Research on mechanical behavior of three-layer toughened sandwich glass with trilateral simple support

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on the mechanical behavior of three-layer toughened sandwich glass with trilateral simple support under uniform lateral loads. A total of sixty-four specimens with different test parameters are designed and tested to consider the effects of the thickness of single layer, supporting width and loading length. It was observed that the specimens failed with all pieces of cracks combined together as an entire unit rather than to separate into a large number of glass fragments. The cracks occurred only at the lower layer of toughened sandwich glass and extended in a way similar to the spider web. The ultimate bending strength and bending rigidity of the toughened sandwich glass are enhanced as the thickness of single layer, the supporting width, and the loading length increase. Among the above parameters, the thickness of single layer plays a leading role in improving the ultimate bending strength and bending rigidity of toughened sandwich glass. However, the enhancement effect of supporting width on the ultimate bending strength and bending rigidity of toughened sandwich glass is quite limited. Based on elastic thin plate theory, the derived mechanical formulae were presented to evaluate the ultimate bending strength of three-layer toughened sandwich glass with trilateral simple support under uniform lateral load, which was verified to be reasonable and accurate.