Reinforced glass beams composed of annealed, heat-strengthened and fully tempered glass

Annealed, heat-strengthened and fully tempered SG-laminated reinforced glass beam specimens were subjected to four-point bending tests to investigate the effects of glass type on their structural response. During the test the beams showed linear elastic response until initial glass failure, followed by a significant post-breakage strength and ductility. From the results it was concluded that the application of stronger glass types in reinforced glass beams significantly enhances their initial glass breakage strength, but affects their post-breakage strength and ductility in a negative way. The annealed and heat-strengthened beams reached similar post-breakage strength levels, whereas this was reduced for the fully tempered beams. Furthermore, compared to the annealed beams the post-breakage ductility was reduced for the heat-strengthened and even further reduced for the fully tempered beams. These differences originated from differences in fragmentation of the glass.