Frangibility

Light poles

A frangible light pole base is designed to break away when a vehicle strikes it. This lessens the risk of injury to occupants of the vehicle.

Airport structures

Following a serious incident where an aircraft hit a donut lighting structure at San Francisco International airport, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) instigated frangible design rules for such structures. A frangible object was defined as "an object of low mass, designed to break, distort or yield on impact, so as to present the minimum hazard to aircraft". This characteristic is seemingly contradictory to the operational requirements for stiffness and rigidity imposed on this type of equipment.

In order to develop international regulation for the frangibility of equipment or installations at airports, required for air navigation purposes (e.g., approach lighting towers, meteorological equipment, radio navigational aids) and their support structures, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) initiated the "Frangible Aids Study Group" in 1981, with the task to define design requirements, design guidelines and test procedures. This work has resulted in part 6 of the Aerodrome Design Manual, dedicated to frangibility.

An overview of the activities carried out to achieve these results is given in "Frangibility of Approach Lighting Structures at Airports". The missing reference (17) in this article is in "Impact simulation of a frangible approach light structure by an aircraft wing section". With the evolution of numerical methods suitable for impact analysis, a Chapter 6 was added to the Aerodrome Design Manual part 6, dedicated to "numerical simulation methods for evaluating frangibility". It states that numerical methods can be used to evaluate the frangibility of structures, but that the analytical models should still be verified through a series of representative field tests.

Of all equipment or installations at airports required for air navigation purposes, ICAO has not yet formulated frangibility criteria for the tower structure supporting the ILS glide path antenna, "considering its unique nature", basically: its size. A first publication on this subject is given in "Frangible design of instrument landing system/glide slope towers".

Bullets

A frangible bullet is one that is designed to disintegrate into tiny particles upon impact to minimize their penetration for reasons of range safety, to limit environmental impact, or to limit the danger behind the intended target. Examples are the Glaser Safety Slug and the breaching round.

Frangible bullets will disintegrate upon contact with a surface harder than the bullet itself. Frangible bullets are often used by shooters engaging in close quarter combat training to avoid ricochets; targets are placed on steel backing plates that serve to completely fragment the bullet. Frangible bullets are typically made of non-toxic metals, and are frequently used on "green" ranges and outdoor ranges where lead abatement is a concern.

Glass

Tempered glass is said to be frangible when it fractures and breaks into many small pieces.

Other

Some security tapes and labels are intentionally weak or have brittle components. The intent is to deter tampering by making it almost impossible to remove intact.

In 2024, Aspen Cooling Osberton International Horse Trials cross-country course started using frangible trakehner fences to allow the wooden fence to give way in order to prevent a horse from falling.

References

References

1. Wright, Aldridge. "A Lesson in Safety". Federal Highway Administration.
2. (24 May 1972). "NTSB Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB-AAR-72-17, 1972, Pan American World Airways, Inc., Boeing 747, N747PA, Flight 845".
3. (30 August 1979). "Development and test of low-impact resistant towers".
4. International Standards and Recommended Practices, Annex 14 (Vol. 1, section 9.9.4) to the Convention on International Civil Aviation
5. ICAO, Aerodrome Design Manual, Part 6 - Frangibility, First Edition - 2006
6. J.F.M. Wiggenraad, D.G. Zimcik, "Frangibility of Approach Lighting Structures at Airports", International Airport Review, Vol.5, No. 1 2001
7. J.F.M. Wiggenraad, A. de Boer, R.H.W.M. Frijns, "Impact simulation of a frangible approach light structure by an aircraft wing section", 3rd International KRASH users' Seminar, January 8–10, 2001, Arizona State University, (also available as NLR TP 2000-618)
8. M.H. van Houten, H. Gottschalk, C. Rooks, R. Miller, P. Tölke, "Frangible design of instrument landing system/glide slope towers", International Crashworthiness Conference, ICRASH2010, Leesburg, VA, USA, Sept. 22-24, 2010
9. Tony L. Jones. "FRANGIBLE AND NONTOXIC AMMUNITION". Police and Security News.
10. "Frangible Ammunition".
11. (16 March 2019). "The Pyrex Glass Controversy That Just Won't Die".
12. Johnston, Roger G.. (October 10, 1999). "Tamper-Indicating Seals for Nuclear Disarmament and Hazardous Waste Management". Taylor and Francis.
13. (2024-09-30). "Take a look at a new frangible trakehner to be used at British event for first time".