Kun-young Chiu & Associates, Inc. - Munitions Maintenance Complex

MUNITIONS MAINTENANCE COMPLEX

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE FLORIDA

Tyndell AFB, Florida

This 12,000 S.F. facility consists of two chambers for ammunition maintenance and inspection as well as an administrative area for 50 personnel. The ammunition maintenance area is utilized for the inspection, maintenance and packaging of missiles and bombs.

Project Highlights:

The entire building was required to be spark-free. Special coating on the wall and floor was required. Even the overhead bridge crane was made of bronze to prevent sparks. Spark-free overhead cranes were included in each magazine as well as in the maintenance area.
Should an explosion in the maintenance area occur, the building was designed to be strong enough so the administration area would remain intact. The roof was designed to blow off in an explosion. Unfortunately, Tyndall AFB is located in a high hurricane zone with wind speed of 110 mph. Therefore, the roof had to be strong enough to withstand hurricane forces yet weak enough to blow off in the event of an explosion.
The project also included 3 earth covered concrete oval-type storage igloos for munitions.
Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) were required.
Drainage posed a challenge as some areas of Tyndall AFB are only 3 feet above sea level.
The design of this project was further complicated by the fact that ammunition is so sensitive to humidity.
Auger cast piles were utilized due to unfavorable soil strata encountered.
Explosion design was based on "Structures To Resist the Effects of Accidental Explosion" TM 5-1300 (AFM 88-22)
Kun-young Chiu was trained and certified by the DOD in Fallout Shelter Analysis as well as Planning and Design for Protective Construction (Blast Resistant Design).

Structural Layout:

The primary criteria for the design of the munitions maintenance facility was to limit casualties in the event of an accidental detonation of the explosives being handled. For the purposes of blast protection, the structure was divided into the following areas (See Figure 1):

1. Maintenance Bay A

2. Maintenance Bay B

3. Rocket Motor Test Chamber and Paint Booth

Areas 1 through 3 house varying amounts of explosive munitions and were designed to contain a blast within the building area in which it occupies. Area 4 has no blast requirements except that a blast occurring in one of the other areas must not cause any casualties in this area. The blast hazard areas of the building were designed as fully vented cubicles. In this case, the four walls were designed as blast proof surfaces while the roof is sufficiently "frangible" to provide "venting" for the two major pressures experienced in a blast, namely, the initial shock pressure and the subsequent build up of gas pressures. The term "frangible" pertains to those elements of a protective structure whose strength and mass are such as to minimize the amplification of the shock-front pressures and reduce confinement of the explosive gases. A general criteria for a frangible system is one whose weight is 10 pounds per square foot or less.

Due to the location of the maintenance facility, it is not permissible for small pieces of residue to scatter should an unfortunate blast occur. The roof was designed to blow off in a few large chunks toward the grass area which is opposite from the runway (See Figure 2).

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