Blast: How Explosive Devices Kill People and Destroy Buildings

Description

Explosive devices are weapons commonly used by terrorists, organised crime and issue motivated groups. This book provides a comprehensive understanding of blast science, blast injuries and the effects of blasts on structures. It is written for those wanting to gain an in depth understand of blast effects including:

• First responders, such as police and emergency services personnel
• Security, emergency and facility managers
• Those involved in recovery operations, notably engineers and government officials
• Those responsible for designing structures and retrofitting protective measures
• Others with responsibility for protecting against acts of violence

The information in this book, using a hypothetical attack and real life examples, provides essential knowledge for those involved in mitigating or responding to an explosion.

Table of contents

1. The science of blast
   1. The explosive train
   2. The detonation process
   3. The expanding explosion
   4. Positive phase of the blast
   5. Negative Pressure phase of the blast
   6. The physics of the blast: gas and fluid dynamics
2. Blast injuries and fatalities
   1. Scenario blast effect timeline: The human consequences
   2. Blast injury types
   3. Primary blast injuries
   4. Secondary blast injuries
   5. Tertiary blast injuries
   6. Quaternary blast injuries
3. Blast effects on buildings
   1. Blast effects on different buildings
   2. Structural system and non-structural components
   3. Design load and Blast
   4. Types of structural elements and building failure
   5. Direct effects of the blast
   6. Consequential structural effects
   7. Population calculations

This book is part of a two volume set.  The other book is Bomb Incidents: The Manager’s Guide: How to prepare for and manage bomb incidents.

Authors: Dr Athol Yates with with Don Williams CPP, MIExpE and Professor Priyan Mendis, PhD, FIEAust

Publication Date: September 2012