Downburst related damages in Brazilian buildings: Are they avoidable?

ELIAS G. LIMA; ADRIÁN R. WITTWER; MATTHEW B. VALLIS; MARIO K. OLIVEIRA; ACIR M. LOREDO-SOUZA; MARCELO M. ROCHA

JOURNAL OF WIND ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRIAL AERODYNAMICS

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2019 vol. 185 p. 33 - 40

0167-6105

Brazil´s territory has shown an enormous potential to generate severe weather and intensive downbursts cases gained attention as a result of the severe destructive patterns not frequently seen before. However, several of the downburst damages on Brazilian buildings and structures follow a similar pattern than those caused by synoptic winds. The significant amount of accidents due to extreme winds in the recent years suggests the need for a review of the Brazilian Wind Code as well as the necessity to reinforce its use in common day buildings design. The new version of the code should incorporate an update of climate data and implement a thunderstorm wind model. This paper brings an overview of the downburst areas with major risk of occurrences, as well as presents an analysis of the damage patterns caused by the downbursts, with special focus on the effects on buildings and structures. It is concluded that, although the flow characteristics of downburst winds and conventional boundary layer simulations of synoptic winds may differ, the use of current conventional wind tunnel simulations and conventional code values are still a valuable tool in the prevention of wind related damages, at least in low and medium-rise buildings.