Multiscale beam model for simulating fracture in laminated glass structures

•Multiscale numerical simulation of laminated glass beam fracture capable of simulating different response phases.•The embedded discontinuity approach used to represent the displacement discontinuity.•Simulation of glass heterogeneity by using different model setups.•Comparison with current European standards for glass construction.•Comparison of experimental tests against numerical simulations. This paper presents a novel numerical model for the mechanical behavior of laminated glass structures. The numerical model is designed as the multiscale numerical approach capable of simulating the fracture of laminated glass elements. This approach combines the fine-scale multilayer model and the coarse-scale macro model to achieve accuracy with high computational efficiency. The multilayer model describes the real laminated glass cross-section and further provides the parameters for the macro model that has a monolithic cross-section and behaves according to the constitutive model derived from the fine-scale multilayer model. Thus, using fine-scale material parameters for glass and interlayer, a multiscale approach can increase computational efficiency. The proposed models are discretized using the embedded discontinuity finite element method (ED-FEM) and operator split computations. The discontinuity in the displacement field, typical of cracks as the dissipative mechanism for fracture, is represented with the embedded discontinuity approach. The heterogeneity of glass elements (regarding initial imperfections) is included using five different model setups. The comparison between numerical results and experimental tests (four-point bending tests on laminated glass elements) shows a very good agreement. In addition to these comparisons, simplified engineering approaches for deflection prediction are also tested in the numerical model and compared with experimental results.