Development of a novel glass laminate with GFRP interlayers

Abstract

This paper presents establishment of materials and a fabrication method for fabrication of a new laminated glass type with a Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) interlayer. The developed novel Glass–GFRP Laminate (GGL) is strong and ductile compared to contemporary PolyVinyl Butyral (PVB)-based laminated glasses. The paper shows that annealed glass and an acrylic-based clear casting resin at viscosity 300–400 mPa^.s can be used to fabricate the Glass–GFRP Laminate (GGL) using a Modified Vacuum-Infusion-Process -based (MVIP) method. By carrying out a detailed experimental investigation focused on different glass and resin types, aspect ratio of the laminate specimens, GFRP thickness and number of GFRP layers, and humidity at fabrication, the key design parameters that ensure greater load resistance of the GGL (more than twice the load capacity and more than four times the flexural stiffness) compared to an equivalent thickness PVB-based laminated glass reference specimens are established and discussed in the paper. Finally, the results of percentage of passing of the visible light through the GGL specimens are investigated using a spectrometer. The percentage of passing of the visible light was determined to be 60–75 % and 50–60 % along the lateral and through-thickness directions of the laminate, respectively.