Study of Tornado-Induced Wind Loads on Built Structures

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This project uses a synergistic approach that involves use of field data, numerical simulation, and laboratory simulation to study tornado-induced wind loads on man-made or built structures. The primary objective of this project is to quantify tornado-induced wind loads on typical structures such as low-rise and high-rise buildings, dome-shaped and curved-roof structures, and slender chimneys and towers that comprise the majority of our built environment. In this project, a laboratory tornado simulator at Iowa State University (ISU) is used to realistically produce a variety of tornado-like vortices for testing their loading effects on geometrically-scaled models of built structures. Field measurement data from the University of Oklahoma's "Doppler on Wheels" studies along with the data generated by numerical simulations of tornado vortex winds at ISU to extrapolate the field data (available for 50 ft and above) to ground level are used to validate the flow field generated by the laboratory tornado simulator. This laboratory simulator uses an innovative mechanism that allows it to produce a translating tornado-like vortex with different Swirl ratios, core diameters and Reynolds numbers suitable for geometrically-scaled model testing.