A Blast Resistant Building Designed to Protect Occupants
At the long duration design blast load of 8psi, the associated wall deflection is less than 0.5-inches. At a reflected blast load of 20.9 psi and 1631 psi-ms, FORTRESS Protective Buildings experience a max deflection of 1.5-inches! The robust design of FORTRESS Protective Buildings virtually eliminates occupant vulnerability from internal debris hazards for design loads. Thomas Mander, P.E., Senior Structural Engineer for BakerRisk, recently published a paper titled, “Consideration of Non-Structural Internal Debris in Siting of Blast Resistant Modules.” The paper considers current industry practice for addressing non-structural debris and the mechanisms that cause hazardous internal debris. The paper notes that: “While a properly-designed BRM will protect building occupants from structural failures during a blast, there are other secondary hazards that are often overlooked. Non-structural items that are necessary for the daily operating function of a BRM such as cabinets, shelves, desks, electrical equipment, ducting, lighting, etc. can become sources of hazardous debris to building occupants, even at blast loads below the BRM blast rating.” Contact the Fortress team for more information on this topic and/or FORTRESS Protective Buildings.