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real world examples of shearwall or diaphragm failures for wind

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eng003

Structural
Jan 4, 2012
67
I am in the midst of a detailed design spredsheet for 1-2 story structures for high wind areas and am need of some inspiration for actual failures....apart from having no uplift tiedowns at all and no gable end bracing...I see so many old structures still standing and can't stop thinking of all the conservativeness and redundancy we ignore in our structures....
 
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I have never seen one. Nor have I ever seen a racking failure in a house (from wind) other than a garage.
Unfortunately, it is hard to put a design number on the redundancy.

 
I have also seen many old and new structures fail during strong hurricanes and tornadoes. I remember in Brooklyn NY, about 3 years ago, there was a small twister that destroyed several roofs. Please use internet search enginees to see how many people died this year alone from structural failures caused by strong winds.
 
See attached my typical calculations for residential design.
 
@Robert;

Were they actual diaphragm shear failures or just an uplift failure?
 
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