NCJ Number
238674
Journal
Internal Security Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Dated: January - June 2011 Pages: 49-61
Date Published
2011
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Numerical simulation tools, suitable for fast dynamic phenomena, have been developed. Using these tools, the authors attempted to assess the physical vulnerabilities of rail transport infrastructures to explosion loads, mainly due to terrorist bombing attacks.
Abstract
Recent terrorist attacks in the biggest cities of the world revealed the vulnerability of transport network as a whole and rail transport in particular. A particular role in improving the safety situation may be architecture that alleviates the consequences of such attacks. The behavior of structural materials and components at higher strain-rates, and experimental techniques and facilities for relevant studies has been considered. In the current study, the source term, the air medium, and the structure are properly modeled using the computational framework of the explicit finite element code Europlexus. Particular attention has been focused to the modeling of glass failure, which may be the cause of extended injuries. A case study of a rail station has been conducted, whose geometry has been reconstructed using a laser scanning technique. For several explosion scenarios the structural response is reliably determined, and through appropriate probit functions, the associated risk of human injuries has also been calculated. The potential of the technique to serve as a scene reconstruction tool for forensic purposes is outlined. (Published Abstract)