Abstract
Structural glass beams and fins are largely used in buildings, in the form of primary load-bearing members and bracing systems for roof or facade panels. Several loading and boundary conditions can be efficiently solved by means of bonded composites that involve the use of laminated glass sections. Additionally, the so-obtained glass members are often characterized by high slenderness. To this aim, several literature studies were dedicated to the lateral–torsional buckling (LTB) behavior of laterally unrestrained (LU) glass elements, with the support of full-scale experiments, analytical models, or finite element (FE) numerical investigations. Standardized design recommendations for LU glass members in LTB are available for designers. However, several design issues still require “ad hoc” (and often expensive) calculation studies. In most of the cases, for example, the mechanical interaction between the structural components to verify involves various typologies of joints, including continuous sealant connections, mechanical point fixings, or hybrid solutions. As a result, an accurate estimation of the theoretical LTB critical moment for such a kind of laterally restrained (LR) element represents a first key issue toward the definition and calibration of generalized design recommendations. Careful consideration should be spent for the description of the intrinsic features of materials in use, as well as for a combination of geometrical and mechanical aspects (i.e., geometry, number, position of restraints, etc.). In this paper, the attention is focused on the calculation of the elastic critical buckling moment of LR glass beams in LTB. Existing analytical approaches of the literature (mostly developed for steel constructional members) are briefly recalled. An additional advantage for extended parametric calculations is then taken from finite element (FE) numerical analyses, which are performed via the LTBeam or the ABAQUS software codes. The actual role and the effect of discrete mechanical restraints are, thus, explored for selected configurations of practical interest. Finally, the reliability of simplified calculation approaches is assessed.
Highlights
Introduction and State of the ArtStructural glass is largely used in building, in the form of load-bearing components [1].While harmonized European standards for structural designs are still in preparation [2,3,4], the last few years showed a huge spread of technical guidelines, codes of practice, and documents in support of designers [5,6,7].For structural applications, glass members are typically characterized by a laminated resisting cross-section, in which viscoelastic bonding interlayers are required to offer a certain mechanical coupling to the involved glass components (Figure 1a)
Among the available calculation tools that could be extended to laterally restrained (LR) glass members in lateral–torsional buckling (LTB), the first the basic variations in the intrinsic material properties, compared to steel girders, glass beams are in issue is related to the accurate prediction of the theoretical critical moment Mcr,R
The assessment of the lateral–torsional buckling (LTB) behavior of structural glass members represents a key step for design, given the relatively high slenderness of load-bearing members that are typically used in constructions
Summary
Structural glass is largely used in building, in the form of load-bearing components [1]. For a given geometry, the loadinterlayers [8],toitthe is generally recognized that that mechanical of a general coupling involved glass components Forresponse a given geometry, the laminated loadbearing response of glass layers can vary significantly (Figure 1b). Among the available interlayers section is strictly related to the actual properties and bonding efficiency of these films [9,10]. A result, is stage strictly related toofin the actualand properties anddegradation bonding efficiency theseinto films result, refined methods analysis characterization should be generally taken account, in As the aelastic elastic [10,11,12]. Refined ofin analysis and should be generally stagemethods [10,11,12] or presence of characterization possible degradation effects [13,14,15]. taken into account, in the elastic stage [10,11,12] or in presence of possible degradation effects [13,14,15]
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