Multi-protection: Security Against Terror

Socio-political changes in recent years show: The risk of terrorist attacks in Europe is real. Anyone attending a concert or sports event, or using local or long-distance public transportation, is moving in a public space where an attack is at least conceivable. In the project "Multifunctional Component System for the Protection of Persons against Explosive Events", funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi, funding code 13D0012), Fraunhofer EMI, in cooperation with Mehler Engineered Defence GmbH and the German Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK), has developed a variable protection system for the civil sector. The protection system is designed to retrofit sensitive components, but is also intended to protect public areas of larger crowds against blast and fragmentation effects in mobile applications. In cooperation with the project partners, systems made of fiber composite materials were developed, which were investigated experimentally and numerically at Fraunhofer EMI with regard to specific protection targets.

Due to their low weight and high energy absorption capacity, fiber composite materials are ideally suited for applications to protect against highly dynamic impacts. The layer and ply structure can be adapted depending on the threat scenario. The effectiveness of the protection has been demonstrated in shock tube and free-field explosion tests. The exact failure mechanism was determined by simulations accompanying the experiments. This enables structural design for any load scenarios. Further design optimization potential was identified for the connection elements and manufacturing. A software tool was created for practical application. This allows the most efficient configuration of a protection system in the form of lightweight partition walls, pedestrian guidance systems, a new building façade or a retrofit of existing buildings to be determined.