Recommendations for the improvement of existing European norms for testing the resistance of windows and glazed façades to explosive effects

It is important to protect critical buildings (shopping centres, government buildings and embassies), infrastructure and utilities, train and underground stations from being damaged, destroyed or disrupted by deliberate acts of terrorism, criminal activity and malicious behaviour. Normal regulations and building guidelines do not generally take into account these threats. The introduction of appropriate regulations or guidelines, where deemed necessary, should enhance the resilience of buildings and infrastructures against explosion incidents. In order to protect the built infrastructure, testing methods are required which can answer the question whether certain building elements can withstand certain loading conditions created by an explosive event. The applicable state-of-the-art techniques may include either experimental or numerical methods, or a combination of both. Therefore, the thematic group (TG) on the resistance of structures to explosion effects was formed in order to bring the required expertise together, to make it commonly available and to find and define harmonised methods and solutions which can be provided to the decision-makers responsible for critical infrastructure protection. The TG described in a fist report [JPC87202] the physical phenomena which have to be understood in order to ensure a proper testing of the elements and a correct interpretation of the results. In a second step, the differences between the existing standards for testing blast-resistant glazing and windows have been derived, and a basis for fundamental recommendations for the future development of the suite of European standards has been addressed [JRC94930]. Based on the prior findings, this report now formulates the proper enhancements of the existing standards in terms of actual recommendations for the improvement of the test standards.