At first, some fundamental characteristics of blast waves are briefly explained. The paper describes the dependence of the peak side-on overpressure on the distance from the explosion centre and reflections of blast waves, which are divided into normal reflection, regular reflection, and Mach reflection. Further on, the dependence of the peak reflected overpressure and the reflection coefficient on the peak side-on overpressure and on the angle of incidence are explained. The conclusions from this part of the paper are that buildings can be protected by distance and by shaping.

The next section of the paper presents new shape studies, which show how blast loadings on structures can be reduced. These shape studies include horizontal cross sections (e.g. cross sections of columns), vertical shapes (e.g. facades), and three-dimensional structures. The presented studies were conducted by numerical simulations using the hydrocode Autodyn. It could be shown by these studies that a circular cross section is useful for columns. For the vertical facades, an upright, a parabolic curved, and two cubic curved shapes were investigated. The blast loading could be reduced by the curved shapes. Also, the shaping of three-dimensional buildings reduces decisively blast loadings.

Not only the single building but also the overall urban situation has to be considered in the planning and structural design concept. The blast loading of a building is influenced by the built-up environment, and vice versa, as it is demonstrated by a numerical simulation in the paper.

Besides the shaping, the choice of materials and constructions are significant architectural measures for blast resistant design. The peak reflected overpressure can be reduced by extreme light and resilient materials (e.g. soft foams) [1]. Additionally, these materials should be energy absorbing to reduce the energy of the blast wave. Further on, resilient constructions (e.g. membrane facades) can decrease the explosion loadings.

Finally, an example demonstrates how a compromise can be agreed by the architect and the safety engineer in the design process.

1

N. Gebbeken, T. Döge, "Der Reflexionsfaktor bei der senkrechten Reflexion von Luftstoßwellen an starren und an nachgiebigen Materialien", Bauingenieur, 81(11), 496-503, 2006.

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