Abstract: Objectives In recent years, composite materials leveraging its advantage of integrating structural and functional features have been extensively applied in non-pressure-resistant structures of underwater equipment. However, during polar service, underwater equipment needs to undergo surface ice-breaking procedures. Deformation damage and fracture failure are inevitable in composite structures during icebreaking processes, severely compromising their service life, safety, and integrity. Methods Therefore, this study investigates the failure behavior and macroscopic dynamic response of glass fiber reinforced polymer laminates under different collision energies through experimental and numerical simulation analyses. Combined with SEM microscopic damage characterization method, the interlaminar delamination damage state of composite laminates was observed and analyzed. Simultaneously, a composite damage failure model based on the Hashin criterion and cohesive element analysis methods were employed to simulate and analyze the damage behaviors of the laminates during ice-breaking. Results Conclusions The research results indicate that the numerical calculation results are in good agreement with the experimental results, verifying the reliability of the numerical simulation model for ice-breaking by composite laminates. Furthermore, as the collision energy increases, the damage degree, maximal impact force, deformation value and energy absorption of composite laminates show a gradual increasing trend. This research provides a reference for the design of composite structures for polar vessels under ice-breaking loading.