Abstract Tornadoes have caused catastrophic damage to buildings and vehicles. Although considerable research has been conducted on the performance of buildings under tornadoes, the performance of motor vehicles (e.g., cars, pickups, vans, and box trucks) under tornadoes was rarely studied. Unfortunately, about 15% of tornado fatalities during 1975–1995 were attributed to the moving or damage of motor vehicles and about 9% during 1985-2015. To protect motor vehicles from being damaged by tornadoes and accordingly to reduce tornado fatalities, the objective of this project is to understand the moving/damage mechanism of motor vehicles (e.g., sliding, flipping and lofting) under tornadoes using systematic CFD simulations, which will be verified and validated by the PI’s large-scale laboratory tornado simulator. To achieve the stated research objective, three research tasks have been planned. The proposed research will answer the following five research questions. 1) What tornado intensity can cause a vehicle to slide, flip and loft, respectively? 2) What role does atmospheric pressure drop at tornado center play in initiating each vehicle motion? 3) What role does turbulence in tornadic wind field play in initiating each vehicle motion? 4) Does internal pressure inside a motor vehicle play any role in vehicle moving? and 5) What potential modifications can be made to motor vehicles in order to defer the initiating of each vehicle motion? The research findings can not only help regular vehicles in the parking lot or on the road experience less damage, but also can be integrated into autonomous vehicles for them to make informed decisions and then take proper actions to reduce the tornado-induced damage. In addition, research findings can be used to improve tornado safety recommendations for drivers on the road.
Description The obtained results will yield: 1) in-depth understanding of moving/damage mechanism of vehicles under tornadoes; and 2) the major wind characteristics that can cause the vehicle to slide, flip and loft, and the roles that the high wind speed at core radius, atmospheric pressure drop at tornado center and turbulence play in the damaging process. These will guide mitigation strategies to reduce the tornado-induced damage to vehicles, which will be proposed in next year’s project.
Objective "The proposed research is well aligned with the following US DOT Strategic Goal:
Safety: Make our transportation system safer for all people. Advance a future without transportation-related serious injuries and fatalities."
Impacts/Benefits The research findings can 1) not only help regular vehicles in the parking lot or on the road experience less damage, but also can be integrated into autonomous vehicles for them to make informed decisions and then take proper actions to reduce the tornado-induced damage; 2) be used to improve tornado safety recommendations for drivers on the road; and 3) facilitate vehicles in becoming an EF-scale damage indicator.