CONSIDERATIONS FOR BLAST-RESISTANT GLAZING DESIGN

By H. Scott Norville,1 P.E., and Edward J. Conrath,2 P.E., Members, ASCE

ABSTRACT: When an explosive threat exists building owners should strongly consider using blast-resistant
glazing in windows and curtain walls. Architects and engineers have no publicly available tools, procedures, or
formal guidelines to aid in the design of blast-resistant glazing. This paper discusses factors pertinent to the
design of blast-resistant glazing. It makes specific recommendations concerning window glass types and con-
structions suitable for use in blast-resistant glazing constructions. It addresses considerations in framing and
attachment of blast-resistant glazing to its framing. Most significantly, the authors offer a relatively simple
approach to facilitate blast-resistant glazing design in terms of traditional window glass design methodologies
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for laminated glass and insulating glass fabricated with laminated glass. Use of the blast-resistant glazing design
procedure described herein eliminates the need for very expensive blast testing.

INTRODUCTION sure of its fenestration, reducing cleanup costs and reducing

When air blast pressure fractures window glass lites, flying
and falling glass shards pose a major hazard to anyone in the
proximity. The use of blast-resistant glazing in buildings sub-
ject to such an air blast pressure loading can greatly reduce,
if not eliminate, this hazard. Blast-resistant glazing can also
decrease the extent of damage to building interiors and the
cleanup that an explosion entails.
At present, architects, engineers, and glazing designers for
nongovernmental structures have no publicly available tools,
procedures, or formal guidelines available to aid in designing
blast-resistant glazing. Their only option consists of hiring
blast consultants who can offer blast-resistant glazing designs
accompanied by testing. This option significantly increases
glazing costs for a building.
In this paper, the authors offer the architectural and engi-
neering communities an approach that facilitates blast-resistant
glazing design using readily available traditional window glass
design methodologies. The design methodology relies on
blast-resistant glazing constructions that employ laminated
glass.
PURPOSE OF BLAST-RESISTANT GLAZING DESIGN
When explosions occur in populated areas, air blast pressure
typically fractures windows, causing catastrophic results. In
the worst scenarios, the shards flying and falling from frac-
tured window glass injure and kill persons (Blocker and
Blocker 1949; Brismar and Bregenwald 1982; Misty 1987;
Norville et al. 1995, 1996), even in the absence of building
collapse. At the same time, air blast pressure entering buildings
can cause severe damage to ears that might cause diminished
hearing ability, loss of balance, and headaches (Norville et al.
1999). Even relatively small explosions will cause significant
window glass breakage, requiring as a minimum, window
glass replacement and significant cleanup.
Ideally, properly designed blast-resistant glazing should
minimize, if not eliminate, flying and falling glass shards in
any explosion. In addition, under air blast pressure loading,
properly designed blast-resistant glazing should maintain clo-
1 WINDOW GLASS DESIGN VERSUS BLAST-
Prof. and Dir., Glass Res. and Testing Lab., Dept. of Civ. Engrg.,
Texas Tech Univ., Box 41023, Lubbock, TX 79409. E-mail: scott.norville
@wind.ttu.edu
2
Struct. Engr., Protective Des. Ctr., Omaha Dist. Corps of Engrs.,
215 N. 17th St., Omaha, NE 68102-4978. E-mail: ed.j.conrath@usace.
army.mil
Note. Discussion open until February 1, 2002. To extend the closing
date one month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Manager
of Journals. The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and
possible publication on February 20, 2001; revised June 7, 2001. This
paper is part of the Journal of Architectural Engineering, Vol. 7, No.
3, September, 2001. 䉷ASCE, ISSN 1076-0431/01/0003-0080–0086/
$8.00 ⫹ $.50 per page. Paper No. 21943.
80 / JOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING / SEPTEMBER 2001
pressure-related injuries. Even with blast-resistant glazing, air
blast pressure will fracture windows, necessitating replace-
ment. However, blast-resistant glazing should remain in its
openings and reduce the urgency for immediate replacement.
Unfortunately, explosive threats exist in the uncertain world
today. Such threats necessitate architects and engineers to pro-
duce designs that afford protection from air blast pressure. To
accomplish this, they must make a prediction of a potential
blast threat to a building. They define the potential blast threat
in terms of (1) an amount of high explosive; and (2) a standoff
distance from a building. They design and install blast-resis-
tant glazing based upon this predicted design threat. Should
an explosion larger than the design threat occur, provided it
does not cause building collapse, properly designed blast-re-
sistant glazing should (1) minimize flying and falling glass
shards and their associated lacerative hazard; and (2) maintain
closure of most of the glazed openings.
The more probable scenario for blast-resistant glazing, prop-
erly designed for a potential threat, arises when no explosion
occurs during the in-service life of the blast-resistant glazing.
In this case, the blast-resistant glazing must perform the func-
tions of standard glazing, i.e., providing a barrier between en-
vironments inside and outside a building while allowing light
to enter the building and its occupants to observe the outside
world. Blast-resistant glazing must perform the everyday glaz-
ing functions economically, without maintenance beyond that
which standard glazing requires.
In summary, the primary goal of blast-resistant glazing de-
sign consists of protecting people inside or near a building
subjected to air blast pressure loading. To afford this protec-
tion, blast-resistant glazing must not contribute to the hazards
associated with the explosion. Blast-resistant glazing accom-
plishes this by remaining in its frame following fracture, and
eliminating flying and falling glass shards. In the vast majority
of its applications, blast-resistant glazing will never experience
loading from air blast pressure. Consequently, blast-resistant
glazing must economically perform the functions of standard
glazing.
RESISTANT GLAZING DESIGN
The primary function of window glass consists of providing
a transparent barrier between the inside and outside of a build-
ing, thus protecting the building occupants from the elements.
To achieve this function, window glass must usually resist
only wind loading. For sloped glazing, window glass must
resist loading from snow, its own weight, and wind. Conse-
quently, window glass design consists of determining the ap-
propriate window glass type, construction, and thickness des-
ignation(s) to resist uniform loads from wind, snow, and its

J. Archit. Eng., 2001, 7(3): 80-86

 own weight, as appropriate. Designers assume these loads act
in a quasi-static manner.
The failure prediction methodology (Beason 1980; Norville
and Minor 1984; Beason and Norville 1990) provides the the-
oretical model that describes load resistance of window glass
for U.S. design procedures. The failure prediction methodol-
ogy addresses all factors known to affect window glass
strength (Norville and Minor 1984). It relates a uniform load
having constant magnitude over specified time duration to a
probability of breakage. Under this theory, any uniform load-
ing having finite time duration that acts on an annealed win-
dow glass lite induces a nonzero probability of breakage.
Within traditional window glass design, any breakage occur-
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ring in a window glass lite (i.e., a crack or fracture), constitutes

failure.
ASTM Standard E 1300 (ASTM 2000) formulates the fail-
ure prediction methodology into a design procedure. This doc-
ument defines the load resistance (i.e., strength of a window
glass lite) in terms of the magnitude of the uniform loading
that acts over a time duration of 60 s to produce a nominal
probability of breakage of eight lites per thousand (PB = 0.008)
at its first occurrence. Currently, U.S. model building codes
[Building Officials and Code Administrators International
(BOCA) 1999; Southern Building Codes Congress Interna-
tional (SBCCI) 1999; International Code Council (ICC) 2000]
have adopted the ASTM Standard E 1300 methodology in
some form to facilitate design to resist uniform loading.
ASTM Standard E 1300 presents load resistance for an-
nealed glass—termed nonfactored load—in 12 charts, one for
each nominal thickness designation. Fig. 1 shows a nonfac-
tored load chart for window glass having nominal 6 mm (1/4
in.) thickness, similar to that contained in ASTM Standard E
1300.
ASTM Standard E 1300 uses glass-type factors that relate
the strength of other monolithic window glass types (heat
strengthened and fully tempered) and constructions (insulating
glass and laminated glass) to that of monolithic annealed win-
dow glass. Current window glass theory does not precisely
define the relationship between loading, time duration, and
probabilities of breakage for window glass constructions and
heat-treated monolithic window glass. When designed using
ASTM Standard E 1300 (ASTM 2000), the probability of
breakage for heat-treated monolithic window glass and win-
FIG. 2. Approximate Relation between Stress Duration and Stress
Magnitude to Initiate Fracture
dow glass constructions with any glass types has nominal val-
ues ⱕ0.008 at the first occurrence of the design loading.
Traditional window glass design methodology assumes that
loads act quasi-statically with durations measured in seconds
or longer periods. When an explosion occurs, air blast pressure
dynamically loads window glass lites over very short time du-
rations. Fig. 2 shows the approximate relationship between
stress duration and stress magnitude at which fracture occurs
for annealed window glass (Minor 1990). Fig. 2 indicates that
under short duration loading the stress at which fracture ini-
tiates, which correlates with window glass load resistance, in-
creases dramatically.
On the other hand, the dynamic air blast pressure loading
associated with an explosion excites higher mode shapes in a
window glass lite causing much larger deflections and stresses
than would a quasi-static loading having the same magnitude
of pressure. Because of the excitation of higher modes, the
stress distribution for a dynamically loaded window glass lite
differs significantly from the stress distribution under quasi-
static loading of the same magnitude in that stresses having
high magnitudes occur over large regions of a window glass
lite (Norville 1990). In addition to their dynamic nature, air
blast pressure loadings tend to have much larger magnitudes

FIG. 1. Nonfactored Load Chart for Nominal 6 mm (1/4 in.) Glass Similar to Those Presented in ASTM Standard E 1300

JOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING / SEPTEMBER 2001 / 81

J. Archit. Eng., 2001, 7(3): 80-86

 than wind and snow loadings that typically govern window
glass design. Incorporating these factors, the failure prediction
methodology indicates that under air blast loadings, the prob-
ability of breakage for typical monolithic window glass lites
or window glass constructions approaches one even for rela-
tively small air blast pressure loadings (Norville 1990). In
short, the distribution and severity of the load-induced tensile
stresses in a window glass lite subjected to loading from air
blast pressure typically overcome any increase in resistance
resulting from the relatively short duration of the loading.
A designer can attempt to devise ‘‘strong’’ monolithic win-
dow glass lites or window glass constructions to resist a design
air blast pressure without fracture. Many factors tend to make
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materials do not typically fracture under air blast pressure
loading.
Monolithic Window Glass
Window glass has three basic constructions: monolithic
glass, laminated glass, and insulating glass. The following par-
agraphs discuss these constructions along with glass-clad poly-
carbonate—a special form of laminated glass—and provide
comments concerning their suitability for use as blast-resistant
glazing.
With regard to the discussion of designing strong window
glass constructions to resist air blast pressure loadings, the

this approach undesirable. First, any window glass construc- authors strongly recommend against using any type of mono-
tion designed to withstand even an air blast pressure loading lithic window glass as blast-resistant glazing. In addition to
of low magnitude would be very thick and would most prob- the aforementioned economic and structural considerations,
ably involve heat-treated window glass. Such window glass the authors note that should monolithic window glass lites
constructions would have prohibitive costs. Furthermore, a fracture under air blast pressure loading, they will produce
window glass construction with sufficient strength to resist shards that will fly and fall from the window at very high
without fracture, an air blast pressure loading, would transfer velocities. Such shards place any people near the window glass
a large portion of the loading into the structural frame. This lites in significant danger if an explosion occurs. Figs. 3 and
load transfer would require a frame design that could resist 4 show shards from monolithic window glass embedded in
such loading without collapse. Finally, if the design employs distant walls following their fracture in the Oklahoma City
window glass, regardless of its load resistance, it would have bombing (Norville et al. 1995, 1996). Approximately 200 in-
a finite probability of breakage when air blast pressure loads juries, consisting of lacerations, contusions, and abrasions, re-
it. If monolithic glass fractures under air blast pressure, dire sulted directly from flying and falling window glass shards in
consequences ensue. that incident (Norville et al. 1999). The authors include this
The authors recommend that blast-resistant glazing con- discussion because current design methodologies for window
structions using glass should fracture under air blast pressure
loading. Following fracture, they should rely on postbreakage
behavior characteristics to eliminate flying and falling glass
shards and maintain closure of fenestrations. Because window
glass constructions that fracture transfer much less load into
the structural frame, the designer should find this approach
desirable when considering the effect of air blast pressure on
an entire building.
The designer must base blast-resistant glazing designs on
maintaining closure of fenestrations and eliminating flying and
falling glass shards to the greatest extent possible. Blast-resis-
tant glazing that performs these functions will minimize dam-
age to building contents and maximize safety to building in-
habitants. For these reasons, laminated glass or glass-clad
polycarbonate make excellent blast-resistant glazing materials.
The following section discusses window glass types and con-
structions and assesses their suitability for use as blast-resistant
glazing.
FIG. 3. Monolithic Fully Tempered Glass Shards Embedded in Wall
of Durham Post Office from Lite Fractured by Air Blast Pressure in
BLAST-RESISTANT GLAZING CONSTRUCTIONS Oklahoma City Bombing (Norville et al. 1995, 1996)
This section briefly discusses properties of polycarbonate
sheet—a purely plastic material—and then continues with
discussions of monolithic glass, laminated glass, glass-clad
polycarbonate, and insulating glass. It concludes with a men-
tion of retrofit window film even though it is not a glazing
material. The combination of glass and plastic in laminated
glass and glass-clad polycarbonate produces postbreakage be-
havior characteristics in blast scenarios that afford significant
protection to buildings and their inhabitants.

Polycarbonate Sheet
Before beginning the discussion on glass, the authors re-
mark that some plastic products such as polycarbonate sheet
serve effectively in blast-resistant glazing applications. Poly-
carbonate and other plastic materials tend to have a shorter in-
service life and cost much more than blast-resistant glazing
materials that employ glass. For example, polycarbonate sheet FIG. 4. Monolithic Annealed Glass Shards Embedded in Wall of State
degrades under ultraviolet radiation and scratches easily. On Office Building from Lite Fractured by Air Blast Pressure in Oklahoma
the other hand, polycarbonate sheet and many other plastic City Bombing (Norville et al. 1995, 1996)

82 / JOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING / SEPTEMBER 2001

J. Archit. Eng., 2001, 7(3): 80-86

 glass constructions center on the load resistance of monolithic
annealed window glass.
Flat glass manufacturers produce monolithic annealed win-
dow glass in 12 discrete nominal thickness designations rang-
ing from 2.5 mm (3/32 in.) to 22 mm (7/8 in.). In the pro-
duction process, manufacturers pour molten glass over a weir
from the oven, where it floats on a bed of molten tin in a
continuous ribbon. As the ribbon moves along the molten tin,
it cools and hardens. When hard, the glass ribbon moves into
an annealing lehr that reheats it to a temperature near its soft-
ening point. Following reheating the glass cools in a carefully
controlled manner to eliminate undesirable residual stresses in
the final product, annealed window glass.
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Further heat treatment processes produce two additional

monolithic window glass types: heat strengthened and fully
tempered. To form either, fabricators cut annealed window
glass into its final size. The precut annealed window glass lite
then passes through a tempering oven on rollers. The oven
heats the glass lite to a temperature near its softening point.
Quenching air jets cool the outer surfaces rapidly while letting
the inside cool more slowly. As the interior cools slowly it
contracts. The contraction induces compressive stresses in
outer glass fibers and tensile stresses in inner glass fibers.
The magnitude of the compressive stresses in the outer fi-
bers depends upon the quenching rate. Heat strengthened win-
dow glass has surface compressive stresses ranging between
25 MPa (3,500 psi) and 52 MPa (7,500 psi). Fully tempered
window glass has surface compressive stresses in excess of 69
MPa (10,000 psi). Because window glass under load nearly
always fails in tension, heat strengthened and fully tempered
glass have nominal load resistances for design purposes of two
and four times, respectively, that of annealed window glass.
The complex stress distribution through the thickness of heat
strengthened and fully tempered window glass make cutting it
impossible, explaining why fabricators cut annealed glass to
FIG. 5. Annealed Laminated Glass Storefront Window and Door Frac-
its final size before heat treating it. tured by Air Blast Pressure in Oklahoma City Bombing (Norville et al.
The heat treatment process frequently causes distortions in- 1995, 1996)
cluding surface (roller) waves and warping. Roller waves tend
to cause only aesthetic problems. Warping of heat treated glass frame after fracture. The designer should strive to ensure that
can lead to severe problems, both aesthetic and structural, in blast-resistant laminated glass behaves in this manner.
laminated glass and insulating glass units.

Laminated Glass Glass-Clad Polycarbonate

Laminated glass consists of two or more plies of monolithic
glass bonded together using an elastomeric interlayer. Lami-
nators use polyvinyl butyral (PVB) most commonly as the
interlayer material in fabricating laminated glass. The glass
plies can consist of annealed, heat strengthened, fully tempered
window glass, or a combination. Also, a single laminated glass
lite can consist of glass plies having different thicknesses. Aes-
thetically, annealed plies make the best, distortion-free lami-
nated glass.
Because of its postbreakage behavior characteristic, lami-
nated glass provides excellent protection under air blast pres-
sure loading. When laminated glass fractures, the majority of
glass shards adhere to the PVB interlayer (Fig. 5). Small
shards spall from laminated glass in a blast, especially if the
PVB tears. If the blast-resistant glazing must completely hold
all shards, no matter how small, the designer should consider
using a plastic film over the inner glass ply. Manufacturers
provide commercially available laminated glass constructions
with a layer of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) laminated
to the inside glass ply using PVB. PET scratches easily al-
though it does not degrade from ultraviolet exposure in these
constructions nearly as rapidly as does retrofit window film.
In properly designed blast-resistant laminated glass, the in-
terlayer material should not tear under loading from air blast
pressure. In addition, laminated glass should remain in its
JOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING / SEPTEMBER 2001 / 83
Glass-clad polycarbonate consists of two glass plies sand-
wiching a thin polycarbonate ply. Epoxy usually bonds the
glass to the polycarbonate. Glass-clad polycarbonate is simply
a special form of laminated glass that utilizes the excellent
strength of the polycarbonate interlayer to provide blast resis-
tance while the glass plies protect the polycarbonate from
scratching and ultraviolet degradation. Unless noted otherwise,
references concerning the design of laminated glass in subse-
quent sections apply to glass-clad polycarbonate.
Glass-clad polycarbonate offers all the benefits of laminated
glass with the added benefit that the polycarbonate material
will not tear. Glass-clad polycarbonate has some disadvantages
associated with its use. First, glass-clad polycarbonate costs
much more than laminated glass fabricated with PVB. Second,
polycarbonate has a coefficient of thermal expansion roughly
10 times that of glass. Under normal diurnal temperature var-
iations, the material that bonds the glass and polycarbonate
plies tends to degrade over time, leading to delamination be-
cause of the different rates of thermal expansion. Delamination
adversely affects the clarity of the glass-clad polycarbonate as
well as its postbreakage behavior. Because polycarbonate un-
dergoes little inelastic deformation under dynamic loading, the
designer might need extraordinary measures to maintain at-
tachment between glass-clad polycarbonate and its frame un-
der air blast pressure loading.

J. Archit. Eng., 2001, 7(3): 80-86


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FIG. 6. Insulating Glass Unit on East Side of Southwestern Bell Build-
ing with Outer Lite Fractured by Air Blast Pressure in Oklahoma City
Bombing (Norville et al. 1995, 1996)
Insulating Glass
Insulating glass consists of two window glass lites with a
sealed air space between them. The two window glass lites
can be monolithic glass, laminated glass, glass-clad polycar-
bonate, or a combination. As its name implies, insulating glass
provides thermal insulation far superior to that of single win-
dow glass lites. When fabricated using laminated glass, insu-
lating glass provides excellent sound insulation.
Norville et al. (1996) observed that insulating glass fabri-
cated with two lites of monolithic glass could provide some
additional protection over monolithic glass under air blast
pressure loading in the Oklahoma City bombing (Fig. 6). The
authors feel that insulating glass fabricated using two plies of
laminated glass or glass-clad polycarbonate provides one of
the most economical and effective blast-resistant glazing con-
structions available.
Window Film
Window film consists of a thin PET film adhered using a
water-based adhesive to window glass, typically in a preexist-
ing installation. Many window film products with many dif-
ferent installation methods exist. The authors feel that design-
ers should only consider window film for retrofit applications
and not for new construction. The designer should consider all
other alternatives before resorting to window film.
The quality of window film, as with other commodities,
varies greatly. Beers (1992) produced an excellent report de-
scribing window film, its application methods, its inherent
problems, and the economics associated with its use.
DESIGN RECOMMENDATION FOR NEW
CONSTRUCTION
Currently, no consensus approach exists to facilitate design
of blast-resistant glazing. The most common approach to de-
sign blast-resistant glazing consists of formulating a trial sys-
tem consisting of a blast-resistant glazing construction and its
framing and testing the system under a designed air blast pres-
sure loading. This approach proves expensive because blast
tests involve extensive instrumentation, strict security, high-
speed photography, and a large number of man-hours in ana-
lyzing test data. In addition, if the trial system fails, then ad-
ditional blast testing must follow with a revised glazing
system.
In designing a blast-glazing system, the architect or engineer
must consider three factors: the window glass type and con-
struction, the framing system, and the attachment of the win-
dow glass construction to the framing.
84 / JOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING / SEPTEMBER 2001
J. Archit. Eng., 2001, 7(3): 80-86
Window Glass Type and Construction
As indicated above, the authors feel that laminated glass and
insulating glass fabricated with laminated glass comprise the
most effective and economical blast-resistant glazing materi-
als. The authors offer, a priori, a simple, empirically derived
chart (Fig. 7) that provides an approximate relationship be-
tween the weight of a hemispherical trinitrotoluene (TNT)
charge detonated on the ground surface and its standoff dis-
tance from a window glass lite to a 60-s duration static design
load. In developing this chart the authors considered magni-
tude of reflected air blast pressure, magnitude of positive phase
impulse, and experimental results (WinDAS 2000) from blast
tests involving laminated glass and insulating glass fabricated
using laminated glass.
Designers should use this chart only to obtain 60-s duration
static design loads for laminated glass and insulating glass
fabricated using laminated glass or glass-clad polycarbonate.
The values in the chart do not apply to any monolithic glass
type or insulating glass fabricated with monolithic glass lites.
In comparing designs obtained using values from this chart,
the authors observe that nominal laminated glass thickness
designations achieved will be slightly larger than those ob-
tained using more esoteric procedures.
To use the chart, the designer defines the design threat ex-
plosion in terms of an equivalent weight of a hemispherical
TNT charge and a standoff distance. The procedure for defin-
ing the design threat goes beyond the scope of this discussion.
The designer enters the chart in Fig. 7 by projecting a vertical
line from the horizontal axes that represent standoff distance
to the sloping line that represents the charge weight. From the
intersection of the vertical projection and the sloping line, the
designer projects a horizontal line to the vertical axes and
reads the equivalent 60-s duration static design load. For
charge sizes other than those shown, but <231 kg (500 lb), the
designer can interpolate between the sloping lines. The de-
signer then uses standard design procedures (ASTM 2000) to
select the laminated window glass type(s) (annealed, heat
strengthened, or fully tempered) and to determine the required
thickness designation(s) to resist the 60-s duration static design
load. If the wind load for a given design exceeds the magni-
tude of the 60-s duration static design loading determined from
the chart in Fig. 7, then the designer should use wind load to
design the laminated glass or insulating glass fabricated using
laminated glass.
The authors recommend that for laminated glass fabricated
with PVB interlayer, the PVB should have at least a 1.58 mm
(0.060 in.) thickness in blast-resistant glazing. The authors also
recommend using either annealed or heat strengthened glass
plies in the laminated glass. Upon fracture, annealed and heat
strengthened glass plies tend to produce larger shards than do
fully tempered glass plies. The larger shards adhere well to
the PVB thus reducing flying and falling glass shards and giv-
ing the laminated glass some stiffness following fracture, help-
ing to maintain it in its frame.
Should air blast pressure load blast-resistant glazing de-
signed using values obtained from this chart, glass will fracture
and require replacement. Laminated glass and insulating glass
fabricated with laminated glass and designed using values
from this chart will significantly reduce or eliminate the prob-
lems that a blast entails provided that it is adequately anchored
in framing designed to withstand the blast loading.
The chart in Fig. 7 coupled with standard window glass
design procedures provides a means to arrive at a laminated
glass design suitable to resist the specified design threat ex-
plosion. The chart in Fig. 7 also indicates that the best pro-
tection from a bomb is standoff distance, i.e., the loading as-
sociated with a given bomb goes down rapidly with increasing
standoff distance.
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FIG. 7. Chart That Relates TNT Weight and Standoff Distance to 60-s Static Design Load
Framing System
Under air blast pressure loading, the designer should design
the framing system and its anchorage to the structural frame
to resist the dynamic load that the window glass lite would
transfer to it under the air blast pressure loading if the glass
did not fracture. The architect or engineer can determine the
loading transferred to the frame using dynamic analysis tech-
niques. The authors note that design procedures in ASTM
Standard E 1300 (ASTM 2000) present load resistance values
based on maximum nominal nondimensional frame deflections
of L/175. The authors also recognize that blast tests on curtain
walls indicate that additional frame flexibility tends to some-
what retard fracture (Smilowitz et al. 1999).
Attachment of Window Glass Construction to
Framing
For blast-resistant glazing, the designer should avoid ‘‘dry
glazing,’’ in which gaskets alone hold the blast-resistant glaz-
ing in its frame. Standard glazing bites with gaskets will not
restrain fractured laminated glass under air blast pressure load-
ing and the entire lite could fly from the frame. The use of
very deep bites with gaskets might restrain the blast-resistant
glazing but could lead to other problems such as thermal
breakage in annealed laminated glass.
Blast-resistant glazing should attach to the frame using ei-
ther structural silicone sealant or adhesive glazing tape. The
bite depth should not exceed standard depths any more than
necessary to facilitate the width of the structural silicone bead
or the glazing tape. When using structural silicone sealant, the
width of the bead forming the structural connection should
equal the nominal thickness of the blast-resistant glazing ma-
terial with which it is in contact. This thickness will usually
be less than the thickness of the entire blast-resistant glazing
JOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING / SEPTEMBER 2001 / 85
J. Archit. Eng., 2001, 7(3): 80-86
construction. For example, if the blast-resistant glazing con-
struction consists of an insulating glass unit with two nominal
6 mm (1/4 in.) lites and a 12 mm (1/2 in.) air space, the authors
recommend a 6 mm (1/4 in.) structural silicone bead. In the
event of an explosion, this width should result in tearing of
the silicone bead before the PVB interlayer tears. This mode
of failure will tend to eliminate flying and falling glass shards
while maintaining the blast-resistant glazing in its frame, es-
pecially insulating glass units. Glazing tape has more flexibil-
ity than structural silicone and the designer should use a width
of glazing tape two to three times the thickness of the blast-
resistant glazing material with which it is in contact. Glass-
clad polycarbonate requires extraordinary measures to main-
tain its frame attachment.
CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, the authors described various glazing materials
and constructions. They assessed their suitability for use in
blast-resistant glazing designs. More importantly, the authors
presented a design chart that relates an explosion, described in
terms of its TNT equivalent weight and standoff distance from
a building to an equivalent 60-s duration static design load.
The designer can use the 60-s duration static design load in
conjunction with standard window glass design procedures in
ASTM Standard E 1300 to design blast-resistant constructions
fabricated with laminated glass. The authors considered peak
reflected air blast pressure, reflected positive phase impulse,
and results of numerous blast tests in constructing the glass
chart. Blast-resistant glazing designs accomplished using this
chart and other recommendations in this paper minimize, if
not eliminate, the need for blast testing, significantly reduce
or eliminate hazards posed by flying and falling window glass
shards in explosions, and reduce damage to building interiors
should explosions occur.
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