Experimental tests and numerical simulations of ballistic impact on laminated glass

¹ Structural Impact Laboratory (SIMLab), Department of Structural Engineering, NTNU – Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
² Centre for Advanced Structural Analysis (CASA), NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
³ Enodo AS, Trondheim, Norway
⁴ Research and Development Department, Norwegian Defence Estates Agency, Oslo, Norway

^* Corresponding author: karoline.osnes@ntnu.no

Published online: 9 September 2021

Abstract

In this study, we investigate double-laminated glass plates under ballistic impact through experimental tests and numerical simulations. The experimental tests are used to determine the ballistic limit velocity and curve for the laminated glass targets, and to create a basis for comparison with numerical simulations. We tested two different glass pane configurations: (1) one double-laminated glass plate, and (2) two layers of double-laminated glass plates separated by an airgap. In the numerical study, we used finite element simulations that employed higher order elements and 3D node splitting to predict the residual velocities of the bullets in the experiments. Node splitting enabled modelling of fracture by element separation and was employed for the glass parts. The material and fracture models that we used for the glass and the PVB parts were simplified, but the numerical predictions proved to be in excellent agreement with the experimental results.