In the first field test of Saleria AIR panels manufactured in the UK, Blastech Ltd conducted a series of 5 blast tests June 12-13 at the Blastech / University of Sheffield experimental blast and impact laboratory located at Harpur Hill, Buxton, UK.
During the preceding months Saleria forged a new partnership with Permali Gloucester to develop the manufacturing process for the latest version of our signature AIR panels, which were assembled at Permali’s facility in Gloucester, UK. The new manufacturing partnership with Permali not only gives Saleria the capability to build AIR panels in the UK but also introduced a co-developed process to manufacture panels with enhanced environmental resilience and that are both stronger and stiffer than any of Saleria’s previous designs.
The primary goal of the testing regime was to validate these improvements to the manufacturing process as well as demonstrate the potential for increased blast impulse reduction capacity, the core benefit of AIR technology for which Saleria has become known.
The test program comprised 4 tests involving loading from the detonation of 1kg PE4 spherical charges suspended at varying distances above horizontal panels fixed in an instrumented reaction frame, and one test involving loading from the detonation of a 1kg PE4 spherical groundburst charge against a panel mounted in a steel angle frame fabricated to details provided by Saleria. The horizontal panel tests were conducted at scaled distances varying from 0.15-0.5m/kgTNT1/3, and the vertical panel test was conducted at a scaled distance of 0.2m/kgTNT1/3.
All panels survived the tests without epicentral breaching or peripheral shear failure, although significant deformation of the lower chord of the angle frame was experienced in the vertical panel test. In the horizontal panel tests, reaction forces and impulses were recorded.
Results of the tests showed the expected impulse load mitigation, representing up to a 30% reduction in peak impulse vs. mass matched steel. The increase strength and stiffness of the panels made at Permali also resulted in peak deflection much lower than expected across each scale distance. When incorporated into full-scale system tests later in the year the combination of these improvements is expected to deliver a significant increase in overall impulse reduction capacity.
With such overwhelmingly positive results, the testing at Blastech confirms the effectiveness of the updated design and puts Saleria on track for final product testing and launch of the worlds first truly modular, scaleable and redeployable blast wall system in the first quarter of 2019.
