XPT blast mitigation material recently underwent a series of tests carried out in July 2010 by Ordnance Test Solutions Ltd at a
test facility at Ridsdale in the UK.
A series of explosive tests were performed to compare plain 8mm thick armour steel structures against 4mm thick armour steel with a 20mm thick XPT facing. These material thicknesses resulted in weight-matched structures making it easier to compare material performance. For the onset of weldcracking the XPT faced material had a limit of 1.66 higher than the plain steel and for failure of the welds this performance difference had increased to a factor of 1.75. These results clearly demonstrate that the application of XPT is advantageous compared to just using thicker steel for such confined conditions.