Limited Blast Resistance in Houses

Brotherson, Donald E.; Wright, Richard N.; Pecora, Salvatore D.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/54736 Copy

Description

Title

Limited Blast Resistance in Houses

Author(s)

• Brotherson, Donald E.
• Wright, Richard N.
• Pecora, Salvatore D.

Issue Date

1968

Keyword(s)

• Buildings
• Security

Abstract

"The family shelter idea is by no means new or unique. Since almost two out of three Americans own their own home, a potential exists for providing spaces that can protect the American public from the effects of blast. The amount or degree of protection is dictated mostly by the economic limitations of the homeowner. For this report, three austere shelters have been developed that will provide protection at the 5 to 10 PSI level. This level of protection was chosen because it seemed that the materials that were needed for the shelter construction were readily available and the process of construction was not beyond the capabilities of the homeowner and one helper. The three designs consist of a wood-frame lean-to, a wood rigid-frame, and a reinforced concrete block shelter. The discussion in this report gives detailed information on the design, construction and erection proced-ures for each of the three designs. It is also possible to design a house with the blast shelter and auxiliary spaces as integral parts of the design. To be useful to the homeowner, the ''core"" area must be of minimal size and the auxiliary spaces must be readily usable for the everyday activities. To illustrate this principle a series of architectural designs are presented in Chapter V. The designs include schemes for the house with basement, without basement, split level design, and for a ""total concept"" reinforced house. The designs make maximum use of the inherent qualities of the house to provide protection and the shelter areas are integrated into the overall concept of the house. Structural designs are not given since these studies are presented as architectural examples and not as finished designs. Some homeowners may wish to strengthen their entire house to resist the effects of nuclear explosions. Chapter VI discusses the necessary steps needed to strengthen wood frame houses to the 5 PSI level or other levels of resistance. The report concludes with a cost analysis of the minimum shelters and a Bibliography of thirty-two references."

Publisher

Small Homes Council - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Series/Report Name or Number

Research Report 68-1

Type of Resource

• image
• text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/54736

Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)

Office of Civil Defense. Office of the Secretary of the Army

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 1968 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

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