Safe Room Wall Design for Tornado Survival

Abstract

Safe room is a reinforced structure specially designed to meet the Federal  Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) criteria and provide protection in extreme weather events, including tornadoes and hurricanes. The materials used for safe room walls are expected to resist loads imposed and tornado debris impact. Tornadoes rated as high as EF-5 can create maximum wind speeds of more than 300 mph, which is enough to demolish any structures in their path. These maximum wind speeds produce forces that are about twice as large as those produced by the strongest hurricanes. One of the common safe room wall designs is made of plywood/steel-plate composite. The main objective of this paper is to use a finite element simulation code, LS-DYNA, to predict the dynamic response of plywood when impacted by tornado missiles such as 2 x 4 wood timbers.