As a senior scientific and technical federal institute with responsibility to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), BAM conducts testing and research and provides advice on the protection of people, property and the environment. BAM has its headquarters in Berlin and has also been operating a Test Site for Technical Safety (Testgelände Technische Sicherheit - TTS) in Horstwalde in Brandenburg since the beginning of the 1990s.
If laboratory tests or model calculations are not sufficient to quantify the risks of hazardous substances, large-scale tests are carried out at the TTS on a one-to-one scale. BAM has set up various test facilities for this purpose.
The BAM Test Site for Technical Safety (TTS) extends over an area of 12 square kilometres.
Source: BAM
There are also designated areas on the site for the investigation of fire and explosion hazards. The results of simulated accident scenarios are incorporated into European standards and standardised test procedures and are used for various purposes, such as safety assessments on chemical plants.
Source: BAM
There is also a drop impact test facility at the TTS. This takes the form of a tower with a 36-metre drop with a maximum lifting capacity of 200 tonnes and a hard surface for impact.
Source: BAM
The drop impact test facility is used for various purposes, such as to simulate the hypothetical fall of a fuel element transport container and to test the safety of these containers.
Source: BAM
In addition, there are also fire test stands on the site for destructive and non-destructive testing of containment systems for dangerous goods.
Source: BAM
Here, the internal and external thermal load capacity of containment systems for hazardous goods are investigated, such as storage and transport tanks.
Source: BAM
Furthermore, there are also two explosion test grounds for controlled explosions on various items including pyrotechnic articles, such as airbags or fireworks, but also storage and transport containers. The test grounds are equipped with a large number of test facilities.
Source: BAM
These include a firewall system, for example for the underfiring of explosive materials and articles, or compressed-gas containers …
Source: BAM
… and a demolition chamber, which can be used to test fertilizers for their reactivity, for example.
Source: BAM
Not all the tests carried out at the TTS are “loud”. Various outdoor exposure experiments are also carried out here, such as tests on the effectiveness of wood preservatives.
Source: BAM
The trials carried out to investigate non-destructive testing methods – as shown here in a project involving a model bridge 24 metres long which was specially erected at the TTS for the evaluation, lifetime prognosis and restoration of bridge structures.
Source: BAM
In a further area for testing, there is a test site for the validation of non-destructive tests in the building industry with different specimens.
Source: BAM
