Ongoing Research into the Failure of Glass at High Strain-Rates

The failure of glass has been studied extensively by many researchers. However, the focus has previously been on the static to quasi-static, rate-independent behaviour. It is commonly accepted that the strength of glass is sensitive to the applied loading time, however, the amount of research in the field of loading rate dependency seems very limited. Consequently, the effect of loading rates on the strength is sparingly described in the available literature despite its relevance when designing for impact and blast loads. The present paper presents an ongoing research project considering the failure of glass at high strain-rates. It provides a brief review of existing studies showing a strength increase with loading rates relevant for e.g. blast loads. Based on existing experimental work, a numerical model considering different failure models is presented. The different considered failure models are then compared and discussed for their applicability. The paper also includes an outlook of the project, briefly explaining a novel concept for a high strain-rate test setup planned to be built during the summer of 2020.