Hurricane Surge-Wave Building Fragility Methodology for Use in Damage, Loss, and Resilience Analysis.

Area of Science:

• Engineering
• Coastal Engineering
• Structural Engineering

Background:

• Current flood fragility models often neglect hydrodynamic forces from waves and surge.
• Accurate modeling of hurricane impacts on coastal structures is crucial for community resilience.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a physics-based methodology for evaluating forces on elevated coastal buildings under combined hurricane surge and wave loading.
• To generate fragility surfaces for different damage states of a representative residential building.
• To compare loss estimates from the new model with existing methods like HAZUS-MH.

Main Methods:

• A methodology was developed to calculate forces on building components (windows, doors, walls, floors) from surge and waves.
• The model was validated against laboratory test results of a scaled structure.
• A full-scale wood-frame house was modeled using significant wave height and surge level as hurricane intensity parameters.
• Fragility surfaces were generated for four damage states, combining component damage.

Main Results:

• The proposed model accurately evaluates forces on building components under combined wave and surge conditions.
• Fragility surfaces were generated for a full-scale residential building, representing various damage states.
• The study highlights the significant impact of including wave height in damage prediction for near-coast buildings.

Conclusions:

• The developed physics-based fragilities provide a more accurate representation of hurricane-induced damage to elevated coastal buildings.
• These fragilities can be integrated into tools like HAZUS-MH for improved community-level loss and resilience analysis.
• The methodology enhances the understanding of structural response to combined wave and storm surge events.