July 2011

Explosion effects on buildings

Introduction

Nowadays there are many software tools available which, in case of a gas release, allow to
calculate the dispersion of the gases (and hence predict the size and shape of the cloud) and to
calculate the overpressures as a function of distance if this gas cloud should explode.
The next step is then to predict what the consequences of these overpressures will be: to what
extent will buildings (and other items) be damaged or even fail at the expected overpressures?
Usually for such effect predictions guidance is sought in the literature, where tables are presented
giving damage levels of typical buildings (and other structures) as a function of overpressure. Often
these tables do not indicate whether the values are intended for gas (or dust) explosions, or for
high explosives (or even nuclear explosions). Nevertheless, these different types of explosions
behave very differently and their effects are therefore also very different. In addition the information
often is very general: does “building” refer to a simple farm house or a large office centre.

Therefore, if tables from different literature sources are compared it is often found that these are
either identical (meaning the data were copied from the same source), or else differ completely.

Therefore, we generally recommend to use such tables only if the source of the data is known (for
example: based of what type of testing or accidents) and if it can be justified that the situation
concerned is similar. In this article some guidance is presented on how to use such information.

Available historical and experimental information

World War II Bombings

During the bombings of London during World War II, many data have been collected on the
damage observed, as a function of the explosive charge involved and the distance from the
explosion.

Important to note is that the buildings concerned in this article usually were 2-3 floors masonry
buildings, exposed to loadings by high explosives (bombing). Contrary to gas or dust explosions,
high explosives result into very high overpressures, but of a very short duration. As a
consequence, whereas an “average” gas or dust explosion will result into a more or less static
loading on buildings, high explosives will result in highly dynamic loadings due to the very short
duration of the overpressure. Therefore, the resistance of the buildings to high explosives will tend
to be much higher than to gas or dust explosions (with relatively static loading).

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In summary:
Using these high-explosive data to predict damage due to gas or dust explosions will likely result
into a serious underestimate of the potential effects.

Nuclear explosion testing

As is generally known, during the fifties many tests with nuclear explosions were conducted in the
US. Probably less known is that these tests were also used to investigate the effects of such
nuclear explosions on buildings, industrial installations, vehicles, and many other items. The
buildings involved were typical country houses as can be found in US: most of them in wood (with
masonry chimneys) or masonry.
Many results of these tests were published in open literature.

A nuclear explosion, like a gas or dust explosion, also causes a rather long lasting loading.
However, there are differences:
• With a nuclear explosion, there is always a shock wave (instantaneous increase of
overpressure). With gas and dust explosions however there is a pressure wave: a relatively
slow increase of overpressure. Especially brittle materials (glass, masonry) are very
sensitive for this difference: shock waves result into larger damages than pressure waves
of the same magnitude.
• With nuclear explosions, after the initial overpressure, there is a very important “negative
phase”, where the pressure is below ambient. For gas or dust explosions such a negative
phase usually can be neglected. The effect of this “negative phase” associated with nuclear
explosions is however very important: many structures can hardly withstand a negative
pressure (even if they can withstand an overpressure to a certain degree).
• A nuclear explosion is always accompanied by an intense heat flash. Due to this flash, fires
may arise, but also the strength of structural materials is affected in a negative way.

In summary:
data from nuclear explosions generally can be used as a conservative approach to predict damage
due to gas or dust explosions.

Application
One (of many) achievements of the late Dr. Wilfred Baker is that he developed so-called P-I curves
(pressure-impulse curves) to estimate the blast damage to buildings.
His P-I curves are based on both the results from London (WWII) and the US nuclear testing.

The curves include a pressure and impulse criterion (impulse for very short duration loading).
Since pressure waves from a gas or dust explosion typically are of a much longer duration than
blasts from high explosives, for a gas or dust explosion risk analysis in many situations only the
pressure criterion is relevant:

Overpressure Overpressure Effect

(kPa) (mbar)
4.5 kPa 45 mbar Threshold for minor structural damage. Wrenched
joints and partitions.
17 kPa 170 mbar Threshold for major structural damage. Some load
bearing members fail.
40 kPa 400 mbar Threshold for partial demolition. 50 to 75 % of walls
destroyed or unsafe.
For more information it is referred to the book of Baker.
Modern, industrial, buildings
Such buildings usually are constructed as a frame, covered by industrial claddings and roofing
panels. As this way of constructing is very different from the buildings used in the testing
mentioned above, the P-I curves from Baker can certainly not be applied to such buildings!

Important note: The design criteria may differ from country to country. If, for a specific
situation, the effect of an explosion on an industrial building has to be investigated, especially
for rather new buildings it is recommended to verify the design load of the buildings. Otherwise:
verify the local building regulations, which should include the required design loads.

In order to enable a first estimate following information can be used. The design of such buildings
is typically based on the wind load. Roof structures are, apart from the wind load, also designed for
snow and rain. But the design load is very similar: usually the design is based on the weight of 100
mm of water, meaning a pressure of 1 kPa (10 mbar).

In the design of such structures a safety margin is included, usually:

• 1.5 for steel structures
• 1.7 for reinforced concrete structures

Steel and reinforced concrete display much less variation in strength compared to a brittle material
like glass. Therefore the onset of damage will not vary too much in between various structures.
Steel and reinforced structures also have a rather large plastic deformation capacity: if the elastic
limit is exceeded a redistribution of stresses will occur, resulting into permanent deformations, but
at a considerable higher overpressure. As a conservative estimate it can be expected that a normal
structure in steel or reinforced concrete will fail at an overpressure which is at least 2 times the
elastic limit.

Therefore following criteria can be used as a first guidance for such industrial buildings:

Overpressure Overpressure Effect

(kPa) (mbar)
1.5 kPa 15 mbar Threshold of minor damage to steel structures.
Some permanent deformations are to be expected.
3.0 kPa 30 mbar Threshold of major damage to steel structures.
Some elements may fail.
1.7 kPa 17 mbar Threshold of minor damage to reinforced concrete
structures. Some permanent deformations are to be
expected.
3.4 kPa 34 mbar Threshold of major damage to reinforced concrete
structures. Some elements may fail.

Windows
Since the strength of window panes is rather low, window pane failure usually is widespread after
an explosion. Therefore many tests have been conducted with window panes, in order to develop a
method to determine the strength of a specific window (including the expected scatter) once the
dimensions are known.
The calculation model presented in this publication can be used to predict window pane damage
as a result of an accidental explosion. A less known application is to calculate the explosion
pressures after an explosion incident has occurred. In general, for a certain level of structural
damage, it can only be concluded that the overpressure must have exceeded a certain level.
However, since glass displays an enormous scatter in strength, and since (especially at industrial
sites) usually there are many windows having identical dimensions, the percentage of broken
windows can be determined (just by counting), which enables a rather accurate estimate of the
actual explosion pressure.
Single pane windows
In order to estimate the overall window damage in a certain area, there is also a need for more
general guidance. Like with the industrial buildings, such guidance can be derived from the design
load: windows typically are designed to resist wind loads. The design wind load depends on the
location of the building (close to sea, or land inwards) and the height of the building. The criteria
also have been modified in history. However a realistic actual value for the design wind load is
about 1 kPa (0.01 bar).
Based on this, usually following damage criteria were used for window panes:

Overpressure Overpressure Effect

(kPa) (mbar)
1 kPa 10 mbar Threshold of minor window pane failure. About 5 %
of window panes will fail.
3 kPa 30 mbar Threshold of major window pane failure. Many
window panes will fail. The glass fragments may
reach high velocities and endanger persons behind
these windows.

It is a fact that, in case of very strong winds, incidentally window panes do fail, which is an
indication that these criteria are realistic. These criteria therefore are recommended for old (single
pane) windows.
Double pane windows
For modern (or renovated) buildings, usually double pane windows of a considerable thickness are
installed, which are expected to be much stronger.
The author of this publication has been involved in an extensive program where the resistance of
various types of windows (including frames) were evaluated by testing. It was found that with these
new window structures, usually the window frame is decisive for the strength, rather than the
window pane itself. Either the frames, which are frequently made of plastic or aluminium, or the
mounting of the frames into the wall fail.
Although in this case it is likely not the pane which fails but rather the (mounting of) the frame, the
result is very similar: the window pane is released and will fail (scatter) at impact.
Therefore it is recommended to use the same criteria also for more recent window structures,
unless there is an indication that these are of a non-standard, very strong, design.
Hence the 1 kPa and 3 kPa criteria are also recommended for modern windows.

Conclusion
Quite some experimental and historical data concerning the effect of explosions on structures
exist. Nevertheless, these need to be analysed carefully as different types of explosions (gas, dust,
high explosives, nuclear) exhibit different characteristics and hence also different effects on
structures.

Guidelines are given to estimate the damage on modern buildings as a consequence of gas- or
dust explosions. Data obtained with high explosives turn out to result in substantial
underestimation if used for gas or dust explosions. Data obtained from nuclear testing can be used
but with caution.
The effect of explosions on new buildings, using new materials and new ways of constructing, is
also estimated.

Ake Harmanny
Senior Scientist
Ake.harmanny@irmaco.eu