Making your Home Blast or Bullet resistant

[Squidly]

Yes this is very academic. In defense of prestressed concrete, I would like to say the only failures I have seen are when the loads are underestimated (a fault of the engineer, not the material), or, when the material is improperly used (improper concrete mix or defective, rusted steel). Or at worse both!

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The foam type forms are nothing more than a geeky curiosity, not a lot of real strength. The foam will break down with time. Also probably not much for blast or bullet resistance.

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Aside from bad materials or bad design, I saw a large prestresses bridge beam fail from improper handling at the plant. It literally exploded because of the tension in the stressing tendons. There can be 10s of thousands of pounds tension on each tendon. I'm afraid the same thing would happen if you lit off a big charge next to a prestress panel. The same panel with rebar instead may shatter the concrete, but without the tension of the stessing tendons it has a better chance of staying together, especially if you spray on heavy layers of elastomeric coatings.

As for ICF being a geeky curiosity, were still talking about 8"+ concrete sandwitched in between 2 layers of foam insulation with some sort of exterior siding. The siding and foam will offer some blast wave cushioning. The concrete is still concrete. Put in whatever steel you want (#4 @ 12" OCEW), use a hot 7000 psi mix and you will have a concrete wall.

How much of a blast will it take?
Will it stop a 50 bmg?
Does anyone else really care?

I don't know. You can run the numbers.

sq

 

[lola85]

How deep are your pockets?

Ballistic board is what is commonly used on Military and high security commercial and government applications. They vary in levels of protection from multiple 9mm, to 7.62 full auto, to single shot .50 bmg. Every assembly is UL tested.

Pricing starts around $10/sf for level III which is primarily used against multiple pistol rounds.

Bullet Resistant Fiberglass Panels | Bullet Proof Glass | Blast Doors | Armortex INC
Sure-Board
Bullet Resistant Fiberglass, Bullet Proof Armor Panels | ArmorCore® UL752 Listed

 

[erudne]

The residential home was never envisioned to withstand 'weapons of war'.
A largish explosion will generate heat up-to 3000 degrees and hurl shrapnel at 2000 MPH. Retro fitting a home beyond 762 NATO is a big problem

 

[Squidly]

...and hurl shrapnel at 2000 MPH. Retro fitting a home beyond 762 NATO is a big problem

2,000 mph (~3,000 ft/s) would be at the very low end. With HE it's more like 5,000 ft/s.

 

[erudne]

2,000 mph (~3,000 ft/s) would be at the very low end. With HE it's more like 5,000 ft/s.

I was going on memory (which is dimmer by the day and did not want to get caught-up in an overstatement so under stated things

 

[Navman]

Thinking outloud here...

Wonder if it would benefit to basically encapulate a home in tornado prone areas along with laminate on the windows (if one could afford it)

Mythbusters did this. I think Line-X is missing a whole new market!!!

☢ Bomb Proof Truck Bed-Liner - YouTube

 

[erudne]

Laminate on windows is a good idea and one can always build a ferro-concrete dome over one's home.
Here is a guide to reinforced concrete
"Reinforced concrete structures: Analysis and design" by David A. Fanella

 

[Squidly]

...one can always build a ferro-concrete dome over one's home...

You mean like a reactor containment building? Underground would be much more practical.

 

[Nick Burkhardt]

Before you spray truckbed liner on your homes, you have to make sure that moisture from inside the home does not get trapped in the walls causing mold to grow.

 

[erudne]

Before you spray truckbed liner on your homes, you have to make sure that moisture from inside the home does not get trapped in the walls causing mold to grow.

I can tell you from experience that moisture build-up is a BIG problem, just imagine living inside a closed plastic bag!