Impact Resistance of Laminated Glass Using `sacrificial Ply' Design Concept

Abstract

Experimental results of low velocity, small steel ball impact tests on laminated architectural glass units are presented. These tests are part of an ongoing effort to develop a design method for laminated architectural glass units to resist windborne debris from sources such as roof gravel, as required in several current and proposed U.S. building codes and standards. A design concept known as `sacrificial ply' permits the exterior-facing, outer glass ply of a laminated glass unit to fracture during windborne debris impacts, but prevents fracture of the inner glass ply. This concept also depends on an inner glass ply designed to resist lateral wind pressures for the remainder of the windstorm so that the integrity of the building envelope is preserved. In these experiments, inner and outer glass ply thicknesses and polyvinyl butyral interlayer thickness were varied to determine their effects on the impact resistance of the inner glass ply of laminated architectural glass when impacted on the outer glass ply. Results show that inner glass ply thickness and PVB interlayer thickness have stronger effects on the impact resistance of the inner glass ply than does outer glass ply thickness.

Department(s)

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1076-0431

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2000 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 2000

Link to Full Text

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