Effect of the polymer interlayer on the high-velocity soft impact response of laminated glass plates

The choice of the polymer interlayer is a key consideration for laminated aircraft windshields. Such windshields often employ chemically strengthened glasses and are required to withstand impact by birds, hail-stones and other foreign bodies. In the present study, windshields employing three different polymer interlayer materials were investigated under high-velocity impact by a soft projectile: Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU), Polyvinyl Butyral (PVB) and Ionoplast interlayer-SentryGlas® Plus (SGP). Parameters such as the polymer interlayer type and thickness, multi-layering the interlayer and the sensitivity of the behaviour of the windshield to the environmental temperature were studied. The performance was assessed through a series of laboratory-scale impact experiments (using a bird-substitute material) and modelled via finite element simulations (using a smoothed particle hydrodynamics approach). The experimental and numerical results were found to be in good agreement for the three polymer interlayers investigated. The polymer interlayer type was found to have the most significant effect on both the deformation and the failure of the laminated glass windows at room temperature, i.e. 25 °C. However, the influence of the polymer interlayer type became less pronounced at lower temperatures. The novel modelling that has been developed assists in the choice of the best polymer interlayer, including the multi-layering of interlayers, for complex windshield designs.