The flexural performance of laminated glass beams under elevated temperature

A series of experimental work is carried out with the aim to understand the flexural performance of laminated glass (LG) beams using polyvinyl butyral (PVB) and Ionoplast interlayers subjected to short term duration loads in the circumstance of elevated temperature. The study is based on a total of 42 laboratory tests conducted in ambient temperature ranging from 25 degrees C to 80 degrees C. The load duration is kept within 20 seconds. Through the tests, load-stress and load-deflection curves of the LG are established; appropriate analytical models for the LG are indentified; the effective thicknesses as well as the shear transfer coefficients of the LG are semi-empirically determined. The test results show that within the studied temperature range the bending stresses and deflections at mid-span of the LG develop linearly with respect to the applied loads. From 25 degrees C to 80 degrees C the flexural behavior of the PVB LG is found constantly between that of monolithic glass and layered glass having the same nominal thickness; the flexural behavior of the Ionoplast LG is equivalent to monolithic glass of the same nominal thickness until the temperature elevates up to 50 degrees C. The test results reveal that in calculating the effective thicknesses of the PVB and Ionoplast LG, neglecting the shear capacities of the interlayers is uneconomic even when the ambient temperature is as high as 80 degrees C. In the particular case of this study, the shear transfer coefficient of the PVB interlayer is found in a range from 0.62 to 0.14 while that of the Ionoplast interlayer is found in a range from 1.00 to 0.56 when the ambient temperature varies from 25 degrees C to 80 degrees C.