Practical Use of the Building Debris Hazard Prediction Model, DISPRE

• Main Author: Bowles, Patricia M
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ammunition and Explosives; BUILDING DEBRIS HAZARD PREDICTION MODEL; BUILDINGS; DEBRIS; DISPERSION PREDICTION; DISPERSIONS; DISPRE MODEL; EXPLOSION EFFECTS; Explosions; EXPLOSIVES FACILITIES; HAZARDOUS MATERIALS; INHABITED BUILDINGS; MASONRY; MILITARY FACILITIES; POSITION(LOCATION); PREDICTIONS; RANGE(DISTANCE); REINFORCED CONCRETE; SAFE SITING DISTANCE; SAFETY; Safety Engineering; SEPARATION DISTANCE; SITE SELECTION; Structural Engineering and Building Technology; SYMPOSIA; TILES; VALIDATION

Final validation of the first version of the building debris hazard prediction model, DISPRE, was completed in 1990. The model was developed for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and was approved as an acceptable siting tool by the U.S. Department of Defense Explosives Safety Board (DDESB) in November 1990. It was verified and refined using data from an extensive component test program. The data from these tests were used to validate the model for analyzing explosives operations buildings constructed of one or more of the following components: reinforced concrete, masonry (clay tiles or concrete masonry units), or lightweight components such as corrugated metal. Since the DDESB approval of DISPRE, its use by both DOE and Department of Defense (DoD) contractors has continued to increase. In this paper, the analysis of an example building will be presented in a step-by-step manner to illustrate how the model can be used to safely site explosives handling or processing facilities. It is important to note that the DISPRE model does not replace, but supplements, the existing broad-ranged DoD 6055.9-STD hazardous debris siting criteria, i.e., the model is recognized as an approved alternative analysis method which can be exercised to reduce the required inhabited building distance for a particular site. The complete model procedure is described in DDESB Technical Paper No. 13, April 1991. See also ADA260986, Volume III. Published in the Minutes of the Explosives Safety Seminar (25th) held in Anaheim, CA on 18-20 August 1992 (p475-495).