Analysis, modelling, and optimization of laminated glasses as plane beam

A simply supported glass/polyvinyl butyral (PVB)/glass beam is modelled by plane finite elements. The distribution of strain and stress through the beam thickness and along its axis is obtained as a result of linear finite element analysis. It shows that the bending stress in the glass layers is determinant for the load-bearing capability of laminated glasses, but the shear in the PVB-interlayer plays an important role for glass-layer interaction. A mathematical model of triplex glass beam is derived, consisting of a bending curvature differential equation and a differential equation of PVB-interlayer shear interaction. The derived equations are solved analytically with boundary conditions of simply supported beam under uniform transverse load. A parametric study of the derived mathematical model is carried out. The model is utilized for lightweight structure optimization of layer thicknesses. The results of the optimization show that laminated glasses could be superior to monolithic glasses.