A TECHNICAL SEMINAR ON

“ARCHITECTURAL AND STRUCTURAL

DESIGN FOR
BLAST RESISTANT BUILDINGS”

Presented by

KISHORE C.
110914017
Construction Engineering and
Management

Department of CIVIL Engineering,

Manipal Institute Of Technology,
Manipal.
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 ABSTRACT

 Blast resistant is a necessary part of design for more

building around the world.
 Blast design is no longer limited to Underground shelters
and sensitive military sites, buildings used by the general public
daily must also have satisfactory blast protection.
By looking at the experience of structural designers over the
past several decades it is possible to see successful integration
of Blast design into mainstream buildings.

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Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION.
2. EXPLOSION PROCESS FOR HIGH EXPLOSIVES.
3. ARCHITECTURAL ASPECT OF BLAST RESISTANT BUILDING
DESIGN.
4. STRUCTURAL ASPECT OF BLAST RESISTANT BUILDING
DESIGN .
5. CONCLUSIONS.
6. REFERENCES.

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INTRODUCTION

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• Damage to the assets, loss of life and social panic are factors
that have to be minimized if the threat of terrorist action cannot
be stopped.

• Designing the structures to be fully blast resistant is not an

realistic and economical option, however current engineering
and architectural knowledge can enhance the new and existing
buildings to mitigate the effects of an explosion.

• High explosives are solid in form and are commonly termed

condensed explosives. TNT (trinitrotoluene) is the most widely
known example.

• There are 2 kinds of explosions which are unconfined

explosions, confined explosions.

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Unconfined Explosion
1. Air Blast

Figure 1. Air burst with ground reflections

2. Surface blast

Figure 2. Surface burst

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Confined Explosion
•When an explosion occurs within a building, the pressures
associated with the initial shock front will be high and
therefore will be amplified by their reflections within the
building. This type of explosion is called a confined explosion.

•Depending on the extent of venting, various types of

confined explosions are possible. (Figure 3)

Fully vented partially vented fully confined

Figure 3. Fully vented, partially vented

and fully confined explosions
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 EXPLOSION PROCESS
FOR HIGH EXPLOSIVES

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• An explosion occurs when a gas, liquid or solid material
goes through a rapid chemical reaction.

• When the explosion occurs, gas products of the reaction

are formed at a very high temperature and pressure at the
source.

• These high pressure gasses expand rapidly into the

surrounding area and a blast wave is formed. Because the
gases are moving, they cause the surrounding air move as
well.

• Blast waves propagate at supersonic speeds and gets

reflected as they meet objects.

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Contd..
•As the blast wave continues to expand away from the source of
the explosion its intensity diminishes and its effect on the
objects is also reduced.

• Once the blast wave has formed and propagating away from
the source, it is convenient to separate out the different types of
loading experienced by the surrounding objects.

• Three effects have been identified in three categories.

1. Air shock wave.
2. Dynamic pressure.
3. Ground shock wave.

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Figure 4. Blast wave pressures plotted against time

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ARCHITECTURAL ASPECT
OF BLAST RESISTANT
BUILDING DESIGN

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Architectural aspect includes 5 main features while designing.
These features are,

1. Planning and Layout.

2. Structural form and internal layout.
3. Bomb shelter areas.
4. Installations.
5. Glazing and Cladding.

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Planning and Layout
• Much can be done at the planning stage of a new building to
reduce potential threats and the associated risks of injury and
damage.

• The risk of a terrorist attack, necessity of blast protection for

structural and non-structural members, adequate placing of
shelter areas within a building should be considered for instance.

• In relation to an external threat, the priority should be to

create as much stand-off distance between an external bomb
and the building as possible.

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Figure 5. Schematic layout of site for protection against bombs .

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Structural form and internal layout

• Structural form is a parameter that greatly affects the blast

loads on the building.

• Arches and domes are the types of structural forms that

reduce the blast effects on the building.

• Complex shapes that cause multiple reflections of the blast

wave should be discouraged.

• It should be noted that single story buildings are more blast

resistant compared with multi-story buildings if applicable.

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• Partially or fully embed buildings are quite blast resistant.
These kinds of structures take the advantage of the shock
absorbing property of the soil covered by. The soil provides
protection in case of a nuclear explosion as well.

• A possible fire that occurs within a structure after an explosion

may increase the damage catasthrophically. Therefore the
internal members of the building should be designed to resist
the fire.

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Bomb shelter areas
• The bomb shelter areas are specially designated within the
building where vulnerability from the effects of the explosion is
at a minimum and where personnel can retire in the event of a
bomb threat warning.

• It should be large enough to accommodate the personnel

involved and be located so as to facilitate continual access.

• For modern-framed buildings, shelter areas should be located

away from windows, external doors, external walls and the top
floors if the roof is weak.

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• The functional aspects of a bomb shelter area should
accommodate all the occupants of the building; provide
adequate communication with outside; provide sufficient
ventilation and sanitation; limit the blast pressure to less than
the ear drum rupture pressure and provide alternative means of
escape.

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Installations
• Gas, water, steam installations, electrical connections,
elevators and water storage systems should be planned to resist
any explosion affects.

• Installation connections are critical points to be considered and

should be avoided to use in high-risk deformation areas.

• Areas with high damage receiving potential e.g. external walls,

ceilings, roof , slabs, car parking spaces and lobbies also should
be avoided to locate the electrical and other installations.

• The main control units and installation feeding points should

be protected from direct attacks .

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• A reserve installation system should be provided for a potential
explosion and should be located remote from the main
installation system.

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Glazing and cladding
• Glass from broken and shattered windows could be
responsible for a large number of injuries caused by an explosion
in a city centre.

• The choice of a safer glazing material is critical and it has been

found out that laminated glass is the most effective in this
context.

• Applying transparent polyester anti-shatter film to the inner

surface of the glazing is as well an effective method.

• The amount of glazing in the facade should be minimized.

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• It should also be ensured that the cladding is fixed to the
structure securely with easily accessible fixings.

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Blast Resistant Buildings 24
STRUCTURAL ASPECT OF
BLAST RESISTANT
BUILDING DESIGN

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• The front face of a building experiences peak overpressures
due to reflection of an external blast wave.

• The rear of the structure experiences no pressure until the

blast wave has traveled the length of the structure and a
compression wave has begun to move towards the centre of the
rear face.

Figure 7. Sequence of air-blast effects

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• Similar to the static loaded case design, blast resistant dynamic
design also uses the limit state design techniques which are
collapse limit design and functionality limit design.

• For collapse limit design the behavior of structural member

connections is crucial. In the case of an explosion, significant
translational movement and moment occur and the loads
involved should be transferred from the beams to columns.

• Functionality limit design however, requires the building to

continue functionality after a possible explosion occurred. Only
non-structural members like windows or cladding may need
maintenance after an explosion so that they should be designed
ductile enough.

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• Frame buildings designed to resist gravity, wind loads and
earthquake loads in the normal way have frequently been found
to be deficient in two respects. When subjected to blast loading;
the failure of beam-to-column connections and the inability of
the structure to tolerate load reversal.

• Beam-to-column connections can be subjected to very high

forces as the result of an explosion.

• Providing additional robustness to these connections can be a

significant enhancement.

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Figure 8. Enhanced beam-to-column connection details for
steelwork and reinforced concrete.

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• Columns are predominantly loaded with axial forces under
normal loading conditions, however under blast loading they
may be subjected to bending.

• Such forces can lead to loss of load-carrying capacity of a

section and therefore it should be protected.

• Two types of wrapping can be applied to provide this.

Wrapping with steel belts or wrapping with carbon fiber-
reinforced polymers (CFRP).

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CONCLUSIONS

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• The aim in blast resistant building design is to prevent the
overall collapse of the building and fatal damages. Despite the
fact that, the magnitude of the explosion and the loads caused
by it cannot be anticipated perfectly, the most possible scenarios
will let to find the necessary engineering and architectural
solutions for it.

• During the architectural design, the behavior under extreme

compression loading of the structural form, structural elements
e.g. walls, flooring and secondary structural elements like
cladding and glazing should be considered carefully.

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• Structural design after an environmental and architectural
blast resistant design, as well stands for a great importance to
prevent the overall collapse of a building. With correct selection
of the structural system, well designed beam-column
connections, structural elements designed adequately, moment
frames that transfer sufficient load and high quality material; it’s
possible to build a blast resistant building.

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REFERENCES

[1] Koccaz Z. (2004) Blast Resistant Building Design, MSc Thesis,

Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey.
[2] Yandzio E., Gough M. (1999). Protection of Buildings Against
Explosions, SCI Publication, Berkshire, U.K.
*3+ Hill J.A., Courtney M.A. (1995). The structural Engineer’s
Response to Explosion Damage. The Institution of Structural
Engineer’s Report, SETO Ltd, London.
[4] Mays G.C., Smith P.D. (1995). Blast Effects on Buildings,
Thomas Telford Publications, Heron Quay, London.
[5] Hinman E. (2008) Blast Safety of the Building Envelope,
WBDG, US.
[6] Remennikov A. (2003) Essay 1: The HSBC Bank Building
Bombing: Analysis of Blast Loading.

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THANK YOU

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