Empirical Approach to Evaluating the Tornado Fragility of Residential Structures
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 143, Issue 9
Abstract
Tornado-induced wind load modeling has advanced significantly in recent years, but comparison of the experimental or numerical models to observed tornado damage is limited. This paper describes the development of empirically derived tornado fragility functions for residential structures following the 22 May 2011 Joplin, Missouri tornado. The fragility functions were created by combining a residential structure damage assessment of the Joplin tornado using the enhanced Fujita (EF) scale and a tornado wind field model conditioned to tree-fall patterns. The damage states for the fragility functions used the degrees of damage (DOD) for one- and two-story residential structures from the EF scale. The empirical tornado fragility functions were compared to analytically derived fragility functions for straightline winds from the FEMA Hazus hurricane model to provide a first attempt at ascertaining how different or similar failure wind speeds are for residential structures under tornado-induced and straightline wind loads. Median failure wind speeds from the empirical tornado fragility functions increased monotonically with DOD, from for DOD1 to for DOD9. Median failure wind speeds of the empirical tornado fragility functions and Hazus hurricane straightline wind fragility functions differed by 5% or less when suburban terrain was assumed throughout the damage path, and 25% or less when open terrain was assumed. The results suggest that tornado load amplification factors are at worst no more than 55% for residential structures, and may be lower than 10%.
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Acknowledgments
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. GM02432 and 1150975. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 143 • Issue 9 • September 2017
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©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 11, 2015
Accepted: Mar 22, 2017
Published online: Jun 29, 2017
Published in print: Sep 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Nov 29, 2017
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