Study on the mechanical response of anticlastic cold bending insulating glass and its coupling effect with uniform load

Cold bending is a characteristic of significance for the beautiful curved glass curtain walls, because it affects them in terms of energy-efficiency and cost-efficiency. The increasing engineering projects call for more special studies on the mechanical properties of cold-bent glass panels, especially when the walls are built by insulating glass that is currently widely used while its relevant research is very scarce. This paper is devoted to studying the mechanical properties of anticlastic cold-bent insulating glass while taking different factors into consideration, including glass thickness, cold-bent torsion rate and cavity thickness. 9 pieces of insulating glass were manufactured for anticlastic cold-bending test and their coupled effect with identical load is also studied, and numerical finite element analysis sessions were carried out to simulate the experimental results for each one of them. Further, we analyzed the stress distribution performance of the sample pieces under cold bending and a uniform load, followed by discussions about stress transfer controls in glass plates. The results showed that the cold-bent control stress is on the surface with direct loads from cold bending and close to the cold-bent corner on the short edge, and it is transferred from the parts around the corner to the center when the uniform load plays a leading role in generating stress. This transfer could occur under a relatively small load with a small cold-bent torsion rate. A higher cold-bent torsion rate in cold bending contributed mostly to greater center stress in the glass, and as the glass thickness grows, stress and deflection at the plate center would significantly drop. However, the effect of cavity thickness on the anticlastic mechanical response of insulating glass was found to be trivial.