GFRP radar-transparent barriers to protect airport infrastructures: The SAS project

Nowadays structural design of critical infrastructure cannot be conducted without considering high dynamic loads, which could be induced by man-made malicious actions or natural events. These actions represent a fundamental aspect in the design of such infrastructures and their protection facilities. This issue is surely important in airport structures design, where protection is a primary target. In December 2006 AMRA, an Italian research centre of excellence, and ENAV, the Italian agency for air traffic control, with the cooperation of University”Federico II” of Naples and other technical partners, started the SAS (Security of Airport Structures) project, focusing on this critical topic. This pilot project has the financial support of European Commission – Directorate General Justice, Freedom and Security, through EPCIP 2006 (European Programme for Critical Infrastructures Protection). The main objective of the project is to study structural systems like barriers or fences, able to protect critical airport infrastructures, as VOR stations, against man-made disruptions, without disturbing radio-communications. Hence, in order to obtain high structural performances without interfering with RF airport communications GFRP elements were used. Structural models were built to simulate the conditions induced by malicious external actions and the results were validated by blast tests performed on real elements. Radio frequency transparency of these structures was also investigated through numerical models and anechoic chamber tests, in order to obtain an electromagnetic characterization of the barrier at the interesting frequencies.