PNNL

Abstract

Design and manufacturing of transparent armor have been historically carried out using experimental approaches. In this study, we use advanced computational modeling tools to study the various stress components during the impact event and to identify the different crack/damage driving mechanisms for the different cracking patterns. Experimentally observed damage patterns for a thick glass laminate under fragmentation simulation projectile (FSP) impact are used to compare with the modeling results. AHPCRC developed modeling software EPIC’06 [1] is used in predicting the penetration resistance of transparent armor systems. It is found that a 1-parameter single state model can be used to predict the impact penetration depth with relatively good accuracy. In addition, hoop stress and circumferential stresses are found to produce ripple cracks, needle cracks and radial cracks. It is also found that a region of high hoop stress and circumferential stress is produced by the impact at the back side of the target plate, causing the floret damage region possibly leading to higher penetration depth for thinner laminates or higher velocity impact.