Blast Protection of Buildings

Abstract

• Prepared by the Blast Protection of Buildings Standards Committee of the Codes and Standards Activity Division of the Structural Engineering Institute of ASCE

  Blast Protection of Buildings, ASCE/SEI 59-22, provides minimum requirements for planning, design, construction, and assessment of new and existing buildings subject to the effects of accidental or malicious explosions. The standard includes principles for establishing appropriate threat parameters, levels of protection, loadings, analysis methodologies, materials, detailing, and test procedures. It provides a comprehensive presentation of current practice in the analysis and design of structures for blast resistance.

  The need for this standard had been identified in advance of the events of September 11, 2001. Key individuals of the original nucleus of the committee and the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) discussed development of this standard as the events of that day began to unfold. This first revision of the standard substantially updates requirements for materials detailing. Requirements related to lightweight concrete have been relaxed, but new requirements for welding structural steel are added. Sections are added for composite construction, both for concrete-and-steel composite and for fiber-reinforced polymer composite members. Methods to analyze glazing performance are updated, and a simplified approach to assess fragmentation is added to the provisions, with the more elaborate approach retained in the commentary.

  Standard ASCE/SEI 59-22 provides essential guidance for building owners and developers in the private and public sectors, and their design consultants including structural engineers, architects, and security experts.