher | University of Salford |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://usir.salford.ac.uk/26963/ |
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