Vehicular Access Doors under Hurricane Force Wind Pressure: Experiments to Study Jamb Behavior

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.