Hydrodynamic loads on buildings in floods
Clemente Cantelmo, Giovanni Cuomo
Abstract
Evaluating the vulnerability of buildings lying in flood-prone areas is an essential component of the assessment of flood-induced risk, particularly because of the severe consequences that damage and collapse of building may have on loss of life during most extreme events. Despite its importance, a comprehensive methodology for use in the assessment of the potential damage to buildings caused by dynamic loads during floods is still missing. After a brief overview of flood-induced hydrodynamic loads on buildings, this paper describes a new set of experiments designed to improve understanding of the dynamics of flood-induced loads, critically reviews existing methods in light of new experimental evidence and proposes a generic formulation for the evaluation of dynamic loads for use in the assessment of the vulnerability of existing structures and the design of new flood-resilient buildings.