Keywords

Computational fluid dynamics, Hurricanes, Structural engineering

Abstract

Widespread structural damage to critical facilities such as levees, buildings, dams and bridges during hurricanes has exemplified the need to consider multiple hazards associated with hurricanes as well as the potential for unacceptable levels of performance even if failure is not observed. These inadequate standards warrant the use of more accurate methods to describe the anticipated structural response, and damage for extreme events often termed performance based engineering (PBE). Therefore PBE was extended into the field of hurricane engineering in this study. Application of performance-based principles involves collection of the numerous hazards data from sources such as historical records, laboratory experiments or stochastic simulations. However, the hazards associated with a hurricane typically include spatial and temporal variation therefore, more detailed collection of data from each hazard of this loading spectrum is required. At the same time, computational power and computer-aided design have advanced and potentially allows for collection of the structure-specific hazard data. This novel technique, known as computational fluid dynamics (CFD), was applied to the wind and wave hazards associated with hurricanes to accurately quantify the spectrum of dynamic loads in this study. Numerical simulation results are presented on verification of this technique with laboratory experimental studies and further application to a typical Florida building and bridge prototype. Both the time and frequency domain content of random process signals were analyzed and compared through basic properties including the spectral density, autocorrelation, and mean. Following quantification of the dynamic loads on each structure, a detailed structural iv FEM was constructed of each structure and response curves were created for various levels of hurricane categories. Results show that both the time and frequency content of the dynamic signal could be accurately captured through CFD simulations in a much more cost effective manner than laboratory experimentation. Structural FEM models showed the poor performance of two coastal structures designed using deterministic principles, as serviceability and strength limit states were exceeded. Additionally, the response curves created for the prototype structure could be further developed for multiple wind directions and wave periods. Thus CFD is a viable option to wind and wave laboratory studies and a key tool for the development of PBE in the field of hurricane engineering.

Notes

If this is your thesis or dissertation, and want to learn how to access it or for more information about readership statistics, contact us at STARS@ucf.edu

Graduation Date

2010

Semester

Fall

Advisor

Mackie, Kevin

Degree

Master of Science in Civil Engineering (M.S.C.E.)

College

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Department

Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0003491

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0003491

Language

English

Release Date

December 2010

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Engineering and Computer Science, Engineering and Computer Science -- Dissertations, Academic

Download

Included in

Engineering Commons

Share

COinS