Architectural and Urban Planning Solutions for the Protection of Heritage Buildings in the Context of Terrorist Attacks: Following the Example of Passive Protection Systems

Abstract

Events in recent years showing numerous terrorist attacks raise awareness regarding the necessity of considering the safety of heritage buildings. The analysis of available data allows us to conclude that it is not possible to fully prevent terrorist attacks. On the other hand, it is possible to minimize the impact of such incidents through proper design of passive protection system (PPS) components. One possible architectural solution to be deployed as a passive defense system is laminated glass panel walls. The study presented in this article is innovative, considering there are no current standard documents or recommendations to determine the conditions of destruction as well as the methods of testing the strength of glass components used in laminated glass panel walls under vehicle impact. The present work represents the material used in PVB interlayers using the Mooney–Rivlin constitutive model, which correctly describes the non-linear characteristics of PVB. Based on the obtained results, new parameters of PVB laminated glass exposed to vehicle impact were developed. The newly developed parameters underwent quality verification through a comparison of results from experimental studies and numerical simulations. Finally, the strength of laminated glass panel walls was subject to evaluation, considering the amount and thickness of individual VSG glass layers and the number of PVB interlayers at ground floor level of a heritage building with high susceptibility to terrorist attacks. The newly developed parameters of laminated glass may be implemented as a premade input .mat file for the material available in the KEYWORD database under the name MAT_32-LAMINATED_GLASS in the LS-DYNA software.