If you’ve ever wondered how today’s buildings can withstand some of the harshest elements, like storms, hurricanes, harsh rain, floods, fire, and intense heat, it’s all a matter of using the right materials and engineering a structure that maintains its strength when stressed. With natural disasters increasing in recent years, it’s more important than ever for companies to design and develop structures that can remain resilient. For example, when Hurricane Sandy hit, it did around $70 billion in damage, which included the destruction of thousands of homes.
On the other hand, many buildings are largely unaffected by major storms, including hurricanes. The difference lies in how these buildings are designed and constructed, along with the science of materials.
Here’s a look at how builders are creating these strong, resilient structures.
Tough, high-quality materials
High-quality materials are the foundation of a strong, resilient building. Even the most structurally-sound design will fail when built with inferior materials. To make resilient structures, builders are using materials specifically engineered to withstand impact and intense weather situations. This includes everything from specific types of wood, steel, reinforced concrete, and even glass.
Glass is one of the first materials to break during a heavy storm, especially a hurricane. This is not only expensive to clean up and replace, but it can be extremely dangerous and even deadly. Plus, once a building loses its glass, the rest of the structure becomes even more compromised.
To prevent glass from breaking in a storm or other situation, certain materials are used to reinforce the strength. For instance, SentryGlas is an incredibly strong laminated glass interlayer originally developed to help glass structures withstand the impact of hurricanes, but is also used whenever high security and strength are required. It’s commonly used in structures that need to withstand a bomb blast, like ballistics and marine vessels. SentryGlas is much stronger than traditional laminated glass, and is also used by structural engineers to strengthen balustrades, doors, and partitions.
Genius engineering
The traditional home doesn’t stand a chance in a hurricane with 100+ mile per hour winds. However, engineers are now building homes that can withstand winds of up to 190 miles per hour. The difference is mostly the aerodynamic shape, which directs the wind around the structure instead of creating resistance that builds pressure and destroys the building. The construction is done with higher-quality, stronger materials from the roof to the walls and even the floors. These homes are built on 14-foot concrete pilings that sink 25 feet into the ground. Time and time again, these rounded homes have been the only ones left standing after a hurricane.
Not all buildings can be designed in this manner for practical reasons, but for structures outside of hurricane zones, there are other methods that work just as well. For example, many buildings are made to be earthquake-proof with a structure designed to push back against the push created by the quake. The foundation is made to be highly flexible with base isolation, which places the building on flexible pads that isolate the foundation from the ground. Shock absorbers are used to reduce the pressure on the building, and vibrational control dampers are placed between columns and beams.
There are plenty of engineering methods that make a building able to withstand an earthquake, but some buildings are easier to quake-proof than others. You might be surprised to know that taller structures are generally safer than shorter structures because of their flexibility.
Strong foundations
Anchoring a building into the ground properly is fundamental to creating a strong, resilient building. The strongest foundations go deep into the ground, often reaching bedrock. Deep foundations prevent buildings from sinking or tilting during an earthquake and impacts that can cause drastic movement.
When the soil is soft or prone to liquefaction during an earthquake, buildings are anchored to more stable soil and sometimes rock deep in the Earth. To protect buildings against floods, the foundation is waterproofed and special drainage systems are created to flow water away from the foundation. This prevents erosion and flooding that can degrade the stability of the building.
Building code compliance
Last, but not least, building codes are constantly being updated to reflect what buildings need to withstand high winds, floods, fire, and earthquakes without catastrophic failure. While these updated codes don’t always require existing buildings to be updated, they do apply to new construction.
Buildings are more resilient today
The damage caused by the forces of nature and man-made impact can be expensive and dangerous. Thankfully, today’s buildings are more resilient than ever, thanks to centuries of architectural knowledge, sound design principles, and high-quality materials.
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