Structural Use of Glass Beams

Ruth Kasper, Gerhard Sedlacek

Institute of Steel Construction of the University of Aachen (RWTH Aachen),

Keywords

Poster 14

1 = Beam

2 = PVB

3 = Test

4 = Sandwich

Abstract

Fig 1

Using glass elements as structural

components opens new possibilities
for architects and engineers to design
transparent structures. By this the use of
glass is not restricted to the application
as an infill panel only, but extended to
primary load bearing members as beams
or columns.
Due to the brittle behaviour of glass
robustness and damage tolerance of the
structure is a requirement that can only
be achieved by laminated safety glass.
Within the frame of a research
project the Institute of Steel
Construction of the RWTH Aachen
is performing tests and numerical
studies to determine the serviceability
and ultimate behaviour of laminated
glass beams. The study includes the
determination of the resistance of
the cross-section of the beams and
their lateral buckling resistance taking
account of the time- and temperature
dependent behaviour of the PVB-foil.
The results will be used as a basis for a
design concept for glass components
made of laminated safety glass.

Arab Urban Development Institute, Riad,

Saudi Arabia [10]

5 = Laminated safety glass

6 = Temperature

Introduction
Examples for the application of glass
beams are shown in figure 1 and 2.
The glass beams are made of laminated
glass which includes float glass and
PVB-foils.
Due to their flat cross-section glass
beams have a high slenderness for
lateral torsional buckling. The collapse
load is influenced by the imperfection of
the glass beam, but also by the stiffness
of the sandwich (figure 3) represented
by the laminated safety glass. The
sandwich consists of two materials
glass and PVB glass is an elastic
material (E ~ 70 000 MPa) and PVB is
a visco-elastic material with time and
temperature dependent behaviour. The
shear modulus GPVB varies between 0.1
to 1000 MPa.
For such structural components so
far no design rules or design standards
are available. Though some results
for the resistance of the edge under
tensile stresses have been published
[1, 2 and 3], but no investigations are
known concerning the resistance to
lateral torsional buckling. This project
deals with investigations of the lateral
torsional buckling behaviour with
tests and numerical studies to draw
conclusions for a design concept.

312

Fig 3
Lateral torsional buckling of a glass beam consisting of laminated safety glass loaded by a
constant moment
Fig 2
Museum of city history, Luxembourg [10]

Approach
A common approach for a lateral
torsional buckling check for a glass
beam would be a calculation based
on second order theory. Solutions for
such checks are given for a monolithic
section. These solutions could be
used for laminated glass if the second
moment of area and the torsional
stiffness could be replaced by an
equivalent second moment of area
and an equivalent torsional stiffness
for the sandwich depending on the
stiffness of the PVB-foil. These values
have been determined by using the
Extended bending and torsion theory
[4,5 and 6]. From the stress resultants
determined by second order theory as

for a monolithic section the stresses

in the glass sandwich can than be
calculated depending on the stiffness of
the PVB-foil.
Below the following steps of the
solutions are presented:
1) solution for lateral torsional buckling
based on the second order theory of
glass beam consisting of a monolithic
section,
2) solution based on the Extended
bending and torsion theory to
determine the equivalent second
moment of area and the equivalent
torsional stiffness of the section of
the sandwich depending on the
stiffness of the PVB-foil [5 and 6]
to be used for 1) to obtain stress
resultants,
3) solution based on the Extended
bending and torsion theory to

This equation can be written as:

(7)

where
(8)
and

(9)

is the elastic critical moment for

a monolithic section.
The stress resultants due to second
order effects (figure 5) can be written
as:

Global static behaviour of the

monolithic glass beam - solution
based on second order theory
The following solutions are based on
the differential equations for lateral
torsional buckling [9]:

(10)
.
(1)
(2)
(3)

Degrees of freedom of a sandwich for bending

and torsion

(11)
where is the solution given in equation
(6).

where the notations are given in figure 4.

Fig 5
Stress resultants based on second order theory

Equivalent stiffness of laminated glass

for bending and torsion
To use the above equations for the
beam made of laminated glass, formulas
for the second moment of area and
torsional stiffness are needed. For a
monolithic section the formulas are
known:

Fig 4

Fig 6

The equivalent bending stiffness

(second moment of area) is depending
on the type of loading and the length
of the beam. The equivalent torsional
stiffness is not depending on the type
of loading and the length of the beam.
The analytic formulas give the results
in figure 7. Figure 7 shows the elastic
critical moment depending on the
shear modulus G of the PVB-foil both
determined with the analytic method
and with finite-element calculations.
The results show that the global
behaviour of a glass beam consisting
of a laminated glass can be modelled
with an equivalent stiffness for bending
und torsion using the formulas for a
monolithic section.

Notations

The equations can be simplified for

the case of loading by endmoments My
only ( and ).
By assuming sinusoidal deformations
of the beam
(4)
and also initial geometrical
imperfections
(5)
the inclination is equal to:
(6)

(12)

(13)
By using the Extended bending
and torsion theory [4, 5 and 6]
an equivalent stiffness for bending
and torsion of the sandwich can be
determined depending on the shear
modulus G of the PVB-foil. To this
end the basic degree of freedoms for
monolithic sections are augmented by
additional degrees of freedom due to
the sandwich characteristics. Figure
6 shows the degree of freedoms of a
monolithic section and the additional
degree of freedoms of the sandwich for
bending and torsion which have been
used to solve the equations.

Fig 7
Comparison of elastic critical moments from an
analytical solution and from finite-element-calculations (the curves are almost identical)

Stress distribution in the sandwich

For the design of the section the tensile
stress at the edges must be determined.
The stresses due to MyII are equal to:
with
(14)
The method to determine the tensile
stress due MzII to is also given in [2
313

Poster 14

determine the stresses in the glass

sandwich [5 and 6] from the stress
resultants,
4) tests with beams consisting of
monolithic glass and laminated safety
glass to analyse the imperfections of
a structure member [7],
5) small scale tests to analyse the
torsional behaviour of the laminated
safety glass with variation of the
temperature and the loading time
[8].
This paper describes the solution for
the loading of by constant moment My
only. In future the results will be further
developed to account for lateral and
transverse loading.

Poster 14

and 5] by the Extended bending and

torsion theory. Figure 8 shows the
stress distribution in the cross section of
the sandwich caused by My and MzII .
The relevant stress is the sum of
and
.

and the high strength of the material

no failure occurs when testing high
slendernesses. Therefore with a single
glass beam several tests with different
spans could be executed. Testing beams
with small slenderness results in failure
of the beam before buckling takes
place. Figure 9 and figure 10 show the
test set-up, figure 11 and figure 12
present the test data of displacements
and strains. Figure 12 illustrates the
influence of the second order effects on
the glass beam.

To conserve the crack pattern the

glass was sticked to a bonding sheet.
Figure 13 and figure 14 show the crack
pattern of a thermally strengthened
glass beam. The crack pattern adjacent
to the supports shows that there is no
crack in the non-loaded cantilever of
the glass beam. Cracks are only located
in the part of the beam with stress
resultants caused by torsion or bending.
The crack initiation could be caused by
the concentrated load at midspan or the
torsional moment at the supports.

Fig 9

Fig 13

Test set-up: 3-point-bending-test [13]

Crack pattern of a thermally strengthened glass

beam at midspan

Fig 8
Stress distribution in the section of the sandwich

Experimental und numerical

investigations
To confirm the analytical results
experimental investigations have been
carried out for lateral-torsional-buckling
of monolithic glass beams and for
torsional effects of laminated glass. A
further test-series will be carried out
in the current year 2003 to investigate
the lateral-torsional-buckling behaviour
of members made of laminated safety
glass.
By using the Finite-Element-Program
ABAQUS the tests have been simulated.
For all calculations volume elements
with 8 nodes have been used. C3D8Ielements has been used for the glass
and C3D8H-elements for the PVB-foil.
The simulation of the lateraltorsional-buckling tests with the
monolithic glass has been carried out in
two steps:
Step 1: Buckling of the system to
determine the lowest eigenvalue and
the associated eigenform.
Step 2: The displacement of the
eigenform determined in the first step
are scaled (e.g. L/1000) to the beam.
A geometric non-linear calculation
has been carried out to determine
the collapse load controlled by the
measured strain strains at the edges and
the measured deformations.
The simulation of the behaviour of
the PVB-foil can also be carried out with
ABAQUS. The approach and the use of
input data for the material PVB follows
[11]. In the following the tests, the
result of the tests and the simulation are
described.

Fig 14

Fig 10
Test set-up and measurement devices for lateraltorsional-buckling-tests

314

The test results and the numerical

studies give information on the
imperfections and the collapse loads
of a monolithic glass beam. Further
tests with laminated safety glass will
complete the results to develop a design
concept.

Small scale torsional-tests

Fig 11
Test results: Displacement characteristics

Lateral-torsional-buckling-tests of
monolithic glass beams
The tests have been carried out with
monolithic glass panels with a length
of 3600 mm, a height of 360 mm and
thickness of 8, 10 and 12 mm [7]. For
this tests thermally strengthened and
thermaaly toughened glass have been
chosen. Because of the elastic behaviour

Crack pattern of a thermally strengthened glass

beam at supports

Fig 12
Test results: strain measurements at midspan

Laminated safety glass panels with two

glass panes (1100 mm x 360 mm) and
a PVB-foil (0.76 and 1.52 mm) have
been loaded by a constant torsional
moment by twisting them by a certain
angle (figure 15) kept constant over
time. Figure 16 demonstrates the timeand temperature depending behaviour
of the PVB-foil. At a temperature of
40 C there is no visible dependence
of the loading-time of the PVB-foil. At
lower temperatures - 9C - and for
short loading rates the resistance of the
system is much higher.
With the aid of the new developed
torsional solution, the G-modulus of
system can be determined from the
measured moment and the measured
rotation. Figure 17 shows these results
evaluated for 9 C and 40 C. The
G-modulus for a temperature of 9
C converge after some time to 7
MPa whereas the G-modulus for a

[5]

[6]

Acknowledgement
We thank Saint Gobain Deutschland
GmbH in particular Anne Wittenkmper
and Matthias Meiner for the material
support.
Fig 15
Test set-up for torsional tests

Fig 16
Time- and temperature dependent behaviour
of a laminated safety glass sandwich (2 x 6 mm
glass panes combined with a PVB-foil of d =
1.52 mm)

Summary
The first results show that from a
study on the lateral tosional buckling
of beams made by laminated glass
the stiffness of the PVB has a large
influence on the bending and torsional
stiffness of the section depending on
the loading time and the temperature.
This influence can however be modelled
by equivalent stiffness values. By this it is
possible to take account of the stiffness
variation of the PVB-foil depending on
the climatic boundary conditions and
the loading time.

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]
[11]

[12]
[13]

Prospect
The experimental and numerical
investigations will be finished by the
end of 2003 [12]. The aim of the project
is to develop a proposal for the design
of glass beams not only loaded with a
constant moment but also by biaxial
bending and line loads.

technischen Biege- und Verdrehtheorie unter

Bercksichtigung von Schubverformungen,
1970, Die Bautechnik 47 Heft 1, S, 20-32.
Vlling, B.: Berechnungsverfahren fr Balken
und Platten in Sandwichbauweise nach der
erweiterten Biegetheorie. Diplomarbeit RWTH
Aachen, 2000, unverffentlicht.
Scarpino, P.: Berechnungsverfahren
zur Bestimmung einer quivalenten
Torsionssteifigkeit von Trgern in
Sandwichbauweise. Diplomarbeit RWTH
Aachen, 2002, unverffentlicht.
Mnnikes, J.: Biegedrillknicken von Trgern
aus thermisch vorgespannten Glasscheiben.
Diplomarbeit RWTH Aachen, 2002,
unverffentlicht.
Schulz, J: Experimentelle und numerische
Untersuchung von Verbundglasscheiben
mit Bercksichtigung des visko-elastischen
Verhaltens des Verbundmittels PVB.
Diplomarbeit RWTH Aachen, 2003,
unverffentlicht.
Roik, K.; Carl, J.; Lindner, J.:
Biegetorsionsprobleme gerader dnnwandiger
Stbe. Verlag Ernst & Sohn. Berlin Mnchen
Dsseldorf 1992.
Knaack, U.: Konstruktiver Glasbau. Rudolf
Mller, 1998.
van Duser, A.; Jagota, A.; Bennison, S.:
Analysis of Glass/ Polyvinyl Butyral Laminates
subjected to uniform pressure. Journal of
engineering mechanics, April 1999.
DFG-Endbericht: Untersuchung des Bieged
rillknickverhaltens thermisch vorgespannter
Glastrger
Kasper, T.: Analytische und experimentelle
Untersuchungen zum Biegedrillknickverhalten
thermisch vorgespannter Glasschwerter, 2000,
unverffentlicht.

References
Fig 17
Time- and temperature dependence of the Gmodulus of the PVB-foil (2 x 6 mm glass panes
combined with a PVB-foil of d = 1.52 mm
loaded by torsion).

[1] Hess, R.: Glastrger. Forschungsbericht. vdf

Hochschulverlag AG an der ETH Zrich 1999.
[2] Gsgens, J.: Bemessung tragender Bauteile aus
Glas, 1998, Shaker Verlag.
[3] Holberndt, T.: Querschnittstragfhigkeit von
Glastrgern bei mehrachsiger Beanspruchung.
Diplomarbeit TU Berlin, 2001, unverffentlicht.
[4] Roik, K.; Sedlacek; G.: Erweiterung der

315

Poster 14

temperature of 40 C converge to only

0.5 MPa.
By adapting the input dates of the
PVB-foil, the numerical simulation of
the test data is possible based on the
approach in [11].