Broken tempered Laminated Glass : non-linear discrete element modeling

The research presented herein aimed to simulate the structural behavior of laminated glass with all the glass layers broken, by means of the discrete element modeling. This paper focuses on laminated glass composed of two layers made of tempered glass and an interlayer made of either a totally compliant or a relatively stiff material. The paper demonstrates that discrete element modeling is a viable tool to predict the load–deflection curve from the cracking up to the collapse of laminated glass members, and, hence, to assess the collapse limit states of structural glass. In fact, discrete element modeling may simulate the non-linear composite behavior that the polymeric interlayer and the glass fragments provide a member with, considering the crack patterns of the broken glass, the visco-elasticity of the interlayer, and the structural conditions of the member. The validity of the method is also confirmed through comparisons with other sources — namely, some experiments performed by the authors and an empirical model. The paper presents the method and the results from its application to typical laminated glass members used for structural glass. Those results provide insight into the effects of the design choices on the postbreakage behavior; emphasis is placed on the role played by the type of interlayer.