Crimsafe Impact Testing

The security screen industry refers to ‘Australian Standards’ which include testing for the ability to withstand a certain level of impact. This is relevant to the strength of the security screen and the impact it can withstand in the event of a break-in attempt.

While many security screens ‘meet’ the minimum level of impact required by Australian Standards, Crimsafe has been designed to exceed it.

Independent research conducted by the University of Queensland tested a wide range of security screens. Crimsafe exceeded the impact level required by Australian Standards and far out-performed competitor products, making Crimsafe the strongest stainless steel security screen system on the market.

The Australian Standard (AS5041-2003), sets out requirements for a ‘Dynamic Impact Test’. This simulates the effect of a human impact against a security screen and is measured in ‘Joules’ (a unit of energy).

The Australian Standard requires a security screen to withstand five single impacts of 100 Joules each. This is roughly equivalent to the impact of a young child running into a glass door. This was established in the Australian Standards for glass (AS1288) and was adopted by the security industry.

The average Australian male, weighing 86kg, can easily exert more than 100 Joules of force in a single impact.

That’s why Crimsafe has been designed to exceed the minimum requirement of Australian Standards.

The University of Queensland tested Crimsafe and competitor products for their ability to withstand single and multiple impacts.

The test screens are initially impacted to the level required by the Australian Standards (5 x 100J), after which they are subjected to increasing impact levels. The graph at right shows that many competitor products could not meet the recommended Australian Standard, failing to withstand five impacts of 100 Joules each.

Crimsafe withstood the multiple impacts required by Australian Standards, and withstood a single impact of 550 Joules (Crimsafe Regular), 750 Joules (Crimsafe Ultimate) and 1200 Joules (Crimsafe Commercial Applications).

Download the Crimsafe Impact Testing Fact Sheet

This test is designed to simulate a knife attack on a screen, using the kind of small to medium blade favoured by home intruders.

A test screen is mounted horizontally in a rigid frame and a heavy duty trimming knife is pulled along the mesh with a force of up to 350N (35kg) and a constant downward pressure of 150N (15kg) for a distance of 250mm.

The test is performed three times along the same line with a new blade fitted each time. In order to achieve a pass the mesh must not be penetrated in a continuous line for more than 150mm.

The Results

With our industry leading 0.9mm, 304 grade high tensile stainless steel Tensile-Tuff® mesh, all Crimsafe screens pass this test.

The specifications pertaining to the mesh and other products that we supply are our target specifications. The actual specifications for items supplied may differ taking into account reasonable manufacturing tolerances.

The Australian Standard requires a rotational force of up to 450N (45kg) to be applied and held for 20 seconds at all locking, hinging and fastening points around your security screen.

A large screwdriver is inserted at these points and mechanically rotated until either the force required or 80° rotation has been achieved. A security screen door must remain securely locked and a window security screen must remain securely fastened to the window that it is covering to achieve a pass.

The test panel fails if all the hinges, or all the locking points or all the fastening points (screws holding a window section onto the wall) fail, or if the edge of the security door or window has deflected to make a gap wider than 15cm.

The Result

Crimsafe passed easily and meets the Australian Standard requirements. Our ongoing research in this area has enabled us to develop Crimsafe Ultimate, our product range with true lever defiant design to give you the ultimate protection.

A major element of determining a window’s WERS (Windows Energy Rating Scheme) rating is its Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC). The SHGC is the measure of how well a window blocks heat caused by sunlight.

To test this, a Crimsafe security screen is applied over a glazed window to measure how well the screen blocks heat produced by sunlight entering into your home.

The Results

Crimsafe Security Screens were found to improve the energy efficiency of a Window by up to 53%.

When Crimsafe is applied over a 3mm generic single glazed window the cooling efficiency of the window increases from zero stars to a 3 Star cooling rating, keeping your home cooler in summer and reducing heat loss in winter.

The Window Energy Rating Scheme (WERS) recognises that Crimsafe improves the cooling and heat retention of a building when applied to glass windows and doors.

The effects are best seen when security screens are placed over your entire window, not just over the opening portion. The type of window glass and glazing will also impact cooling and heat retention.

When Crimsafe is applied over a generic single glazed window the cooling efficiency of the window increases from zero stars, no additional benefit to a 3 Star WERS rating with a reduction in solar heat gain of up to 53%, keeping the interior of the home cool in the summer.

In the winter months Crimsafe works with your windows to limit the escape of warmth from your home, and heat retention efficiency increases. The heating rating improves from zero stars no heat retention benefits, to a 1.5 Star WERS rating with Crimsafe applied.

When Crimsafe is applied over 6.38 Clear Low E glass, the cooling rating increases from a 1.5 Star rating to a 4 Star rating greatly enhancing the cooling attributes of your glazing investment.

Annual energy performance (stars and % improvements) are calculated using Nationwide House Energy Rating Software according to procedures of WERS 2008 and the results are presented in Standard International Units.

For a detailed breakdown of WERS rating results – click to download the PDF

A 1,000 hour salt spray test is a common measure for corrosion in stainless steel security products. This is equivalent to approximately 10 years environmental exposure. Crimsafe passed this test, but also passed a much tougher test – 3,000 hours in the Prohesion Accelerated cyclic test. That’s equivalent to 30 years environmental exposure.

In the industry standard Salt Spray Test, a salt solution is sprayed at the test samples for 1000 hours, simulating 10 years of exposure to very harsh weathering conditions. (AS 2331.3.1)

The Results

The Crimsafe security screens tested passed a massive 3000 hours with no corrosion, our Tensile-Tuff® security mesh passed 10,000 hours with no corrosion.

Crimsafe security screens also pass the Prohesion Accelerated test (ATSM G85), which provides a better correlation with real-world outdoor exposure results.

Prohesion tests use a method of cyclic accelerated corrosion and are designed to evaluate how well the surface coatings of the Crimsafe screen protect from corrosion.

The Results

Crimsafe passed 3,000 hours with no corrosion.

The Australian Standard (AS3959-2009) requires screens which cover openings to be made of corrosion resistant steel, with an aperture size that will not allow a circular probe of 2mm diameter to pass through.

The Results

Crimsafe can protect your home across all Bushfire Attack Levels up to and including BAL-FZ.

Bushfire protection is required on sites where the Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) has been determined as one of the six levels of risk.