RAPID: Collection of Perishable Data on Wood-Frame Building Failure Mechanisms During the 2011 Tuscaloosa Alabama Tornado

该研究的目的是收集和归档结构系统的易腐烂损坏数据，以确定 2011 年 4 月 27 日星期三阿拉巴马州塔斯卡卢萨龙卷风之后木质住宅建筑的失效机制。该项目将研究龙卷风中的建筑损坏模式，龙卷风对许多现有住宅结构造成了灾难性损失。 由结构工程教师、木材科学家和学生组成的多所大学志愿者团队将在整个龙卷风破坏路径中进行法医调查。主要研究假设是，实施类似于飓风​​多发地区木结构住宅采用的结构改进是否也可以改善龙卷风多发地区的住房。数据收集方法将包括主动和被动收集方法，这将确定结构损坏的程度并开发显示整个龙卷风路径中最大力水平的损坏的一般轮廓。这些观测将为龙卷风力的空间特征提供新的知识。结构失效将被分类为构件失效或连接失效，并且每种类型（特别是屋顶到墙壁连接）的普遍性将被记录。 调查的损害模式将揭示可见碎片云直径与地面极高吸力带之间的关系。该项目将产生 1) 一个公开的住宅建筑损坏评级和故障机制数据库，可供工程研究界轻松使用；2) 龙卷风路径内损坏强度分布（EF 规模）的估计。这些结果是评估龙卷风对社区脆弱性的重要现场数据集，也是开发抗龙卷风住房的现实改造技术的支持数据。从事该项目的研究生还将获得风工程方面独特的教育经验。

The objective of the research is to collect and archive perishable damage data on structural systems to determine failure mechanisms in wood residential buildings following the Wednesday, April 27 2011 Tuscaloosa, AL tornado. The project will study the building damage patterns in a tornado that caused catastrophic loss to many existing residential structures. A multi-university team of volunteers, consisting of structural engineering faculty, wood scientists and students will conduct forensic investigations throughout the tornado?s damage path. The main research hypothesis is whether implementing structural improvements similar to those adopted in hurricane-prone regions for residential wood structures can also improve housing in tornado-prone regions. The data collection methodology will include both active and passive collection methods, which will establish the level of structural damage and develop general contours of damage showing the maximum force levels throughout the tornado track.These observations will contribute new knowledge on spatial characteristics of tornado force. Structural failures will be categorized into member failure or connection failure, and the prevalence of each type (particularly of roof-to-wall-connection) will be documented. The surveyed damage pattern will reveal the relationship between the visible debris cloud diameter and the swath of extreme high suction on the ground. The project will yield 1) a publicly-available database of residential buildings damage ratings and failure mechanisms that can readily be used by the engineering research community and 2) an estimation of damage intensity distribution (EF-scale) within the tornado track. These results are essential field dataset for evaluating community vulnerability from tornadoes and as support data for developing realistic retrofit techniques for tornado-resilient housing. The graduate students working on this project will also be exposed to unique educational experience in wind engineering.