Seminar - Chris Letchford - Windborne debris - the next big break in Wind Engineering

Wednesday, August 4, 2004, 1.10 - 1.50 pm
Civil Engineering Lecture Room 3

Abstract

Breaching a building envelope, particularly a windward face typically doubles the uplift loading on roofs of low-to-medium height buildings. This is often more than sufficient to cause structural failure, leading to loss of function and destruction of contents. Various missile criteria have been proposed to ascertain the resistance of cladding to impact, however these have largely developed from anecdotal evidence from damage investigations. Research currently underway at Texas Tech aims to quantify the questions: What wind speeds initiate flight? What speeds will objects fly at? This seminar will report on the mechanics of flying debris derived from analytical, wind tunnel and full-scale investigations.