Design Concept Testing

In the case shown, the retrofit of a masonry wall to enhance its blast resistance might be done for a control room at a refinery. It was tested at full-scale under with a blast load. Special attention was required to develop a retrofit compatible with the existing conditions at the site, since the existing wall is quite weak. In this regard, we used physics-based analytic models to find a cost effective solution. Some results are shown here to display the response of the existing wall, which is in the process of flying into the room, and a wall retrofit with fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) that is able to reduce the deformations allowing the wall to remain in place.

In some situations, the design concepts to afford protection from blast loads for existing facilities needs to be validated with tests.  This is often due to the complexities of interfacing a hardened blast-resistant design with an existing (i.e., non-hardened) design, which often exhibits little reserve capacity and is likely to be quite inadequate for incorporation with a blast resistant concept. The consequence of a blast load applied to the un-retrofitted wall is shown in the test photo shown above

Solutions

K&C has developed several unique and innovative methods for performing blast tests of concepts and products to validate their performance. These include the use of polymer spray-on coatings, FRP fabric bounded to the wall, and various designs of catcher systems where sheets of FRM or sheet metal are used to catch the wall debris and prevent its entry into the building.