Echo · Hollow Composite Arch
Echo Arch.
Origin
A bridge in a box.
The Echo Arch adapts a proven lightweight composite bridge beam, a hollow section originally engineered to carry highway loads. That same section becomes a blast-tuned arch when cast into a panel format.
Validation
Three Echo Arch shock-tube tests.
Validated test footage from the Echo blast program, recorded on a shock tube (a rig that fires a controlled air blast wave at the panel). Pressures are peak overpressure, the spike above normal air pressure at the panel face: about 1 psi breaks windows and 10 psi collapses ordinary buildings, so these runs reach several times the level that levels a normal structure. Tests 1 and 2 use the same 6-inch panel, with Test 2 re-loaded at higher pressure without repair or replacement. Test 3 steps up to a 12-inch panel at the top of the tested range.
Echo Arch · Test 1 · 6-Inch Panel
11.8 psi
Initial blast pulse. Panel intact. Max deflection 0.5 in.
Echo Arch · Retest · Same Panel
16.6 psi
The exact same panel from Test 1, hit again at higher pressure with no repair or replacement. It held, max deflection 0.5 in.
Echo Arch · Test 3 · 12-Inch Panel
40 psi
Real-time shock-tube validation at maximum rating. Max deflection 0.5 in.
Test Apparatus
1–40 psi
BakerRisk shock tube, La Vernia, TX. Panels up to 12 × 12 ft. Also used for Echo Lite.
11.8
psi · Test 1
16.6
psi · Retest, same panel
The exact same panel from Test 1, hit again at higher pressure with no repair or replacement. It held.
40
psi · 12-Inch
Roughly the peak overpressure about 1 km from a 1 megaton nuclear blast.
Spec Echo Arch for your site.
Share your threat level, span, and panel thickness, and we will walk you through the tested configurations and next steps.
Talk to the Echo team(800) 935-6796 · [email protected]