Mechanical behaviour of frame-supported insulating glass during cold bending

Abstract

Cold bending is a low-cost, high-yield method for building an insulating glass curtain wall with a complex shape. However, the interaction between the glass plate and the sealing materials on the boundary makes the cold bending stress more complex. To study the stress in the insulating glass plate during unidirectional cold bending, an expression for the cold bending stress was derived by dividing the stress into three parts: the stresses generated by longitudinal sealing materials and transverse sealing materials and the bending stress of the glass plate itself. Nine pieces of insulating glass were used in the unidirectional cold bending test to verify the accuracy of the stress expression. The results show that the experimental stress nephograms of the upper glass surface are in good agreement with the theoretical values. The maximum stress occurs in the middle of the longitudinal edge; the maximum difference is 6.82%, indicating that the stress expression reflects the stress state of the insulating glass plate in cold bending. The stress caused by the longitudinal sealing materials accounts for the largest proportion of cold bending stress at the point of maximum stress; the stress caused by the transverse sealing materials is negligibly small. Accordingly, the expression is simplified, and expressions for the maximum cold bending stress of the glass are presented for specific curved surfaces.