damage to a home from a sonic boom
damage to a home from a sonic boom
(OP)
i have circumstantial indications from speaking with a homeowner that her house was damaged by an overpressure from an aircraft, including her statement that she was awakened from her sleep at 2:30 in the morning by a tremendous explosion that shook the entire house. she initially reported the damage as the result of blasting from mining operations and i understand that she was told by the fire marshall that it was most likely a sonic boom as there is a nearby military base. again this is circumstantial, but she indicated that she had testified recently against a private military group that wanted to set up next to the military base in the county.
the stucco on the exterior of the frame wall structure is bowed inward approximately 1 inch between the framing members over an area that is approximately 8' wide and 8' high. i have not destructively examined the wall framing but it is an older house and it appears that there may not be any sheathing under the stucco. a nearby glazing is not fractured but there are separations around the window frame on the interior.
i will decline to express my own opinons on the matter here since i will be issuing a report but i would appreciate any armchair observations or sources of information that you might recommend.
thanks in advance
cb
the stucco on the exterior of the frame wall structure is bowed inward approximately 1 inch between the framing members over an area that is approximately 8' wide and 8' high. i have not destructively examined the wall framing but it is an older house and it appears that there may not be any sheathing under the stucco. a nearby glazing is not fractured but there are separations around the window frame on the interior.
i will decline to express my own opinons on the matter here since i will be issuing a report but i would appreciate any armchair observations or sources of information that you might recommend.
thanks in advance
cb






RE: damage to a home from a sonic boom
The vibration may cause damage and it would be a matter of examining any brittle surfaces for cracking and using a 'pocket microscope' to review the actual crack for pristine cracking and the lack of inclusions in the crack. Samples can be taken for laboratory examination of the cracked surface. It's sometimes difficult to determine the age of a crack.
As far as the overpressure from the shock wave, I've found that much of the damage is attributed to the reflected 'tension' wave or partial vacuum created from the reflected compression wave. It is possibly this that has caused the stucco to be 'pulled off' if this is the situation. It is fairly easy to determine if there is a void behind the stucco that shouldn't be. Stucco is also a brittle material and any cracking can be viewed for recent damage.
Was there damage done to similarly constructed homes in the area. I understand that there can be a fairly sharp focus to the effects of a sonic 'boom'.
Ron mentioned that he was involved with forensics as well as stucco... he may be able to shed some additional light on this.
RE: damage to a home from a sonic boom
RE: damage to a home from a sonic boom
Cheers
Greg Locock
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RE: damage to a home from a sonic boom
If the stucco was placed on lath with no sheathing, some bowing is expected. What you described is excessive, but not unprecedented. Destructive observation is necessary before you render an appropriate opinion.
The pressure wave from a sonic boom is going to spread out rapidly. It would affect more than a single structure assuming the structures are not widely spaced. I doubt the affect would be limited to an 8x8 area, and the effect rapidly diminishes with distance.
I suspect that the sonic boom or blast, whichever it was, just caused the homeowner to start looking for damage that was perhaps already there. Unfortunately, she heard hoofbeats and started looking for zebras. Don't get sucked into that, as hokie66 noted.
RE: damage to a home from a sonic boom
RE: damage to a home from a sonic boom
btw, what the heck is a "private military group" ? Blackstock ??
RE: damage to a home from a sonic boom
h
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RE: damage to a home from a sonic boom
Generally, the effect was like a gust of wind, not so much like an explosion.
RE: damage to a home from a sonic boom
For my situation, there was no evidence of damage.
I had to check with neighbors to verify. Oddest report I ever had the pleasure of writing.
You mentioned she was sleeping, my only advice is to keep in mind she may have been dreaming. Ron and dik provided what you need to do as an engineer.
Jim Houlette PE
Web: www.evstudio.us
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RE: damage to a home from a sonic boom
Dik
RE: damage to a home from a sonic boom
In short, I doubt there is any damage from the sonic boom. Having investigated lots of similar "occupant complaints" over the years having to do with trains, thunder, compactors, vehicle traffic, and air traffic, I've found the observations of the occupants to be generally unreliable from an evidentiary perspective. They can't be discounted entirely; however, they must be validated against engineering probability, not possibility.
Another point that dik made was one of looking at the age of the cracks that occur in the stucco. New cracks can be discerned from older cracks as he noted. In one recent evaluation we did, the occupant was convinced that a cracked window resulted from train vibrations. We were able to show that paint embedded in the edge of the crack was from painting that had been done prior to the construction of the nearby side track.
RE: damage to a home from a sonic boom
Greg