On the experimental determination of dynamical properties of laminated glass

In this work, we address experimentally the determination of the dynamical properties, in particular natural frequencies and damping factors, of laminated structural glass. Various specimens, coming from different productions and manufactures, are investigated. Damped free vibrations experiments are performed, where the excitation is provided by an instrumented hammer. The boundary conditions are free–free (the specimens lay on a very flexible sponge substrate). The dynamical characteristics are determined by last squares fitting of time histories, a technique that is very simple, fast and provides very good results. Finally, two theoretical models (a two-layer beam model and a 2D finite element model) are employed to interpret the experimental results, and to determine the (dynamical) elastic properties of the interlayer (which in the present case is made of PVB), which are very difficult to be determined directly.