Enhanced Protective Glass for Higher Security Automotive Glazing

Enhanced protective glass (EPG), which offers increased intrusion resistance compared to standard laminated glass, has been requested by several automakers worldwide. Depending on the required level of intrusion resistance, the performance of EPG is increased by modulating the mechanical properties of the interlayers. While standard EPG performs to today's specifications, testing reveals new composite PVB / PET / PVB interlayers have resulted in EPG that shows significantly improved impact resistance (resistance to penetration) as well as laminate stiffness after breakage of glass (resistance to pullout). This paper presents the results of performance evaluation of these new interlayers for EPG applications and compares them with commercially available PVB interlayers. In addition, the head-injury criteria (HIC) values of EPG with the new interlayers are discussed.