Review of design, construction, and capabilities of an air bladder load test facility (ABLTF) at BCerl for structural experimental enclosure studies

Building enclosures are critical to a building and are truly a multidisciplinary system. From a structural perspective, they must resist many types of loadings, particularly as they are the first line of protection to the occupants against external and environmental loading. With the recent interest in designing systems to be multi-hazard resistant, new innovative systems need to be created, existing systems need to be studied for applicability, and underperforming systems need to be upgraded using some strengthening methods. In multi-hazard resistant design, it is critical that wall systems resist blast loading. Currently, a few established methods exist to test enclosure systems to resist blast loads. Here, a discussion on the testing protocols and different facility capabilities and differences are detailed. This paper discusses a case study of the creation and illustration of the capabilities of a versatile air bladder load test facility (ABLTF) for out-of-plane structural experimental enclosure studies to meet the needs of multi-hazard static and dynamic loading of wall specimens. The paper offers a review of different types of facilities that have been constructed in other laboratories for similar purposes and provides the necessary information and guidance for generating the type of facility presented here, with safety in mind, particularly when facility space is limited.