Fracture and fragmentation of blast-loaded laminated glass: An experimental and numerical study

Abstract

In this study, we use the explicit finite element method in combination with higher order elements and 3D node splitting to simulate fracture and fragmentation of blast-loaded laminated glass. Node splitting is a modelling technique where elements are separated instead of being eroded when a fracture criterion is reached. The resulting FE simulations are thus capable of describing behaviours such as fragmentation without loss of mass or momentum, fine cracking of the glass plates, and delamination and separation between the glass and the polymer interlayer. The simulations are compared to blast experiments conducted in a shock tube. In total, 15 laminated glass specimens (consisting of annealed float glass plates and PVB) were tested at five different pressure levels. The time and position of fracture initiation in the glass plates varied, which in turn resulted in varying post-fracture behaviour within the different pressure levels. The simulations were in good agreement with the blast tests, revealing the potential of the selected numerical method. Additional simulations of monolithic (i.e., non-laminated) glass plates were conducted and compared to experiments that were presented in an earlier study. Again, these simulations displayed a highly comparable response to the experiments, and were able to describe crack branching, formation of large glass splinters and free-flying fragments.