Damage and failure mechanism of inorganic glass under impact by rigid projectile

The dynamic response process of inorganic glass under rigid projectile impact was simulated by the finite element software LS-DYNA. Through observing failure process, its damage and failure discipline were analyzed. It is found that the radial cracks firstly occurred, then split to circular cracks and the inorganic glass broke into pieces afterwards. In addition, radial cracks are the main factor causing inorganic glass destruction, while circular cracks primarily absorb energy from impact. It is noticed that for inorganic glass plate with specific thickness, only when it is under the strike with defined speed range, its energy absorption reaches the maximum. This discovery is helpful for the structure design of inorganic glass.