A new world class laboratory that is set to develop an unprecedented insight into the behaviour of explosives - data which could help to improve the UK’s ability to protect against terrorist attacks - is being launched by engineers at the University of Sheffield.

The first of its kind facility, led by Dr Sam Clarke from the university’s Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, could help academia and industry to better optimise materials that are capable of resisting or mitigating the effects of explosions.

Thanks to £1.3 million of government funding as part of the World Class Labs initiative, the Sheffield researchers are building a new laboratory that will provide a safe environment in which explosive, fragment and ballistic tests can be conducted whilst allowing the highest possible spectrum of data to be collected.

The data could inform ways to protect critical infrastructure and urban environments, such as buildings and vehicles, against explosive threats.

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Most experimental research on the impact of blasts uses highly simplified geometric scenarios.

However, as real-world explosions often occur in more complex settings, such as densely populated cities and urban areas, there is a need to better understand how explosives interact with, and their effects are influenced by, the materials and structures that surround them.

This includes the detonation products and resulting fragments produced by an explosion that pose a major risk to life.

Dr Sam Clark (right) with colleague Sam Rigby

The laboratory will be able to deliver this crucial insight using a new reinforced concrete blast chamber, capable of withstanding a 1kg explosive internal blast.

Dr Clarke, Senior Lecturer in Geotechnical Engineering, said: “The grant provides a step-change in our capabilities to investigate the region very close to an explosive detonation.

"The combination of ultra-high speed cameras, thermal imaging and flash x-ray diagnostics, combined with our current capa bilities in load characterisation will give us a unique capability to push forward research into protecting people from devastating blast effects.”

More information on blast research at the University of Sheffield is available in the following film: https://youtu.be/wZV7ZBsOWkU