Dynamic Response of Shock Loaded Architectural Glass Panels

A controlled study has been performed to understand fracture and damage mechanisms in glass panels subjected to air blast. A shock tube apparatus has been utilized to obtain the controlled blast loading. Five different panels, namely plain glass, sandwiched glass, wired glass, tempered glass and sandwiched glass with film on both the faces are used in the experiments. Fully clamped boundary conditions are applied to replicate the actual loading conditions in windows. Real-time measurements of the pressure pulses affecting the panels are recorded. A post-mortem study of the specimens was also performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the materials to withstand these shock loads. The real time full-field in-plane strain and out-of-plane deformation data on the back face of the glass panel is obtained using 3D Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique. The experimental results show that the sandwich glass with two layers of glass joined with a PVB interlayer and protective film on both the front and back face out performs the other four types of glass tested.