Technology Overview

The invention allows the flexible use in terms of dimensions, available deformable material and type of material used, maintaining a highly stable behaviour for the dissipater during the process of dissipation, allowing it to adapt its characteristic to any existing structure or any yet in construction so that it absorbs and redistributes the remaining energy of the explosion by the overall structure, protecting the elements that are essential to structural stability.

Besides that, the overall system allows to mitigate the fragment projection resultant from fragile elements that are usually contained in facades, as it resembles an encapsulating system.

The protection system against explosions comprises a rigid external panel and a plurality of connectors to support the paper. Preferably, the exterior panel would be in steel, reinforced concrete or a hybrid.

The connectors comprise a dissipative element for the absorption of energy of the explosion by plastic deformation (tubular inversion and crushing of the core). These dissipaters can be metallic, namely copper, aluminium and steel alloys with low carbon content. The dissipaters can be preferably thin wall tubes subject to a process of expansion and pre-inversion in one of its ends.

The dissipater element can be filled with a dissipative core, comprised of metallic or rocky foams, high-density cork or polymeric grout, polymers, honeycomb structures or an internal tubular element that inverts in an opposite direction to the main tube. In this case, in the connector’s fixed body, there is a piston that penetrates the inside of the dissipater element upon inversion, crushing the dissipater core that is placed there.

The present invention is designed to protect infrastructures such as buildings and other critical constructions for the safety of people, in war scenarios, missions of peace of civil or military organizations, in industrial complexes with flammable material, etc.. However, as a concept, it can be applied, duly adjusted, to other terrestrial and navel systems (e.g. a ship). The present invention consists in employing a dissipater that allows a flexible use in terms of physical dimensions, deformable material available and types of material used, maintaining a highly stable behaviour during the process of dissipation. These dissipaters are incorporated in support connectors of buildings’ facade panels, preferably with significant mass. This system allows that its characteristics are adaptable to any pre-existing structure or one that is currently being built so that it absorbs and redistributes the remaining energy from the explosion across the overall structure, protecting the elements that are essential to structural stability.

Stage of development

Technology Readiness Level (TRL): 4 – Technology validated in a laboratory environment.

Explosion Energy Dissipation Energy

Patents

IP Status

Seeking