New Glass Technologies for Enhanced Architectural Surety: Engineered Stress Profiles in Soda-Lime-Silica Glass

There is growing awareness of the need to protect building occupants from the effects of malevolent acts, extreme weather, and accidental gas explosions in plants and residential dwellings. A large percentage (85%) of the injuries and fatalities caused by terrorist bombings have been attributed to flying window glass. Numerous fixes have been proposed from the empirical database and field testing by the Department of State, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the General Services Administration, the Department of Defense, and other government agencies. Some fixes are being implemented by these agencies. This Sandia National Laboratories project explores enhanced glass performance that can reduce injuries and how the glass affects the overall building response. Sandia National Laboratories has conducted initial blast tests on window glass and there are indications that certain designed flaws and engineered features of the glass, including controlled fracture properties, can be applied that could result in fewer fatalities and injuries to building occupants.