Structural Engineering and Materials

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Browsing Structural Engineering and Materials by Author "Gao, Tian"

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    Experimental Evaluation of a Vehicular Access Door Subjected to Hurricane Force Wind Pressures
    Gao, Tian; Moen, Cristopher D. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2009-11-01)
    This report presents findings on the behavior of a typical rolling sheet vehicular access door under a hurricane force wind pressure. The objectives are to quantify the structural behavior of a rolling sheet vehicular access door and the attached frame under both positive pressure (pushing the door into the building) and negative pressure (suction pulling the door away from the building), including the direct measurement of the catenary forces in the wind locks with strain gauges. The results will be used to optimize existing design methods for a rolling sheet vehicular access door and the supporting door frame.
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    Flexural Strength of Exterior Metal Building Wall Assemblies with Rigid Insulation
    Gao, Tian (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2011-08-01)
    The goal of this research study is to observe and quantify the influence of rigid board insulation on through-fastened girt capacity. Rotational restraint tests are performed to study local rotational stiffness at the flange-insulation contact point. Vacuum box tests on through-fastened wall systems are conducted to explore the effect of insulation thickness on the R-factor. The results will be used to support new code language in AISI S100-07 D6.1 that accommodate capacity prediction of metal building wall systems with rigid board insulation.
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    Vehicular Access Doors under Hurricane Force Wind Pressure: Experiments to Study Jamb Behavior
    Gao, Tian; Moen, Cristopher D. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2012-03-01)
    In August of 2009, two 10 ft by 10 ft DBCI 5000 vehicular access doors were tested with a simulated hurricane force wind pressure at the DBCI in Douglasville, GA (Gao and Moen 2009). After evaluating the results from this study, it was hypothesized that the door curtain deflection and wind-lock axial force are sensitive to the jamb stiffness: a stiffer jamb limits curtain deflection, but at the same time increases wind-lock axial force. A subsequent analytical and computation study (Janas and Moen 2011) confirmed this hypothesis, leading to the development and validation of a general mechanics-based prediction model that was implemented as a computer program CSBA. In this study, two 10 ft by 10 ft access doors are tested with different wind-lock details and door jambs than those considered in the August 2009 study. Jamb stiffness and jamb deformation are directly measured, providing useful data for validating the CSBA prediction model. The access doors (Janus 3100) were provided by Janus International, and the tests were again conducted at DBCI in Douglasville, GA in November of 2011.