Window Vulnerability Analysis & Testing
Challenge
The vast majority of injuries in a bombing event are typically caused by hazardous glass fragments while the majority of fatalities are caused by structural collapse. When window systems fail under explosively induced blast loads, flying glass and debris pose a risk to employees and visitors inside a building and can causes significant damage to property and facilities.
Solution
ARA has experience helping government agencies assess and evaluate the facilities in their inventory to understand the window vulnerabilities to blast loads and to improve their resistance to attacks should they occur.
ARA experts have conducted site visits of many different facilities to perform window vulnerability assessments, including numerous buildings in the General Service Administration’s inventory.
ARA can assess the protection performance of exterior window systems and evaluate hazard/risk reduction measures to reduce potential hazards due to flying glass fragments in a manner consistent with the specified performance criteria.
With changes and enhancements to the Interagency Security Committee (ISC) Physical Security Criteria, ARA continues to perform assessments and updates to prior assessments in light of current design-basis threats, requirements, and technologies.
