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

本研究的目的是收集和归档结构系统的易腐损伤数据，以确定木材住宅建筑在2011年4月27日星期三塔斯卡卢萨龙卷风之后的破坏机制。该项目将研究龙卷风对许多现有住宅结构造成灾难性损失的建筑物破坏模式。由结构工程学院、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过程中进行法医调查。S伤害路径。主要的研究假设是，对住宅木结构进行类似于飓风易发地区所采取的结构改进是否也可以改善龙卷风易发地区的住房。数据收集方法将包括主动和被动收集方法，这将建立结构破坏水平，并制定总体破坏轮廓，显示整个龙卷风路径的最大力量水平。这些观测将对龙卷风力量的空间特征提供新的认识。结构失效将被分类为构件失效或连接失效，每种类型（特别是屋顶到墙壁的连接）的普遍性将被记录。调查的损伤模式将揭示可见碎片云直径与地面上极高吸力的条带之间的关系。该项目将产生1)一个可供公众使用的住宅建筑损坏等级和破坏机制数据库，可以很容易地被工程研究界使用；2)对龙卷风路径内的破坏强度分布（EF-scale）进行估计。这些结果是评估龙卷风对社区脆弱性的重要现场数据集，也是开发具有龙卷风抵御能力的住房的现实改造技术的支持数据。参与该项目的研究生也将接触到独特的风力工程教育经验。

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.