Abstract
In this paper some basic physical and mechanical properties of glass as structural material are presented. This research is about specifically manufactured glass railing element that will be a part of a pedestrian bridge construction in Zagreb, Croatia. Load bearing capacity test of the glass railing element is conducted within the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Zagreb and obtained experimental results are discussed and compared to the ones provided by the numerical model. Taking into account the behaviour of laminated glass and results of experimental and numerical testing, glass railing element can be regarded as safe.
Highlights
When we have glass elements that are manufactured for construction projects it is highly important to perform laboratory testing in order to confirm their load capacity
Glass has a modulus of elasticity several thousand times larger than the interlayer material, which makes the behaviour and the modelling complex
With the simple single thin plate model used in this study, where modulus of elasticity for the whole laminated glass sheet was chosen based on the previous similar testing, gained results for displacement differ from experimental ones by less 15%
Summary
When we have glass elements that are manufactured for construction projects it is highly important to perform laboratory testing in order to confirm their load capacity. Necessity for laboratory testing follows from potential unexpected breakdown under the load due to special properties of the glass as a construction material. Because of the property of pure elasticity with brittleness the glass cannot be permanently deformed by load and it fails without warning as shown on a stress-strain curve (Fig. 1). The cause of the glass failure is not necessarily concentrated impact; fracture may occur due to bending stress, thermal stress or deformation. By increasing the dimensions of the glass elements the number of imperfections will increase as well [3]. This kind of behaviour is undesirable for a construction material. The opportunities and attractiveness that this type of material provides have been recognized and glass has become more than “window material”
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