Wind Performance and Aerodynamics of Asphalt Shingles

Authors

Ameyu B. ToleraFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Civil Engineering

First Advisor's Name

Arindam Gan Chowdhury

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Ioannis Zisis

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Peter Irwin

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Amal Elawady

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Fifth Advisor's Name

Robert Hacker

Fifth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Keywords

Asphalt shingles, Wind loads, Failure assessment, Probabilistic characterization, Full-scale testing.

Date of Defense

10-31-2022

Abstract

Asphalt shingles have been the most popular residential roof covering in North America for over a century and are used in more than 80% of roofing and reroofing projects. Many post-disaster surveys have reported the failure of asphalt shingles below design-level wind events and highlighted the need for further investigations to determine possible failure causes. Research to realistically model the aerodynamics of asphalt shingles at full scale is limited, resulting in knowledge gaps in peak wind loads and the effects of permeability. Moreover, the dependence of the wind resistance of asphalt shingles on the installation method employed has not been fully studied. To this end, this dissertation aims to investigate wind loads on and resistance of asphalt shingles using state-of-the-art full-scale experimental protocols. Failure assessment and aerodynamic tests on three different roof geometries were performed at the Wall of Wind Experimental Facility at Florida International University. The failure assessment tests investigate the wind resistance of asphalt shingles, evaluate the efficiency of their current installation methods, and address the lack of a system-level resistance metric for their wind performance. Results from these tests show that asphalt shingles installed using methods recommended by the current guidelines may be vulnerable to wind flows from critical directions, especially due to cavity pressurization. The study also highlighted the importance of proper fastening practices and the determination and testing of the pull-through resistance of shingles in the wind performance of asphalt shingles. In this regard, the development of new test procedures and enhancement of shingle installation methods have been recommended.

Furthermore, wind loads obtained from the aerodynamic tests are used to reevaluate the current uplift model and standardized test procedures developed thereon. Similarly, these results show the possible underestimation of critical loading cases by current uplift models due to their limitation in fully capturing the building aerodynamics. Shingles located near roof discontinuities were subjected to high suctions due to building-generated aerodynamics. This presents critical loading cases for which asphalt shingles are not typically tested for using the current standard tests. Therefore, the current study suggests the use of predetermined conservative wind loads for the design and certification of asphalt shingles. As a guide for the development of such provisions, net peak uplift cumulative distribution functions for three classes of asphalt laminate shingles have been provided in this study.

Identifier

FIDC010961

ORCID

0000-0002-7744-0288

Previously Published In

• Tolera, A. B., Mostafa, K., Chowdhury, A. G., Zisis, I., & Irwin, P. (2022). Study of wind loads on asphalt shingles using full-scale experimentation. Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 225, 105005.

Recommended Citation

Tolera, Ameyu B., "Wind Performance and Aerodynamics of Asphalt Shingles" (2022). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5153.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/5153