Data Driven Wind Vulnerability Assessment of Irregular Shaped Low-rise Structures

Authors

Hrishikesh Dev Sarma, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Civil Engineering

First Advisor's Name

Ioannis Zisis

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Arindam Gan Chowdhury

Second Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Seung Jae Lee

Third Advisor's Committee Title

committee Member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Amal Elawady

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Fifth Advisor's Name

M. Hadi Amini

Fifth Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Keywords

Structural Wind Engineering, Low rise structures, Wind tunnel testing, Wind Loads, Vulnerability Analysis, Building Shape Factors

Date of Defense

5-31-2023

Abstract

Low rise residential structures often suffer great damage during strong wind events. Wind vulnerability models that relate the hazard intensity to the expected damage are used to predict and estimate the probable damage from extreme wind events. The focus of this study is the application of a Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) based wind vulnerability model for wind damage of low-rise structures considering the differences in building shape. The damage curves are derived based on wind tunnel tests on regular (rectangular plan and irregular (non-rectangular plan area) shaped structures. A comparison is made between the vulnerability of L-shaped, T- shaped, C-shaped, and rectangular shaped wood frame low rise residential buildings. Through this comparison the significance of considering building shape on vulnerability studies of low-rise structures is evaluated. The Monte Carlo simulation framework is used to estimate the vulnerability and fragility curves of different building shapes. The results demonstrate significant differences in wind performance for non-rectangular shaped buildings compared to rectangular shaped ones, particularly for roof components. The study reveals that the rectangular shaped roof has greater expected damage at lower wind speeds and lower expected damage at higher wind speeds compared to non-rectangular shaped roofs. Roof to wall connections are shown to be very sensitive to roof shape, with rectangular roofs being more susceptible to failure at high wind speeds. The directional variation in vulnerability and the most vulnerable locations within the roofs are identified. Five shape factors (Rectangularity, Convexity, Angularity, Irregularity, and Elongation) are considered to correlate wind loads with building shape. The wind load coefficients are evaluated in terms of shear, torsion, and lift, showing that building shape strongly affects wind load coefficients, with rectangularity, convexity, and elongation having a particularly notable impact.

Identifier

FIDC011140

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5294-2150

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Sarma, Hrishikesh Dev, "Data Driven Wind Vulnerability Assessment of Irregular Shaped Low-rise Structures" (2023). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5435.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/5435