Structural Glazing
In structural glazing systems, the glass is bonded to the substructure with a structural silicone. As a result, not only are the aesthetics better than with conventional mechanical fixings, but the load transfer is also more homogeneous, reducing stress peaks in the joined components. This meets the brittle material behavior of glass. In addition to excellent adhesion to glass, structural silicones are highly resistant to environmental influences and aging.
Interlayers
Engineering with glass always involves the use of polymer materials, which, for example, as an interlayer in laminated safety glass , ensure non-critical post-breakage behavior in the glass. In addition, they are used as primary and secondary sealing in insulating glazing or serve as adhesives between glass panes and the supporting structure. Knowledge of the mechanical behavior is therefore of great importance. In experimental characterization and in the choice of suitable material models for numerical simulations, attention must be paid to temperature and time dependence, nonlinearity, and aging effects.
