Effect of Frangible Panels on Internal Gas Pressures

Abstract : A frangible panel in a structure is an exterior surface designed to break lose and blow away quickly enough to limit effects from an explosion inside the structure. Typical frangible panels are lightweight, compared to the surfaces of the structure. Panel connections are designed to offer little resistance in any surface of the structure. Frangible panels are primarily to limit the internal blast environment, reduce the debris hazard to personnel and property outside the structure, and vent effects of explosions inside hardened structures in prescribed directions away fom the structure. An ideal frangible panel is one that does not increase the internal blast environment. This requires a massless panel that is a nonreflecting surface for shock waves. Since any panel will have mass, frangible panels must be designed on a case-by-case basis and their effects on the internal blast environment accounted for in the design of the structure. Topics discussed include: Gas pressure loading; Design loading, and Equivalent weight of TNT.