Glass–GFRP Sandwich: Structurally Superior Laminated Glass

This paper presents a proof-of-concept experimental validation of a novel glass–Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) structural sandwich, which ensures higher load capacity, higher flexural stiffness and safe failure behaviour compared to that of the monolithic and laminated glass currently available in the market. The Glass–GFRP sandwich specimens were fabricated by combining two glass sheets (top and bottom skins) with a three–dimensional GFRP core. The results show that acrylic resin can be used to fabricate Glass–GFRP sandwich using a vacuum infusion process. Load–test results showed that the Glass–GFRP sandwich test specimens ensured higher load capacity and higher flexural stiffness compared to the equivalent sized commercial laminated glass. More importantly, compared to the common laminated glass, the glass–GFRP sandwich demonstrated significant load resistance in the post-cracked regime of the glass and did not fail completely upon the fracture of the glass sheets.