With the increasing installation cases of underground explosive facilities (e.g., ammunition magazines, hydrogen tanks, etc.) in urban areas in recent years, the risk of internal explosions is also increasing. However, few studies on the measures for reducing damage by the ground vibration have been conducted except for maintaining safety distance. In this study, a method for attenuating the vibration propagated outward by installing a blast-proof panel was numerically and experimentally investigated. Two cubical reinforced concrete structures were manufactured according to the concrete strength and a blast-proof panel was installed on only one side of the structure. Then, acceleration sensors were installed on the external surface to evaluate the propagation of vibration outward depending on the installation of a blast-proof panel. Before a field experiment, a preliminary numerical simulation was performed. The results showed that the acceleration propagated outward could be effectively reduced by installing a blast-proof panel. Even though the performance of a blast-proof panel on vibration reduction was also investigated in the field experiment, significantly larger absolute accelerations were estimated due to the different experimental conditions. Finally, the vibration reduction effect of the blast-proof panel was numerically evaluated according to its thickness and the internal explosion load. A blast-proof panel more effectively reduced the acceleration propagated outward as its thickness increased and the explosion load decreased.

Republic of Korea (ROK) military installations are scattered across South Korea, but there is a higher concentration of fortifications in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) and eastern and western coastlines. These facilities range from relatively small structures, such as individual and artillery fighting positions, to large buildings, such as ammunition depots and command posts. These military installations have a significant thickness of concrete members to provide a high degree of protection against bombs and projectiles. The Korean military will carry out the integration and dismantling of these protection facilities over the next ten years through the Army transformation plan. Such large-scale construction projects have an impact on the environment in terms of the carbon footprint, because building construction and operations account for 36% of the world’s energy use and 40% of energy-related carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. It is very important to reduce the concrete materials and reinforcement steel during protective structure construction near the DMZ, which is now recognized as one of the most well-preserved areas in the world. In this study, new sustainable design considerations that allow elasto-plastic or plastic design of concrete elements were evaluated using a case study of an artillery fighting position. The new sustainable design considerations were developed on the basis of mission, enemy, terrain and weather, troops and support available, time and civil considerations (METT + TC) within the context of the current battle situation, as well as protection against near misses. From this study, it was found that new sustainable design considerations provide a reasonable degree of protection that permits good construction practices and maximum structural stability with minimum amount of materials. It was also found that if the new design procedure is used to replace 1000 artillery positions through the Army transformation plan, the CO₂ emissions can be reduced by 476,582.4 tons and the cost reduced by USD 23,829,120.

The Korean peninsula is under increasing threat of electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) from neighboring countries; EMP protection facilities are an essential means of ensuring the operational readiness of the military. However, existing EMP protection facilities are manufactured as fixed-weight structures, which limit the mobility of military operations and lead to the misconception of EMP protection as something only required for higher command. The current military and official EMP protection standards require only a uniform shielding effectiveness of 80 dB. Therefore, this study aims to differentiate the existing uniform level of shielding effectiveness of 80 dB into 80 dB, 60 dB, 40 dB, etc. Further, it seeks to derive the factors to be considered when applying various methods, such as shielding rooms, shielding racks, site redundancy, spare equipment, and portable lightweight protective tents, for recovery of failure, instead of the existing protection facilities that rely on shielded rooms by the Delphi analysis. Then, the applicability of lightweight EMP protection is determined after selecting lightweight materials to build a facility. The electromagnetic shielding performance of 21 types of materials was measured in the 30 MHz–1.5 GHz frequency band using ASTM-D-4935-10. The results showed the possibility of developing a lightweight EMP shielding facility, which would save approximately 316,386 tons of concrete, reducing the CO₂ emissions by approximately 9,972,489 tons. Assuming that the Korean carbon transaction price is USD 50/ton CO₂, the savings are equivalent to USD 49,862,435.

Decreasing the use of concrete in construction projects is an important factor in sustainability awareness and green planning. In the past, the military installed and managed concrete block-shaped obstacles called “rock drops” on major roads in order to hinder enemy movement. As the cities surrounding Seoul are developing, traffic volumes are increasing, and traffic networks are expanding, such types of obstacles are becoming obsolete and need to be replaced by a new eco-friendly, urban-friendly alternative. This study proposes a new sustainable anti-tank obstacle and demonstrates its performance through a finite element analysis. In addition, this study analyzes the effect of the proposed obstacle as a civil–military cooperation policy with respect to sustainability by comparing the CO₂ emissions between the original and the proposed ones. Once one rock drop obstacle made of massive concrete blocks is replaced, CO₂ emissions can be reduced by as much as 99.2%. If 100 rock drop obstacles distributed in the surrounding areas of Seoul are replaced, then 347,581 tons of CO₂ emissions would be reduced. This corresponds to total cost savings of USD 17,379,050 based on the Korean carbon transaction price of USD 50/ton-CO₂.

This study developed decision-making factors to classify electromagnetic pulse (EMP) protection levels and determine various protection measures. We proposed three EMP protection levels of 80, 60, and 40 dB by considering the characteristics of military equipment and factors that determine EMP protection level, based on a Delphi study. We modeled EMP protection facilities for brigade-level troops to evaluate the derived decision-making factors and applicability of differential protection levels. The natural attenuation effect of soil was confirmed for structures installed underground. The shielding effect of wet soil was up to 30 dB. Considering the 20 dB EMP resistance of military equipment and the 30 dB of attenuation of wet soil, new materials with 30 dB of shielding efficiency could be used to meet an EMP protection level of 80 dB. Therefore, we confirmed that EMP protection measures could be established to build mobile, lightweight shelters. If lightweight shelters are constructed by applying the differential protection level scheme, they can be applied as a more effective EMP protection measure. Furthermore, differential protection measures can be adopted as a sustainable defense facility policy approach, wherein lightweight protection facilities replace conventional heavyweight facilities.