Response of Annealed Glass Windows to Blast Loads

This thesis presents the comparison of experimentally collected data on the response of monolithic annealed glass windows to blast loads with the output of several predictive software packages. Experimental data was gathered from two full-scale field arena blast testing series, during which 34 glass panes were subjected to explosive blast waves of varying intensity. The setups tested in the field were modelled using three blast analysis programs. A series of small- and large-scale laboratory tests was carried out to investigate the material properties of the glass and the load-displacement behaviour of the field-tested window systems, to refine the model predictions. By comparing software-predicted window behaviour with the observed response, the accuracy and applicability of the various modelling techniques and glass failure criteria employed by the software packages were evaluated.