Dual-Objective-Based Tornado Design Philosophy
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 139, Issue 2
Abstract
Tornadoes represent a unique natural hazard because of the very low probability of occurrence, short warning times (on the order of only a few minutes), and the intense and destructive forces imposed on engineered and nonengineered buildings. The very low-probability/very high-consequence nature of a tornado strike makes designing for survival and reducing damage under typical financial constraints a substantial challenge. On April 27, 2011, an enhanced Fujita (EF) 4 (EF4) tornado devastated an almost 10-km (5.9-mi) long, 0.8-km-wide (1/2-mi-wide) path, through the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and continued on the ground for 130 km (80 mi). This paper presents the design concept that resulted following a week-long data reconnaissance deployment throughout the city of Tuscaloosa by the authors. The dual-objective philosophy proposed herein is intended to focus on both building damage and loss reduction in low-to-moderate tornado wind speeds and building occupant life safety in more damaging wind-speed events such as EF4 and EF5 tornadoes. The philosophy articulates a design methodology that is the basis upon which structural engineering was formed—namely, provide life safety and control damage—but the new philosophy is focused at separate tornado intensity levels.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The National Science Foundation provided partial support for damage analysis following the April 27, 2011, Tuscaloosa tornado through RAPID Grant No. CMMI-1139722. J.W. van de Lindt also acknowledges the Drummond Chair funds at the University of Alabama. Thanks are also extended to the students from the University of Alabama and the University of Florida for their participation in this study.
References
American Forest and Paper Association (AFPA). (2001). “Wood frame construction manual for one- and two-family dwellings.” WFCM-01, AFPA, Washington, DC.
ASCE. (2010). “Minimum design loads for buildings and other structures.” ASCE 7-10, Reston, VA.
Coulbourne, B. (1999). “Midwest tornadoes of May 3, 1999: Observations, recommendations and technical guidance.” Building performance assessment, FEMA, Washington, DC.
Coulbourne, W. L. (2008). “Wind speed analysis of Greensburg, KS, Tornado.” Proc., Structures Congress: Crossing Borders, ASCE, Reston, VA.
Datin, P. L., and Prevatt, D. O. (2009).“Equivalent roof panel wind loading for full-scale sheathingtesting.” Proc., 11th Americas Conf. on Wind Engineering, American Association for Wind Engineering, Fort Collins, CO.
Davies-Jones, R. P. (1986). “Tornado dynamics.” Thunderstorms: A social and technological documentary, E. Kessler, ed., Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, 197–236.
Dunn, W. L. and Twisdale, L. A. (1979). “A synthesized windfield model for tornado missile transport.” Nucl. Eng. Des., 52(1), 135–144.
Ellingwood, B. R., Rosowsky, D. V., Li, Y., and Kim, J. H. (2004). “Fragility assessment of light-frame wood construction subjected to wind and earthquake hazards.” J. Struct. Eng., 130(12), 1921–1930.
FEMA. (2008a). “Design and construction guidance for community shelters.” FEMA P-361, Washington, DC.
FEMA. (2008b). “Taking shelter from the storm: building a safe room for your home or small business.” FEMA P-320, Washington, DC.
Forbes, G. (2006). “Meteorological aspects of high-impact tornado outbreaks.” Proc., Challenges of Severe Convective Storms, American Meteorological Society, Atlanta, 1–12.
Haan, F. L., Jr., Balaramudu, V. K., and Sakar, P. P. (2010). “Tornado induced wind loads on a low-rise building.” J. Struct. Eng., 136(1), 106–116.
Karstens, C. D., Samaras, T. M., Lee, B. D., Gallus, W. A., Jr., and Finley, C. A. (2010). “Near-ground presure and wind measurements in tornadoes.” Mon. Weather Rev., 138(7), 2570–2588.
Kosiba, K. A., and Wurman, J. (2010). “The three-dimensional axisymmetric wind field structure of the Spencer, South Dakota, 1998 tornado.” J. Atmos. Sci., 67(9), 3074–3083.
Lee, W.-C., and Wurman, J. (2005). “Diagnosing new details about tornado dynamics.” Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 86(11), 1547–1550.
Lewellen, W. S., Teske, M. E., and Sheng, Y. P. (1979). “Wind and pressure distributions in a tornado.” Proc., 5th Int. Conf. on Wind Engineering, Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO.
McDonald, J. R., Mehta, C., and Minor, J. E. (1979). “Tornado-resistant design of nuclear power plant structures.” Nucl. Saf., 15(4), 432–439.
Mehta, K. C., McDonald, J. R., and Smith, D. A. (1981). “Procedure for predicting wind damage to buildings.” J. Struct. Div., 107(11), 2089–2096.
Minor, J. E., McDonald, J. R., and Mehta, K. C. (1977). “The tornado: An engineering-oriented perspective.” NOAA Technical Memorandum ERL NSSL-82, National Weather Service, Norman, OK.
Minor, J. W., Mehta, K. C., and McDonald, J. R. (1972). “Failure of structures due to extreme winds.” J. Struct. Div., 98(11), 2455–2472.
Minor, J. W., Mehta, K. C., and McDonald, J. R. (1976). “Air flow around buildings as reflected in failure modes.” ASHRAE Trans., 82(1), 1061–1071.
Morton, J. (2011). “Red Cross tallies damage destroyed homes.” Tuscaloosa News, May 17, 〈http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20110517/NEWS/110519753?Title=Red-Cross-tallies-damaged-destroyed-homes〉.
National Weather Service (NWS). (2011). “April severe weather events set new tornado records for Alabama.” 〈http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/?n=climo_2011torstats〉 (Aug. 24, 2011).
Prevatt, D. O., et al. (2011). “Damage study and future direction for structural design following the Tuscaloosa tornado of 2011.” Project Report, Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
Twisdale, L. A., Dunn, W. L., and David, T. L. (1979). “Tornado missile transport analysis.” Nucl. Eng. Des., 51(2), 295–308.
Wind Science and Engineering Center (WSEC). (2006). Recommendation for an EF Scale, Texas Tech Univ., Lubbock, TX.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 139 • Issue 2 • February 2013
Pages: 251 - 263
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 21, 2011
Accepted: Mar 30, 2012
Published online: Apr 14, 2012
Published in print: Feb 1, 2013
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.