A New Kind of Blast-Resistant Curtain Wall Façade

Abstract

In a joint endeavor for the US Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Karagozian & Case Inc. (K&C) has been developing curtain wall technology for US government infrastructure overseas capable of withstanding the order of loads anticipated from large explosive events such as VBIEDs at close proximity. The analysis utilized High Fidelity Physics Based (HFPB) calculations including both Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Computational Structural Dynamics (CSD) methods. Unlike many similar analysis and simulation efforts, the work was validated by a full-scale explosive test. This paper provides description and commentary of the calculation approach adopted to analyze the structure and a comparison of the simulation and test results. Finally, conclusions are presented regarding the efficacy of the calculation approach adopted and recommendations are presented for future analysis and testing of conventional structural systems subject to blast loading of this magnitude.