Bomb-proof concrete

Engineers at Liverpool University have tested an Ultra High Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC) designed to reduce the impact of bomb blasts in public places.

Working alongside the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure, researchers have found that the new concrete is able to absorb a thousand times more energy than conventional mixtures.

While the concrete has yet to be introduced in the UK, it has been utilised in Australia in the design of slender footbridges and to strengthen government buildings against potential mortar attacks. Other applications include bomb-proof litter bins and protection barriers.

The university has explored the limits of the concrete’s capability through a range of tests for dynamic bending and indirect stress conducted at RAF Spadeadam in Cumbria.

Trials revealed that the concrete resisted high explosion blasts without producing shrapnel from the back of its panels. According to Liverpool University, this factor will prove significant in its ability to be used in protection barriers that shield people from explosions.