An Insight into Mitigation of Glass Soft Targets and Design of Protective Facades

Recent decades have seen an increase in the number of terrorist attacks, necessitating the development of more efficient global security policies. One of the most important elements of this enhanced security is the protection of critical infrastructure. This book presents edited contributions from the NATO Advanced Training Course (ATC) on Critical Infrastructure Protection - Best Practices and Innovative Methods of Protection, held in Agadir, Morocco, from 6 to 12 May 2018. The main objective of the course was to bring together specialists working in the area of protecting critical infrastructure in NATO Member and Partner countries to share their knowledge and expertise. One lecture block was dedicated to important legal aspects, as these differ from country to country. The other main topic areas included the structural design and protection of critical infrastructure, new materials and material analysis, and material and construction testing at elevated impact velocities via experiment and numerical simulation. New designs for critical infrastructure elements were also demonstrated. The course provided an ideal forum for speakers and participants from government, academia, and military bodies to exchange information and best practice, while at the same time creating links to foster further collaboration and the exchange of ideas about the protection of critical infrastructure, and the book will be of interest to all those whose work involves protecting critical infrastructure from the threat of terrorist attack. °°°°°°° Glass, due to several motivations, attracts the attention of architects and designers. Especially in the last two decades, the use of glass in buildings in the form of load-bearing material increased significantly. On one side, the architectural impact of wide glass surfaces is a key aspect for designers. On the other hand, however, glass facades and structures are highly vulnerable to extreme loads, especially terroristic attacks, and should be designed to provide appropriate protection to the occupants. In this paper, a brief insight on design concepts and trends, as well as methods in use for the optimisation of glass structures under blast loads is reported, with careful consideration for glass facades.