Abstract: Experimental and numerical simulation methods are used to study the static characteristic and failure mechanism of automobile laminated glass. Firstly, finite element method is used to analyze static bending of automobile laminated glass beam under point load. Comparing its results with those calculated by the general laminated plate theory, the static bending characteristics of automobile laminated glass, as distinct from general laminated plates, are presented. Then, an impact failure experiment of a laminate glass beam is designed. The generation and propagation of the crack is recorded by using high speed camera combined with photo-elastic equipment. The results are discussed in view of stress wave propagation. Finally, discrete element method (DEM) is used to simulate the process of impact failure. The occurrence and propagation of the crack are considered. Comparing the simulation results with experimental results, the validity of DEM is proved.

Key words: Automobile laminated glass, Crack generation and propagation, Discrete element method, Static characteristic