BakerRisk’s partnership with Intertek (specialists for testing, inspecting, and certifying products) for high explosives (HE) testing leverages our decades of hands-on engineering consulting expertise in dynamic structural response to provide cost-effective test solutions.  Our engineers will guide your test program to successful completion while offering insights and instrumentation consulting to help you achieve useful data from your experiments.

The HE test range is used to test blast resistant windows, doors, wall panels, passive fire protection systems, and a variety of other components and systems; some highly complex. HE charges can also be used to facilitate research into directly initiated vapor cloud detonations. BakerRisk has designated the HE range limit to be in excess of 1,000 lb. TNT equivalent. HE testing activities can be supported by structural engineers experienced in the evaluation and design of structural components.

HE testing is augmented by uniform static testing capabilities, shock tube testing, and other unique structural test configurations. Full scale building tests are also possible with the BakerRisk DLG test rig at the Box Canyon facility.

Drone footage of 750 lb. ANFO shot at the Box Canyon HE Test Range
Drone footage of 750 lb. ANFO shot at the Box Canyon HE Test Range
Pre- and post-test photos of 3D printed rat analog designed by BakerRisk in support of traumatic brain injury research
Pre- and post-test photos of 3D printed rat analog designed by BakerRisk in support of traumatic brain injury research

HE Testing Instrumentation and Standards

BakerRisk leverages robust data acquisition infrastructure to provide a comprehensive suite of dynamic data from your tests, including:

  • Pressure
  • Acceleration
  • Deflection
  • Dynamic Pressure Measurement
  • Anchorage Reaction Forces
  • Strain
  • High Speed and High Definition Video

Tests can include a myriad of instrumentation including applied loading and structural response data. Structural response data can include acceleration, deflection, reaction forces, strain, and high-speed video documentation. The various structural data is very useful in analytical efforts commonly partnered with test programs or future use of test data for installation variance from test parameters.

Key test standards for blast testing of doors and windows are provided below. BakerRisk has also developed test procedures for evaluation of components and systems that are not covered by existing standards, such as fire resistant materials and blast dampers.

In addition to being instrumental in the development of Test Standards, we also provide tests in accordance with many established standards, such as:

Glazing/Glazing Systems:

  • ASTM F1642
  • GSA TS01
  • ISO 16934
  • EN 13124
Aerial footage of a 750 lb. ANFO shot performed on Nov. 13, 2018

Next Step

Changes in Facility Siting Standards: API 752, 753, & 756

In industries where the daily risks of potentially catastrophic events, such as vapor cloud explosions, are a constant concern, there’s no room for compromise – inherently safer design principles, effective hazard identifications and analyses, and adherence to up-to-date industry standards aren’t just important, they’re essential. Since its establishment in 1919, the American Petroleum Institute (API)…