Blast-resistant coating mitigates explosion risk - can be retrofitted, added to existing structure
Paxcon
, according to its website, is a polymer coating which can be added to wood, metal, brick, mortar - most building materials. Paxcon
remains flexible from -40º to 160ºC, is abrasion-resistant, chemical-resistant, fire retardant, and meets all EPA emission levels for V.O.C’s. Tests performed by the company using 200 pounds of TNT detonated at a 30-foot distance were shown to substantially reduce disintegration of building materials. In a separate test, a wall coated with the LINE-X industrial product remained intact up to a detonation equivalent of 1,000 pounds of TNT.
Illustration by Brian Basher for Popular Mechanics.
Here’s a photograph showing a wall subjected to an explosion with and without the coating:
This is intended to minimize fragmentation - the cause of much of the morbidity and mortality associated with explosions - and might, because of that effect, delay building collapse. In circumstances under which an extra minute or two can make a life-or-death difference, that’s no small benefit.
The company which makes Paxcon, Line-X, is apparently a well-known brand name among pickup truck aficionados - they make pickup truck bed liners - and this technology is an outgrowth of that. They’ve got some impressive video clips here. The Defense Department is already buying and using it.
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