Finite-Element Limit Analysis of the Tucker High School Gymnasium Roof Failure
Publication: Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 18, Issue 1
Abstract
The Randolph Tucker High School gymnasium roof failure of 1970 has received much scholarly attention. This study will provide a conclusion to a large body of previously published works by means of limit state analysis of the roof failure using state of the art parametric finite-element modeling. Parametric modeling within a general purpose finite-element analysis program allows for extremely rapid changes to the model because key terms are objects or parameters that can be adjusted internally by the program, rather than laboriously entered by the user. The failure of the roof was investigated by means of a limit state analysis, which accurately captured the cracking of the concrete and the yielding of the reinforcing steel. Concrete creep and shrinkage and relaxation of the prestressing steel were also accounted for. Finally, the authors also studied the idea that camber in the roof geometry might have prevented collapse.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to COWI A/S, Denmark for providing access to IBDAS and to P.F. Jakobsen for modeling assistance.
References
American Concrete Institute (ACI). (2008). “Building code requirements for structural concrete and commentary.” ACI 318-08, Farmington Hills, MI.
Andersen, G. B., Jakobsen, P. F., and Sørensen, K. A. (1994). “Integrated design and analysis of cable supported bridges.” Proc., 3rd Symp. on Strait Crossings ‘94, Taylor & Francis, Oxford, UK, 258–291.
Billington, D. P. (1990). Thin shell concrete structures, McGraw-Hill, New York, 275–283.
Comite Euro-International Du Beton. (1993). “CEB-FIP model code 1990, Thomas Telford, London”. Lausanne, Switzerland
“Design errors blamed for gym collapse.” (1970). Engineering News Record, 20.
Edwards, N. P., and Billington, D. P. (1998). “FE analysis of tucker high school roof using nonlinear geometry and creep.” J. Struct. Eng., 124(9), 984–991.
Gallegros-Cazares, S., and Schnobrich, W. C. (1988). “Effects of creep and shrinkage on the behavior of reinforced concrete gable roof hyperbolic-paraboloids.” Rep. SRS 543, Dept. of Civil Engn., Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL.
Ketchum, M. S. (1990). “Career memories: A significant failure.” Milo Ketchum archives: Manuscripts by Milo Ketchum, 〈http://www.ketchum.org/-milo/failure.html〉 (Feb. 2, 2009).
Simmonds, S. (1989). “Effect of support movement on hyperbolic paraboloid shells.” J. Struct. Eng., 115(1), 19–31.
“Students clear gym moments before roof fails.” (1970). Engineering News Record, 11.
“15-year-old HP roof fails, injuring 18.” (1970). Engineering News Record, 12.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 18 • Issue 1 • March 2012
Pages: 27 - 33
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 16, 2010
Accepted: May 26, 2011
Published online: Feb 15, 2012
Published in print: Mar 1, 2012
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.