Scientists from the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) are eyeing a bomb-resistant material — intended for the defense and aerospace markets — in the construction of future gas- and fire-resistant buildings.

The recently developed composite, called functionally graded material (FGM), is an engineered composite material that could prove to be an effective bomb-resistant material in structural use cases.

History of engineering materials leading to FGM development. Source: DOI: 10.3390/buildings12020118

The research team suggests that the composite reportedly increases collapse load by roughly 12% for cold formed steel beams and by 18% for columns. Likewise, the team discovered that when used as sheathing material for buildings, FGM could potentially slow the spread of fire, preventing it from reaching a building’s main structural parts by roughly 14% when measured against commonly used gypsum board.

"Because of the improved mechanical properties, FGM can be useful in extreme loading environments with high thermal, chemical or mechanical stresses that would cause a single-material part to fail," explained the researchers.

Despite the benefits demonstrated by FGM, researchers suggest that there are obstacles preventing its use in construction applications, including the lack of its availability. Researchers suggest that there are currently only a handful of companies manufacturing FGM exclusively, with most FGM manufacturers doing so for the aerospace and defense industries.

The researchers also suggest that in addition to creating a resilient structural system in fire and blast cases, FGM could also potentially be used to fortify buildings against extreme events such as earthquakes and hurricanes.

The article, Numerical Investigation on Blast Response of Cold-Formed Steel Framing Protected with Functionally Graded Composite Material, appears in the journal Buildings.