Finite-Element Analysis of Flexural Behaviour of Timber-Glass Composite I-Beams

The paper focusses on a numerical study of the structural behaviour of timber-glass composite beams made of glass panes and timber flanges bonded with adhesives of different stiffness. The first part of the paper presents a brief summary of four-point bending tests of two types of timber-glass composite beams varying in length, glass thickness, timber material used for flanges, and type of adhesive used to make a bond line connection. The second part of the paper describes the finite element models developed to simulate the flexural behaviour of timber-glass composite beams. Finite element models were developed to simulate the elastic (linear) and post-failure flexural behaviour of timber-glass composite beams. Two types of analysis, implicit and explicit, were used to simulate the degradation behaviour of glass. The objectives of the numerical analyses were to investigate the influence of various parameters such as glass strength, finite element formulation, finite element mesh size, and variation of adhesive stiffness on the response of timber-glass composite beams. Finally, experimental and numerical results are compared and discussed in terms of the initial bending stiffness, load at first cracking in glass, ultimate load and crack pattern together with global progressive failure.