News

Spring Branch, Texas, March 1 -- Engineers at Protection Engineering Consultants have been awarded a project from the Naval Facilities Command (NAVFAC) for the development of Unified Facilities Criteria for the design of "safe havens" — protected areas within commercial and government facilities where staff and visitors can "shelter in place" in the event of a criminal or terrorist attack. 

The UFC document will provide design guidance for architectural, structural, communication and HVAC details necessary for the level of protection desired.

Spring Branch, Texas, March 1 -- Engineers at Protection Engineering consultants have completed work for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) on the evaluation of test data for steel connections undergoing large deformations related to disproportionate collapse scenarios in buildings.

Tasked with assessing the performance of connections and structural elements in the DTRA Discrete Leto tests, PEC analyzed and evaluated test data to determine effects of blast on connection performance and to determine if current design procedures should be modified. Additionally, PEC sought to improve the accuracy of connection modeling to remove conservatism and increase the efficiency in structural design.

Task objectives were accomplished through data review and engineering analysis. Data sources included the DTRA Discrete Leto tests and seismic modeling provisions in ASCE 41-06, including FEMA 355D. Eurocode 3, which provides guidance for European connection design, was also consulted. An engineering assessment of the data yielded realistic values for critical parameters such as the rotational capacity and stiffness of the connections. These values, in turn, provide a basis for proposed revisions to the prescribed values for modeling parameters in Design of Buildings to Resist Progressive Collapse, Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC) 4-023-03 (2005) and Progressive Collapse Analysis and Design Guidelines for New Federal Office Buildings and Major Modernizations Projects (2003).

Spring Branch, Texas, March 1 -- Protection Engineering Consultants has been awarded a contract to provide significant upgrades and improvements to the SBEDS software. The contract was awarded by the US Army Corps of Engineers Omaha Protective Design Center through its prime contractor, Kansas City-based Black and Veatch Corporation.  

SBEDS V3.1 (Single-Degree-of-Freedom Blast Effects Design Spreadsheets) is an Excel-based tool for design of structural components subjected to airblast using single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) methodology. SBEDS enables the user to choose from 11 common structural components, enter readily available parameters related to material properties and geometry, and directly enter the SDOF properties or allow the workbook to calculate them. Masonry, reinforced concrete, steel, cold-formed metal and wood components are included.

Spring Branch, Texas, March 1 -- NAVFAC, the US Naval Facilities Engineering Command, has tasked Protection Engineering Consultants with updating and upgrading the pre-eminent manual on blast-resistant design, TM5-1300, "Structures to Resist the Effects of Accidental Explosions."

The purpose of TM5-1300 is to "present methods of design for protective construction used in facilities for development, testing, production, storage, maintenance, modification, inspection, demilitarization, and disposal of explosive materials. The manual establishes design procedures and construction techniques whereby propagation of explosion (from one structure or part of a structure to another) or mass detonation can be prevented, and to provide protection for personnel and valuable equipment." 

The proponent of the manual is the Department of Defense Explosives Safety Board, whose mission is to provide objective advice to the Secretary of Defense and military service secretaries on matters concerning explosives safety, and to prevent hazardous conditions to life and property on and off Department of Defense installations from the explosives and environmental effects of DoD titled munitions.

Spring Branch, Texas, Sept. 20 -- John Puryear, Associate Engineer, has joined Protection Engineering Consultants after earning his Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. 

Puryear is providing structural analysis and design, numerical analysis and software programming to support ongoing projects. That support also includes physical security design and barrier design and analysis. In addition, he will continue to pursue work in the area of SMART structures, with an emphasis on passive, wireless sensors.