Experimental investigation of corner-supported architectural glazing under pulse pressure loading

Abstract

City centre bombings demonstrate the vulnerability of buildings to the effects of an explosion. Glazing panels on buildings, which shatter in the blast, are the main cause of injury due to the high-velocity fragments produced. A special test facility recently developed in the University of Liverpool Impact Research Centre has been used to investigate the dynamic behaviour of glazing components under pulse pressure loading. The type of glazing system studied in this work is supported at discrete points, unlike conventional glazing systems, which are usually supported along all edges. Novel experimental techniques have been used successfully to apply dynamic pressure pulses to full-size, 1 m by 1 m by 10mm thick glazing panels supported at four corner points under controlled laboratory conditions.