The Science and Technology of Counterterrorism

Appendix E

Parameters for Anti-Explosive and Bullet-Resistant Window Treatments^a

Typical Design Guidelines for Blasts

From the Architectural Record at http://archrecord.construction.com/print.asp, we find:

Common blast level: 4 psi overpressure at an impulse of 28 psi × milliseconds

Enhanced blast level: 10 psi overpressure at an impulse of 89 psi × milliseconds

Certain government agencies’ requirement: 40 + psi overpressure and a blast duration of several hundred milliseconds

Note that 1 psi = 6.9 × 10⁴ dynes/cm². In centimeter-gram-second (cgs) units the above translates to:

Window Glass Properties

Overpressure (dynes/cm2)	Duration (sec)
Common	2.8 × 105	7 × 10− 3
Enhanced	6.9 × 105	8.9 × 10− 3

Table 1-91 of the CRC Handbook of Tables for Applied Engineering ...