AFRL engineers are testing enhanced blast-resistant window and glazing technologies.

AFRL entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with Dlubak Technologies, Inc., of Freeport, Pennsylvania, to pursue ongoing research in blast-resistant window and glazing technologies. Dlubak Technologies—a 50-year-old glass manufacturing company—provided fullscale window and frame products (see Figure 1) to AFRL for blast mitigation testing at AFRL’s Sky Ten Range, Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida.

Figure 1. Test specimens installed on blast response reaction structure at Sky Ten

Research performed under this CRADA has produced a successful blastresistant window that uses protective glazing in conjunction with a perimeteranchored laminate. For these state-ofthe- art windows, Dlubak Technologies fabricates glass with a polymer laminate layer that extends beyond the glass edges. Installers anchor these “laminate tails” in the window frame using one of several techniques. Dlubak is already marketing LAMLOK, its patent-pending laminate-locking system, for commercial sale, due in part to product performance demonstrated during AFRL research trials conducted under this CRADA. Throughout the effort, AFRL researchers studied various LAMLOK systems, including a polyvinyl butyral hinged-style window system for postblast emergency exit and another variation for use in standard window frames having either flat or curved glass panels. Based on the research results, Dlubak created an improved version of the interlocking mechanism employed for standard window frames. The CRADA is intended both to facilitate further blast-resistant window research and to promote future investigations of related technologies.