Chennai: Scientists in Australia have developed a unique technique to prevent glass facades on iconic buildings from shattering if targeted by terrorists in a bomb explosion.
According to the study, published in the journal Engineering Failure Analysis, the research team of four from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) looked at the ‘maximum credible load’ of an explosion and how to minimise the problem of a deadly wave of shattered glass which can cause traumatic injury and death.
David Thambiratnam, one of the researchers, said the study went beyond previous research in the field with a sophisticated coupling analysis, which did not just look at the way the glass responds to an explosion, but also modelled the explosive source, the pressure wave transmission and fluid-structure interaction.
“We modelled the shock waves that travelled through the air and then we studied how it hit the structures,” Thambiratnam said.
The solution, detailed in the paper, is to absorb the energy of the blast with a shock absorbing layer between the glass panels in the laminated glass and through the members of the supporting system as well as to make the cable trusses stronger.