Characterisation of the mechanical behaviour of annealed glass-GFRP hybrid beams

- Glass-GFRP hybrid beams are stronger and ductile than annealed glass beams.
- In hybrid beams, once the tension glass has cracked, the GFRP carries the tension.
- A large part of the deflection of the hybrid beams was recovered in unloading.
- Finite element analyses can predict the load response of the hybrid beams.
- Incorporation of the residual stress in glass ensured accurate predictions from FE models.

This paper presents the results of a combined experimental and numerical investigation on the mechanical behaviour of annealed glass-Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) hybrid beams. The experimental results showed that an adhesively-bonded GFRP interlayer significantly improved the strength and ductility of annealed glass beams. The paper also presents the post-breakage behaviour and the response of damaged beams in unloading. The paper numerically investigates the degree to which the strength and stiffness of the hybrid beams can be modelled by using finite element (FE) analyses. The novelty of work also includes numerical modelling and validating the through-thickness stress profiles in the hybrid beams.