Determination of wind speed and associated loads over the sports facility collapsed during the severe windstorm of 24 January 2009 in Sant Boi de Llobregat (Barcelona)

pp. 63-74

Tethys no. 8

DOI

10.3369/tethys.2011.8.07

Entire article

Author

The severe windstorm of 24 January 2009, caused by an explosive cyclogenesis, affected coastal and precoastal areas of the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, where damages were numerous and significant, both in urban areas and in forests. One of the most important effects was the collapse of a sports facility in Sant Boi de Llobregat (10 km southwest of Barcelona), killing four children. The objective of this study is to estimate the wind speed over the sports facility and calculate the suction of the wind on the roof of the building, and the consequent collapse of the walls. To get a first approximation, a simulation of the episode around the time of maximum wind gust was inspected using the mesoscale model MM5. In the second part, the damage around the collapsed facility was analyzed, with which we note the fact that a truck was dragged and knocked over by the wind. This analysis allows for the conclusion that, in conjunction with the maximum wind gust, there was a sudden and very local shift in the wind, which caused the gust to hit the building head on. Based on this observation, the wind speed on surface and at 7 m (roof of the building) was estimated, and the suction of the wind was calculated.

- Agencia Estatal de Meteorología, 2009: Análisis preliminar de la situación del 22-25 de enero de 2009. Un caso de ciclogénesis explosiva extraordinaria, AEMET, http://www.aemet.es/es/infodestacada/webmaster/Nota2225enero.

- Banks, D., Meroney, R. N., Sarkar, P. P., Zhao, Z., and Wu, F., 2000: Flow visualization of conical vortices on flat roofs with simultaneous surface pressure measurement, J Wind Eng End Aerodyn, 84, 65–85, doi: 10.1016/S0167–6105(99)00044–6.

- Boletín oficial del Estado, 2007: Norma UNE-EN1991-1-4:2007, Eurocódigo 1: Acciones en estructuras. Parte 1-4: Acciones generales. Acciones de viento, Boletín Oficial del Estado de 8 de octubre de 2007, BOE-A-2007-18844.

- Braun, S. A. and Wei-Kuo, T., 2000: Sensitivity of High-Resolution Simulations of Hurricane Bob (1991) to Planetary Boundary Layer Parameterizations, American Meteorological Society, 128, 3949–3961, doi: 10.1175/1520-0493(2000)129<3941:SOHRSO>2.0.CO;2.

- Chen, X. and Zhou, N., 2007: Equivalent static wind loads on low-rise buildings based on full-scale pressure measurements, Engineering Structures, 29, 2563–2575, doi: 10.1016/j.engstruct.2007.01.007.

- Cope, A. D., Gurley, K. R., Gioffre, M., and Reinhold, T. A., 2005: Low-rise gable roof wind loads: Characterization and stochastic simulation, J Wind Eng End Aerodyn, 93, 719–738, ISSN 0167–6105, doi: 10.1016/j.jweia.2005.07.002.

- Endo, M., Bienkiewicz, B., and Ham, H. J., 2006: Wind-tunnel investigation of point pressure on TTU test building, J Wind Eng End Aerodyn, 94, 553–578, doi: 10.1016/j.jweia.2006.01.019.

- Grell, G. A., Dudhia, J., and Stauffer, D. R., 1994: A Description of the Fifth Generation Penn State/NCAR Mesoscale Model (MM5), NCAR Technical Note, TN-398+STR, nldr.library.ucar.edu/collections/technotes/asset-000-000-000-214.pdf, 117 pp.

- Kasperski, M., 2007: Design wind loads for a low-rise building taking into account directional effects, J Wind Eng End Aerodyn, 95, 1125–1144, doi: 10.1016/j.jweia.2007.01.019.

- Krishna, P., 1995: Wind loads on low rise buildings - A review, J Wind Eng End Aerodyn, 54-55, 383–396, doi: 10.1016/0167–6105(94)00055–I.

- Li, L., Wang, F., and Zhou, Q., 2006: Integrated Longitudinal and Lateral Tire/Road Friction Modeling and Monitoring for Vehicle Motion Control, IEEE Trans Intell Transp Syst, 7, 1–19, doi: 10.1109/TITS.2005.858624.

- Miao, J. F., Wyser, K., Chen, D., and Ritchie, H., 2009: Impacts of boundary layer turbulence and land surface process parameterizations on simulated sea breeze characteristics, Ann Geophys, 27, 2303–2320, doi: 10.5194/angeo-27-2303-2009.

- Moalic, H., Fitzpatrick, J. A., and Torrence, A. A., 1987: The correlation of the characteristics of rough surfaces with their friction coefficients, Sage, 201, 321–329, doi: 10.1243/PIME_PROC_1987_201_130_02.

- Sanders, F. and Gyakum, J. R., 1980: Synoptic-Dynamic Climatology of the “Bomb”, Mon Weather Rev, 108, 1589–1606, doi: 10.1175/1520-0493(1980)108<1589:SDCOT>2.0.CO;2.

- Senthooran, S., Lee, D., and Parameswaran, S., 2004: A computational model to calculate the flow-induced pressure fluctuations on buildings, J Wind Eng End Aerodyn, 92, 1131–1145, doi: 10.1016/j.jweia.2004.07.002.

- Servei Meteorològic de Catalunya, 2009: Episodi de vent a Catalunya del dia 24 de gener de 2009, SMC, http://www.meteocat.com/mediambxemec/servmet/pagines/Premsa/InformeVent20090124.pdf.

- Sharma, R. N. and Richards, P. J., 2005: Net pressures on the roof of a low-rise building with wall openings, J Wind Eng End Aerodyn, 93, 267–291, doi: 10.1016/j.jweia.2005.01.001.

- Srinivas, C. V., Venkatesan, C., and Bagavath Singh, A., 2006: Sensitivity of mesoscale simulations of land-sea breeze to boundary layer turbulence parameterization, Atmos Environ, 41, 2534–2548, doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2006.11.027.

- Uematsu, Y. and Isyumov, N., 1999: Wind pressures acting on low-rise buildings, J Wind Eng End Aerodyn, 82, 1–25, doi: 10.1016/S0167-6105(99)00036-7.

- Wisse, J. S. P. and Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, J., 2004: Planetary boundary layer schemes during a severe convective storm, Ann Geophys, 22, 1861–1874, SRef–ID: 1432–0576/ag/2004–22–1861, doi: 10.5194/angeo-22-1861-2004.

- Wu, F. and Sarkar, P. P., 2006: Bivariate Quasi-Steady Model for Prediction of Roof Corner Pressures, J Aerosp Eng, 19, 29–37, doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)0893–1321(2006)19:1(29).