Keywords: laminated glass, PVB interlayer, low velocity impact, fracture, pendulum impact machine, LS-DYNA.

Multi-layer laminated glass is a composite that consists of glass layers connected with interlayers, typically made of polymers. The softer interlayer maintains transparency, provides damping of vibrations and connects glass shards after fracture, thus improving the post-fracture resistance and thereby maintaining the structural integrity. This study investigates the responses of such a composite to the consecutive, gradually increasing low-velocity hard body impacts using a computational-experimental research program. This is essential for a deeper understanding of the gradual fracture process of glass layers in a multi-layer composition. It will be beneficial in setting a direction for future studies devoted to the examination of the composition effect on the impact resistance of a laminated glass and for the design of new protective glass panels. The industry-standard annealed float glass plates laminated with a polyvinyl butyral (PVB) were selected, representing the most common material combination of the structural laminated glass. Motivated by the sacrificial-glass-ply concept and the key role of the middle glass layer, we designed the thicknesses of both external glass layers to be thinner, whereas the inner glass layers were slightly thicker. To investigate the gradual fracture process of glass layers, contact forces, velocities at selected points of the laminated glass plates, failure times, and fracture patterns were closely examined.

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