ISSN: 1945-7553
CODEN: JTEVAB
Page Count: 17

A New Dynamic Wind Load Cycle to Evaluate Mechanically Attached Flexible Membrane Roofs

Baskaran, A
Research officer, Institute for Research in Construction, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario

Chen, Y
Institute for Research in Construction, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario

Vilaipornsawai, U
Institute for Research in Construction, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario

(Received 3 September 1998; accepted 26 April 1999)

Abstract

In North America, at present, no test procedure exists for certifying roofing systems under dynamic wind loads. To develop such a dynamic test procedure, the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) formed an industry-based consortium during 1994. The consortium is known as the Special Interest Group for Dynamic Evaluation of Roofing Systems (SIGDERS). This paper reports SIGDERS' progress on dynamicload cycle development. Wind tunnel investigations were carried out using two flexible roofing membranes: poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM). Using the wind tunnel pressure records as source data and comparing the membrane responses of PVC with EPDM, SIGDERS developed a dynamic load cycle. With input from industries, building owners, and roofing associations, the developed load cycle has been generalized and extended to evaluate the ultimate strength of flexible membrane roofs. To validate the newly developed load cycle, several membrane roofing systems were investigated and then reported separately. The SIGDERS load cycle in a laboratory mimics failure modes similar to those observed in the field.

Keywords:
wind uplift, roofing membrane, static testing, dynamic procedure, laboratory procedure, wind tunnel, design pressure, certification

Paper ID: JTE12223J
DOI: 10.1520/JTE12223J
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