This paper reports on an investigation of glued joints in glass load-bearing structures, with reference to the effect of various substrates (glass, steel, stainless steel, aluminium) and their ...surface treatment (sandblasting for the glass surface) on the adhesion of selected adhesives. The thickness of the adhesive layer and the effect of artificial ageing – a simulation of 5 years of ageing in outdoor central-European conditions – are also discussed. Tensile and shear tests were carried out on three series of specimens with various adhesives and substrates – two series for tensile and shear tests, and one series for shear tests on specimens exposed to ageing. Our results show that sandblasting the glass surface can improve the adhesion, and thus the strength values, of an adhesive joint in cases where, with a smooth glass surface, cohesive failure is not reached. The thickness of the adhesive layer had a significant effect for a semi-rigid acrylate adhesive, where the joint achieved higher strength values with less thickness of the glue. The effect of ageing varied according to the adhesive. The most visible changes were observed for a two-component acrylate adhesive and for methacrylate UV-adhesives. One of the selected glues was marked as unsuitable for load-bearing connections due to significant worsening of its mechanical properties after ageing.
There are many examples of glass load bearing structures used in a contemporary architecture, such as panes, balustrades, and even stairs. For safety reasons, these structural elements are made of ...laminated glass which is a composition of glass plies bonded with polymeric interlayer. The distribution of stress in a perpendicularly loaded laminated glass panel depends on the shear stiffness of the used interlayer. There are various interlayers for laminated glass applications available on the market with wide variety of shear stiffness. To correctly evaluate the shear coupling provided by the interlayer, great research efforts have been made followed by appropriate national Standards and Codes for laminated glass in bending in recent years. Polymeric interlayers are viscoelastic materials and their stiffness is time and temperature dependent, which makes the reliable design of laminated glass panel in bending rather complicated. This paper is focused on experimental investigation of six polymeric interlayers (Trosifol® BG R20; Trosifol® Extra Strong; Evalam® 80/120; Evasafe®; SentryGlas® 5000; Krystalflex® PE399) loaded in displacement-controlled shear test in various temperatures and loading rates. The experiments showed nonlinear stress–strain dependence and confirmed the viscoelastic behaviour of presented interlayers. In addition, the values of their initial shear stiffness are listed and failure modes of testing specimens are presented. Results obtained in this study can be used for the estimation of the rate of glass plies interaction in short-term loaded laminated glass structures. All experiments were performed in Klokner Institute CTU.
Rooftop solar modules are usually held in place by racks or frames that are mechanically attached to a roof structure and/or by heavyweight, ballasted footing mounts. These mounts ensure that the ...panel system remains in position against wind load. However, mechanical connectors create penetrations into the water-resistant layer of the roof, whereas ballasted footing mounts cause a significant additional load on the load-bearing structure of roof. For these reasons, adhesive connection seems to be a beneficial solution. Acrylic adhesive tapes, marked as VHBTM, may provide sufficient strength, and they have no need for mechanical fasteners or ballast. Acrylic adhesive tapes also provide a comfortable, fast, and efficient bonding process with no curing compared to liquid adhesives. On the other hand, resistance to water at load-bearing joints has not been sufficiently studied yet and could be critical for connections exposed to the outdoor environment. The present study aims at the determination of water resistance and durability of the VHBTM tapes from the GPH series, which are typically used to bond a variety of substrates including many metals. The mechanical properties and failure modes are compared for the specimens before and after a 21-day immersion in water. A significant reduction in strength was observed, depending on the substrate material. The study of chemical changes in the acrylic tape and in its leachate through infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray fluorescence, and X-ray diffraction analyses clarified the reduction in mechanical properties. The selected VHBTM tape demonstrated strong resistance to the effects of water. However, the overall strength of the joint after immersion was significantly impacted by the decrease in adhesion to a specific substrate.
Kevlar fibers are widely used for industrial and military purposes due to their remarkable mechanical properties, such as their high tenacity and high strength-to-weight ratio. In this study, ...two-layered Kevlar composite specimens were impregnated with 10 wt.% poly (vinyl butyral)/ethanol solution which contained TiO2 nanoparticles as reinforcement. The concentrations of the nanoparticles were 1 wt.% or 2 wt.% with respect to the poly (vinyl butyral), PVB. The single-axial tensile test and three-point bending test of the Kevlar/PVB composites have been performed according to the ASTM D 3039 and ASTM D 790-03 standards, respectively. The tensile and bending properties of the dry and wet Kevlar/PVB composite specimens after a 56-day immersion are examined in this work. Upon the addition of the 2 wt.% TiO2 nanoparticles, the tensile strength and modulus of the dry specimens without reinforcement were increased by 39.8% and 24.3%, respectively. All the submerged specimens’ tensile and flexural property values were lower than those of the dry specimens. After comparing the wet composite specimens to their dry counterparts, the percentage decrease in tensile strength was approximately 20%. The wet Kevlar/PVB specimens with no TiO2 reinforcement showed the greatest reduction in bending strength, 61.4% less than for the dry Kevlar/PVB specimens, due to the degradation of the PVB matrix. In addition, a numerical simulation of the three-point bending test was carried out in Abaqus.
Laminated glass is a structural element used extensively in a reconstruction of existing building structures because of its transparency and simplicity. When using laminated glass as a glass ...staircase, balustrades, transparent flooring, facades or other structural elements, it is advisable to consider the shear interaction of individual glass panes in the cross-section. A conservative approach where the glass panes shear interaction is not considered, is uneconomical. This interaction depends on the properties of polymeric interlayers used in lamination process. Various commercial products based on PVB (polyvinyl butyral), EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate), ionomer, or thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) are used. Stiffness of polymers depends on temperature and duration of a load. Interlayers exhibit the viscoelastic properties and temperature dependency usually described by the generalized Maxwell model and WLF model (Williams-Landel-Ferry). Parameters of these models are the most effectively determined by Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analysis (DMTA), where the material is cyclically loaded at different frequencies and temperatures. Material parameters were found by DMTA in shear for PVB type of interlayer Trosifol® BG R20. In addition, the experimental quasi-static loading tests in shear were performed at different loading rates and at various temperatures. These experimental stress-strain diagrams were compared to the theoretical stress-strain relations obtained from Maxwell model with material parameters based on DMTA testing. All tests were performed in Klokner Institute CTU in Prague.
Structural adhesive bonding is very often used joining method in aerospace and automotive industry, but in civil engineering, especially in façade applications, semi-flexible or semi-rigid adhesives ...are still rarely used. The article is focused on experimental analyses of structural adhesive joints intended for façade applications (e.g. bonding of façade cladding elements to the supporting substructure). The experimental study contains a comparison of the structural behavior of two different adhesives in joints with aluminum or zinc-electroplated steel substrates with various surface pre-treatments. The main goal of the study is a comparison of the mechanical properties of joints exposed and unexposed to laboratory ageing conditions; immersion on demineralized water according to ETAG 002 (Guideline for European Technical Approval for Structural Sealant Glazing Kits). Water content in adhesive layer can change significantly its mechanical properties and adhesion of glue to the substrate. Ageing resistance of joint can be improved by durability increasing of the substrate. For this reason, two different substrate materials with various surface treatments (mechanical roughening, smooth surface, anodizing) were tested. Different adhesive resistance against humid conditions was observed depending on the substrate material and pre-treatment. STP polymer joints showed strength reduction by 30% after immersion for almost all substrates, while acrylate adhesive proved 20% strength reduction for roughened aluminum substrate and 60% strength reduction for zinc-electroplated steel substrate with a roughened surface. The zinc-electroplated steel substrate showed problematic adhesion in case of the acrylate adhesive both reference set of specimens and specimens exposed to laboratory ageing. The positive effect of roughening on adhesion and ageing resistance was clearly observed in the specimens bonded by the acrylate adhesive.
When looking at current architecture, we can notice large glass facades and shop windows. These elements are usually made of laminated glass panes with polymeric interlayer between and the task of ...shear forces transfer is the subject of a current survey especially in case of accidental load cases. It essentially depends on polymer material stiffness, which is temperature, load duration and loading rate dependent. A lot of different polymeric interlayers with different properties are available on a market but their experimentally determined material properties with respect to the load duration and temperature are not mostly specified. Structural engineers tend to design laminated glass structural elements on the safe side and do not take the interlayer stiffness into account. This leads to uneconomical and robust glass bearing members. In case of accidental load verification, shear stiffness of used interlayers plays a significant role. This paper is focused on two types of PVB (polyvinyl-buthyral interlayers) experimental investigation under various temperature and loading rate conditions.
Looking at a current architecture, there are many examples of glass load bearing structures such as beams, panes, balustrades, columns or even stairs. These elements are mostly made of laminated ...glass panels. Panels are bonded together with polymer interlayer significantly influencing a shear forces transfer between them. There is still overall lack of knowledge in the task of shear forces transfer between these panels. It principally depends on the polymer stiffness, which is affected by an ambient temperature, humidity and load duration. Civil engineers currently tend to design laminated glass members on the safe side, generally not taking laminated panels interaction provided by the interlayer into account. This approach leads to uneconomical and robust glass bearing members significantly preventing the use of laminated glass more extensively. There are many polymer interlayers made for structural laminated glass applications available on a market. Most of them differ in stiffness and other important properties therefore these must be experimentally examined to design safer and more economical laminated glass members. This paper is focused on the shear modulus of PVB (polyvinyl-buthyral) and SentryGlasÒ (ionoplast) experimental investigations as a function of temperature and loading ratio. It is possible to find out these functions by static creep or relaxation tests as well as by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis-DMTA. A lot of DMTA experiments in shear with the aforementioned interlayers in various loading conditions have been performed in order to determine their shear stiffness. It also enables to identify their Prony parameters as a part of the next survey. Experimentally verified common polymer interlayer stiffness helps engineers to design safer and cheaper glass constructions. This is the way how to extend the use of laminated glass in a current architecture.
An intensive research in load-bearing glass structures leads to the requirement for performing glass-to-glass or glass-to-different material connections. Glued shear connection is suitable for these ...applications mainly due to its uniform stress distribution in larger area in comparison with bolted connections. The reliability of adhesive in the connection during the life time of a structure is affected by many factors, 1, 2, 3, 4. The article deals with the experimental analysis focused on the determination of material characteristics of adhesives in planar connections, it describes the effect of various factors on the behavior of an adhesive joint under increasing shear loads, its ultimate load-bearing capacity and its failure modes. The main investigated factors are the type of adhesive, the type of connected materials (material of substrate), surface treatment and the thickness of the adhesive layer. Due to importance of adhesive layer thickness especially in rigid and semi-rigid glues, numerical models responding to the effect of thickness was carried out.
Load-bearing joints of glass structures belong to the one of new applications of adhesive connections in civil engineering. They provide several important benefits particularly even stress ...distribution along the contact depending on geometry and stiffness of the glue joint, which is crucial for brittle glass. There is a lack of knowledge about semi-flexible or semi-rigid adhesive connections in the structural glass field and durability is one of the essential properties that have to be assessed during design-process of bonded connection. An extensive research focused on shear glued joints in glass structures was performed at CTU in Prague, which also comprised environmental effect simulation on the glued specimens in laboratory accelerated conditions. The paper is dedicated to impact of ageing to the specimens and their mechanical properties together with brief overview of available laboratory ageing methods.
