The Ukrainian company L7 presented developed models of reinforced concrete shelters for critical infrastructure and industrial facilities at the SECURITY 2.0 exhibition.
Shelters are assembled from prefabricated structures that are manufactured at enterprises in Ukraine.
Among the "Fortress" type shelters presented at the exhibition, which are also manufactured for civilian needs, the company showed designs for eight different typical structures to protect the most vulnerable energy facilities.
Shelters are constructed using different technologies, depending on the dimensions of the building to be protected. These can be prefabricated single-vault modules, key blocks, or shaped reinforced concrete slabs. The assembled structures are reinforced with buttresses (supports), which not only hold the shelter in place, but also cut through the blast wave during an explosion.
The thickness of the main walls of a single-vaulted module or reinforced concrete slab is 300 mm. It is important that the shelter is mounted on ordinary concrete slabs without a foundation, which significantly speeds up the time required for their construction.
For example, the "Barbet" structure is designed to protect large-sized oil and fuel tanks. A circle of shaped elements made of heavy reinforced concrete is mounted around the storage tank, which is reinforced with buttresses. The structure acts as a screen that receives and disperses the blast wave of a high-explosive fragmentation warhead.
To protect distillation columns at petrochemical plants, the company designed a shelter in the form of a column with key blocks and a cover. If the columns require repair with replacement of units, the equipment can be installed after removing the reinforced concrete cover without dismantling the entire shelter.
To protect large generators, the company developed a "Bastion" shelter made of key blocks reinforced with buttresses, which can be quickly assembled in open areas.
The Citadel shelter has a similar design for protecting power transformers. However, here the structure is reinforced with an additional protective circuit of concrete panels, which are interconnected in a closed frame. Two circuits more effectively protect transformers from cumulative ammunition, since the main energy of the projectile will be directed to penetrating the outer layer with much less damage to the inner shelter.
Protective structures have also been developed for oil coolers, compressors, and gas pipeline metering stations. The latter are a priority target for enemy strikes, as it is in these places that underground gas pipelines emerge to the surface to the metering stations. Destruction of their sections stops the operation of the entire gas pipeline.
All arch-type shelters are also equipped with two reinforced concrete slabs on the end sides. These are dismantled for maintenance of the hidden equipment.
Basic protective structures withstand a vertical shock wave of 100 kilopascals (for example, the detonation of a 152 mm artillery shell). Arched shelters of the "Fortress" type were tested at explosive device detonation sites near and on the structure itself.
Serial production of structures has been launched in two cities in Ukraine. A representative of the L7 company told Defense that currently there is interest in shelters not only in Ukraine, but also in European countries - interest in them has increased significantly after the Russian drone strike on Poland on September 10.
By the way, Defense previously wrote that at the SECURITY 2.0 exhibition, Tactical Technology presented an unmanned robot for extinguishing fires at strategic facilities. It will allow fighting fires close to the source of the fire without risk to rescuers.