The purpose of modelling a laminated windshield using the FEM is to provide a critical look on the way the adult headform impact tests are conducted in the process of motor vehicle certification. The main aim of the study is to modify the design of a laminated windshield in the context of a vehicle collision with vulnerable road users. The initial phase of the work was to develop a model of the adult headform impactor. The validation consisted in conducting a series of FEM analyses of the

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... or certification testing according to the Regulation (EC) 631/2009. Next, the impact of the headform model on a windshield was analysed. The FEM model of laminated glass is composed of two outer layers of glass and an inner layer of polyvinyl butyral. FEM analyses of the impaction were performed at five points of the windshield characterised by various dynamic responses of the impactor and various patterns of glass cracking. In modelling the layers of glass, the Abaqus environment "brittle cracking" model was used. The following material models of PVB resin were considered: elastic, elastic-plastic, hyperelastic, and low-density foam. Furthermore, the influence of the mesh type on the process of glass cracking in a laminated windshield was analysed.