Effect of building geometry on wind loads on low-rise buildings in a laboratory-simulated tornado with a high swirl ratio

摘要

Despite the destructive effects of tornadoes, few attempts have been made to quantify tornado-induced loading. Low-rise building models were used to study the effects of variations in building geometry on tornado-induced wind loads in a laboratory-simulated tornado of high swirl ratio. The building orientation with respect to the path of the tornado and the translation speed of the simulated tornado were also varied to study their effects. The required strengths of the roof-to-wall and roof sheathing-to-rafter connections were calculated based on the measured loads and compared with their capacities to assess the possibility of failure. The geometry and orientation of the buildings were found to influence the wind loads and occurrence of failure in the roof connections.