Richard M. Bennett¹, J. Gregg Borchelt², Jim Bryja³, and Bill Kjorlien⁴

1. Professor, Dept of Civil and Envr Engr, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-2010, rmbennett@utk.edu
2. Vice President, Engineering and Research, Brick Industry Association, Reston, VA 20191-1525, borchelt@bia.org
3. Manager Engineering Services, General Shale Products Corp., Johnson City, TN 37601, jbryja@generalshale.com
4. Executive Director, Southern Brick Institute, Conyers, Georgia 30013, bill@sbionline.org

ABSTRACT

Typical residential brick veneer wall construction consisting of brick veneer, oriented strandboard sheathing, wood studs, batt insulation, and gypsum wallboard was tested for the impact resistance to hurricane wind-blown debris. Tests were performed by impacting the wall with a 40 N (9 lb) 50 mm x 100 mm (2 in. x 4 in.) timber at various speeds. The Florida building code requires wall assemblies up to 9.1 m (30 ft) in height in high velocity hurricane zones to resist an impact from a 40 N (9 lb) 50 mm x 100 mm (2 in. x 4 in.) timber travelling at 55 km/hr (34 mph). ASTM E 1996 has an identical requirement for basic protection in high wind zones. ASTM E 1996 requires essential facilities to resist a 40 N (9 lb) 50 mm x 100 mm (2 in. x 4 in.) timber travelling at 88 km/hr (55 mph). In these tests, there was slight cracking of the veneer at a missile speed of 55 km/hr (34 mph). At 88 km/hr (55 mph), there was cracking of the veneer and a 10 mm (3/8 in.) penetration of the veneer. There was no damage to the sheathing or gypsum wallboard. When the missile was shot at 109 km/hr (68 mph), there was a 38 mm (1-1/2 in.) penetration of the missile, but again there was no damage to the sheathing or gypsum wallboard. A test at 127 km/hr (79 mph) on a wall panel with only half the ties resulted in a 6 mm (1/4 in.) penetration of the brick veneer and failure of the timber missile. These tests show that conventional brick veneer construction clearly exceeds the Florida Building Code and ASTM E 1996 requirements for impact resistance of hurricane debris.

KEYWORDS: brick veneer, hurricane, missile, impact resistance, windborne debris

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