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Windborne Debris in Horizontal Winds and Applications to Impact Testing

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Advanced Structural Wind Engineering

Abstract

This chapter considers the trajectories of compact, rod-type and plate-type windborne debris in horizontal winds, using a combination of experimental and numerical studies. These studies indicate that the ratio of horizontal debris speed to wind gust speed is primarily a function of the horizontal distance traveled by the debris. Empirical expressions to approximate the horizontal speed of these debris as a function of travel distance and time, are developed, and may be used to establish rational debris impact criteria.

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Acknowledgements

This work was carried out under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Commerce Texas Tech University /National Institute of Standards and Technology Windstorm Mitigation Initiative, the John P. Laborde Visiting Professor endowment, and Louisiana Sea Grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA

    Chris Letchford

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Ning Lin

  3. JDH Consulting, Mentone, VIC, Australia

    John Holmes

Authors
  1. Chris Letchford
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  2. Ning Lin
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  3. John Holmes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chris Letchford .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. TPU Wind Engineering Research Center, 1583 Iiyama, Atsugi, 243-0297, Kanagawa, Japan

    Yukio Tamura

  2. NatHaz Modeling Laboratory, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, 46556, Indiana, USA

    Ahsan Kareem

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© 2013 Springer Japan

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Letchford, C., Lin, N., Holmes, J. (2013). Windborne Debris in Horizontal Winds and Applications to Impact Testing. In: Tamura, Y., Kareem, A. (eds) Advanced Structural Wind Engineering. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54337-4_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54337-4_8

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Tokyo

  • Print ISBN: 978-4-431-54336-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-4-431-54337-4

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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