The second meeting of the group took place at the JRC in Ispra on the 10 July, gathering together 15 experts representing experimental facilities and laboratories from Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, UK and the JRC. The goal of the Thematic Group is to develop guidelines, which should help to harmonize test procedures in testing of structural elements against explosion induced loads.
The main item of the meeting was to discuss the draft work programme of the group. The group has decided to focus on far field blast resistance of glass as the main topic for the work program. It is intended to compare and evaluate three different testing methods: direct high explosive testing, shock tube testing, and numerical simulations.
The work programme reflects the step-by-step method adopted by the group, starting with a review of existing methodologies, going further to derive and evaluate common test procedures, and drafting guidelines for harmonized test procedures. Finally, the guidelines will be subsequently transferred for other building materials than glass.
The next meeting, finalising the work programme and division of labour related to its implementation, will take place in October at the JRC, Ispra.