Experimental analysis of a stochastic model for estimating wind-borne compact debris trajectory in turbulent winds

摘要

The impact of flying debris against building envelopes during high winds is a major source of structural damage. For example, damage produced by Hurricanes Katrina and Ike in the United States on the facades of tall buildings, located in urban areas, has been documented. It is therefore of relevance to analyze the vulnerability of tall buildings to debris-induced non-structural damage in the general context of performance-based wind engineering. In order to analyze the random trajectory of debris in highly turbulent winds, a numerical model combined with a probability-based algorithm was recently proposed by the authors (Moghim and Caracoglia, 2013). This model investigates the trajectory of "compact debris", defined as point-mass objects of negligible mass moments of inertia and for which the aerodynamics is predominantly controlled by the drag force. The model replicates both the inherent randomness in debris properties and the effect of wind shear and atmospheric turbulence to estimate debris trajectory and the likelihood of impact against vertical building facades in a probabilistic setting.