Stress field models for discontinuity regions in steel-reinforced laminated glass

This article presents the application of stress field models for strength prediction of discontinuity regions in steel-reinforced glass structures failing due to crushing of the glass and failure of stainless steel reinforcement. One of the main assumptions in the proposed modelling approach is that the structural laminated glass has similar compressive features as high-strength concrete within a framework of the stress field method. The paper initially introduces theoretical and experimental aspects and similarities between compressive behaviour of glass and high-strength concrete. Considerations on the compressive strength of laminated glass as well as the softening effect of cracks through the transverse strain factor are presented. The softening effect of cracks is investigated using the results of bending tests on beams and detailed digital image correlation (DIC) measurements. Finally, the proposed models are compared with results of tests on steel-reinforced glass members encompassing local compressive tests, bending tests and tests on beam-column connections. Additionally, the three groups of tests are numerically simulated using elastic-plastic stress fields (EPSF), through the finite element (FE) software EvalS for the automatic development of 2D stress fields. This numerical tool was originally developed for design and assessment of RC discontinuity regions. It is found that the numerical predictions are in a good agreement with test results. It is concluded that the stress fields may serve as a tool for the verification of a post-fracture limit state.