Testing with Blast and Impact Loads

K&C staff has performed hundreds of blast effects tests. A unique aspect of most of this work is that these tests are performed at full scale. Our company has provided these services to the US Government for over five decades. This work includes: test planning; design/construction of test specimens; charge sizing; pretest predictions of the results for gage selection, locating, and ranging; interpretation of the results; and writing test reports.

Solutions

Fielding test articles and conducting successful blast effects tests requires a unique set of skills and extensive experience to obtain the needed data and design for the unexpected. Some of our staff have been running such tests for over 40 years and have an enviable track record of success in performing excellent work while avoiding costly mistakes.

K&C has designed a variety of test fixtures and reaction structures.  The series of images above show a blast effects test on a specific column using the Column Test Reaction Structure (CTRS). We have designed several other reaction structures as well.  One of which includes the CTS-3 structure that supports the testing of curtain walls and large portions of the framing systems of buildings, which resides at KAFB. This structure is more than sixty feet tall and can accommodate segments of curtain wall three stories in height.

These testing facilities are subjected to repeated blast effects tests and still remain serviceable throughout their design life. Some like the CTRS facility shown above have been hit with more than fifty repeated blast loads, of sizes up to 2,000 lbs. and at standoff as small as only a few inches and still remain undamaged.

K&C has developed test plans, designs, and test results documentation for tests involving full-size building framing systems, structural components (e.g., steel and RC columns and beams), and walls/windows.

Services Offered

• Provide complete engineering services pursuant to blast effects testing which include tests with not only conventional airblast loadings, but also with loads from casing fragments, debris, and ground shock. Tests may be designed to evaluate behaviors of structural components, verify specific designs, or provide data for developing engineering analysis tools.
• Observation and design of impact tests, especially related to vehicle barriers are a common part of our practice.
• Design of test articles, fixtures, and specimens
• Test planning
• Analysis of test results