(*20*) Codes: Small Changes, Big Impact
FIU researchers have been learning the consequences of excessive wind even earlier than the completion of the WOW or its early prototypes as half of the International Hurricane Research Center (IHRC) established by the Florida Board of Regents in 1996.
The IHRC, along with the Risk Reduction within the Americas program, grew to become half of FIUs Extreme Events Institute (EEI). An early success story got here from a small adjustment to roofing practices. Tests confirmed that ring-shank nails present stronger anchoring for roofs than conventional smooth-shank nails. This change, adopted into Florida’s constructing code in 2004, has made houses considerably extra resilient throughout hurricanes.
Fast ahead to 2025 and WOW has expanded that legacy, serving to to tell a bunch of updates to the engineering requirements set by The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). These requirements describe the forces, like wind, that engineers want to think about when designing buildings to be protected and dependable. Updates spurred by WOW analysis comprise pointers for elevated houses, roof elements, and canopies amongst others. These modifications inform U.S. and worldwide constructing codes and houses constructed to those requirements are higher capable of stand up to excessive winds.
In 2018 the ASCE distinguished WOW with the Charles Pankow Award for Innovation. ASCE acknowledged WOW for its pivotal function in increasing alternatives in analysis, innovation and schooling within the design, supplies, and development industries. WOW’s affect has immediately enhanced the security and resiliency of new and current buildings and infrastructure by way of full- and large-scale testing.
WOW lets scientists pair what they see after actual storms with full-scale simulations. This manner, they will test whether or not their concepts maintain up within the lab. At the identical time, real-world observations again up the outcomes from WOW’s experiments.
“We documented harm to dozens of elevated buildings after Hurricane Michael (2018), mentioned Elaina Sutley, affiliate professor of civil, environmental and architectural engineering on the University of Kansas. “Thanks to the collaboration with the Wall of Wind staff, we were able to combine our fieldwork findings with wind tunnel experiments to quantitatively understand the impact of the gap underneath elevated buildings.”
Sutley’s research team marshaled the data produced at WOW to propose updates to the ASCE codes and “as of 2024, the building codes and standards used in the U.S. have design provisions for elevated buildings, and new elevated buildings on the coast are safer because of it,” she said.
For structural engineers, canopies are structural extensions to buildings, that are designed to resist environmental forces while serving a functional purpose, like providing protection from sun or rain. In Florida, many homes have outdoor rooms that are extensions of the roof and which have been enclosed with netting, glass or other material. These “Florida Rooms” are a form of cover that FIU engineers have made safer.
“My first proposal was in the 2016 version,” mentioned Ioannis Zisis, professor of civil and environmental engineering at FIU. “We conducted research on canopies, which in Florida are often called ‘Florida rooms,’ and found that there were no relevant design guidelines in the existing building codes. To address this gap, we performed testing at the WOW. My collaboration with colleagues in Canada led to a successful proposal that introduced new design guidelines for canopies in the 2016 and 2022 versions of the ASCE/SEI 7.”
Research at WOW continues to concentrate on recreating and validating post-disaster area observations and updating engineering codes and requirements with international implications for the every day lives of individuals.