Bridges are particularly exposed and vulnerable infrastructures and can be considered as critical nodes within both civilian and defense-related infrastructure systems. Their structural integrity is a key factor for overall system resilience, especially due to their interdependencies with other essential supply and service systems. The research project BASIS (Building-Adaptive Shielding for Exposed Infrastructure using Steel-Sandwich Constructions) focuses on the protection and resilience enhancement of such structures – particularly against extraordinary impacts such as weapon effects arising from the threat spectrum of terrorism, hybrid threats, or military conflicts. A particular focus lies on the adaptive application of steel-sandwich shielding systems to selected, highly vulnerable components such as bridge piers and abutments – components which regularly exhibit lower resilience due to their limited replaceability. In order to thoroughly assess the protective performance, extensive experimental investigations are planned. These include, among others, material characterization tests under dynamic loading, as well as ballistic impact and blast loading tests. The results will serve to validate a numerical simulation model intended to realistically represent the structural behavior of the steel-sandwich construction under weapon effects.     «

Bridges are particularly exposed and vulnerable infrastructures and can be considered as critical nodes within both civilian and defense-related infrastructure systems. Their structural integrity is a key factor for overall system resilience, especially due to their interdependencies with other essential supply and service systems. The research project BASIS (Building-Adaptive Shielding for Exposed Infrastructure using Steel-Sandwich Constructions) focuses on the protection and resilience en...     »