Abstract:

Extreme winds, such as tornadoes and hurricanes, have induced substantial structural damage, injuries and deaths in the USA. Tornadoes occur in Mainland America, mainly “Tornado Alley” and Southeast of the USA, and they contribute $10B annually to the nation’s loss portfolio; Hurricanes occur in coastal areas, and the government costs for hurricane damage are $28 billion a year. The mission of our WHAM lab is to tame winds to achieve community resilience. This talk will present you how we have been fulfilling this mission by conducting the following cutting-edge research: 1) Investigate the wind effects of tornadoes and hurricanes on civil structures by simulating these wind fields using CFD simulations and using wind tunnel or tornado simulators; 2) Reveal failure mechanisms of civil structures under extreme winds by conducting nonlinear, dynamic structural analyses; 3) Reproduce the damage scenarios observed in real-world wind disasters using numerical simulations and validate it using the data collected in our reconnaissance surveys; 4) Develop virtual reality animation of wind disasters to provide the public personal “experience” of tornadoes and hurricanes, which will enable the public to make an optimal decision on whether to take proactive measures to better protect themselves; 5) Develop Community Resilience Bonds to achieve a quicker community recovery after hurricanes/tornadoes through comprehensive planning and investment prior to disasters. By implementing our research in practice, we wish we can facilitate in building resilient communities in terms of both better physical infrastructure and better social services/ institutions in Tornado Alley and hurricane-prone areas.

Brief Biography:

Dr. Grace Yan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering of Missouri University of Science and Technology, the director of WHAM Laboratory. She is passionate about the mitigation of hazards induced by extreme winds, such as tornadoes and hurricanes, and the achievement of community resilience. Her research includes the simulation of different wind fields numerically (using CFD simulations) and experimentally (in regular wind tunnels and the tornado simulators in WHAM lab), dynamic responses on civil structures induced by extreme winds, and the reproduction of the damage scenarios induced by real-world extreme winds using numerical simulations. Her cutting-edge research has been advancing Wind Engineering and Bluff-body Aerodynamics. She believes community resilience is a matter for the entire community. To achieve true community resilience, besides conducting research from the engineering perspective, she also conducts multi-disciplinary research to enhance the risk awareness of the public on extreme winds and encourage the public to work together to take proactive measures. She has published 44 journal papers and 57 conference papers. She is the recipient of 20 research grants with a total fund of $1.93 M.

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