Experts work on terror protection
SHEFFIELD: A new “worldclass” laboratory that aims to provide unique insights into explosives is being launched by Yorkshire engineers – and could help to provide protection from terrorist attacks.
The facility is led by Dr Sam Clarke, from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Civil and Structural Engineering.
A NEW “world- class” laboratory that aims to provide unique insights into explosives is being launched by Yorkshire engineers – and could help to provide more protection from terrorist attacks.
The facility, the first of its kind, is led by Dr Sam Clarke from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Civil and Structural Engineering.
The university said data from the laboratory could inform ways to protect critical infrastructure and urban environments, such as buildings and vehicles, against explosive threats.
It could also help academia and industry to “better optimise” materials that are capable of resisting or mitigating the effects of explosions.
Thanks to £ 1.3 million of Government funding as part of the World Class Labs initiative announced yesterday, the South Yorkshire researchers are building a new laboratory that will provide a safe environment in which explosive, fragment and ballistic tests can be conducted while allowing the “highest possible spectrum” of data to be collected, they say.
Dr Clarke, senior lecturer in geotechnical engineering at the institution, said: “The grant provides a step- change in our capabilities to investigate the region very close to an explosive detonation.
“The combination of ultra- high speed cameras, thermal imaging and flash x- ray diagnostics, combined with our current capabilities in load characterisation, will give us a unique capability to push forward research into protecting people from devastating blast effects.”
Most research on the impact of blasts uses “highly simplified geometric scenarios,” says the university, but as real- world explosions often occur in more complex settings, such as densely populated cities and urban areas, there is a need to better understand how explosives interact with, and their effects are influenced by, the materials and structures that surround them.
This includes the detonation products and resulting fragments produced by an explosion that pose a major risk to life.
The laboratory at Sheffield will be able to deliver this “crucial insight” using a new reinforced concrete blast chamber, capable of withstanding a 1kg explosive internal blast.
The team will deliver its insights to academic and industrial partners who have a wealth of experience in designing blast protective systems, in order to enhance blast- resistant materials, and provide data for engineering models that inform risk assessments for high- risk infrastructure projects.