During car accidents leading to roll-overs, 49% of the injured occupants are partially or fully ejected through the side window (Yaniv et al., 1998). In addition head impact against an external structure is often observed under lateral impact. In order to study the risks of car occupant ejections and lateral head impact, an understanding of the side window’s mechanical behavior during a head impact is necessary. Typically in car industry two types of side windows are used made either of tempered or laminated glasses. To compare the effectiveness and the advantages of these two types of glasses, experimental and numerical studies of lateral windows behavior under head impact have been carried out.
Keywords:
Lateral windows; tempered glasses; laminated glasses; HIC