A coupled experimental and numerical approach to the integrity of friction-grip connections in glass structures

The growing use of glass as structural building material gives rise to structural integrity and safety problems. As a contribution to solving these problems, this work investigates the mechanical behaviour of friction-grip bolted connections, which are probably the most commonly used assembling technique for glass beams and plates. The mechanical problems relative to friction-grip bolted connections are complex because highly nonlinear phenomena such as unilateral contact and dry friction are involved. To achieve the objective, a coupled experimental and numerical approach is developed in this work. Firstly, an experimental tribological study is carried out to propose a law capable of describing the friction phenomenon relevant to glass bolted joints. Next, the unilateral frictional contact problem posed by friction-grip bolted connections is numerically analyzed by using the MSC MARC® finite element code in which an experimentally-identified time-dependent friction law is implemented. Finally, full scale tests are performed for glass structures to validate the numerical simulations.