LAUSR

Abstract The fracturing performance of the windshield glazing, as a simple sandwiched composite structure manufactured by bonding glass layers with polyvinyl butyral (PVB) interlayers, is indispensable to investigate the vehicle–pedestrian accidents. This paper presents an application of the simplified form of the Park–Paulino–Roesler (S-PPR) cohesive law along with fracture mechanics to the analysis of the mechanical behavior of the windshield under the pedestrian head impact, considering glass fracture and interfacial debonding. The S-PPR model calculates the damage variables in various mode-mixity cases to predict all separation paths, which yields to capturing more realistic crack patterns. A windshield finite element model is designed by embedding cohesive elements into the joint interfaces between the glass and PVB layers. The cracking mechanism of a windshield impacted by a headform impactor is simulated with a commercial explicit finite element code. Numerical simulation outcomes are validated by comparison with similar empirical observations. Furthermore, the difference between the S-PPR model and the commonly used bilinear model is investigated, in which simulation outcomes confirm that the S-PPR cohesive zone model (CZM) is more proper to capture the windshield cracking mechanisms. Ultimately, the effects of the impact locations and impact angles on the impact fracture performance of the windshield are investigated.