@article {bnh-5219, title = {Simulated wind load strength testing of entrance doors}, year = {2018}, month = {12/2018}, institution = {Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC}, address = {Melbourne}, abstract = {

Damage investigations following cyclonic events have shown failure of doors and windows as illustrated in Figure 1 and Figure 2. Failure of such elements leads to further damage to the building by allowing rain and wind to enter the house. In addition to water damage to contents and internals, this creates increased stress to the building envelope due to the increased internal pressure as illustrated in Figure 3, which can lead to further failure such as roof failure.

Small weaknesses can therefore lead to large failures.

The study {\textquotedblleft}Design of Potential Dominant Opening to Resist Cyclonic Winds{\textquotedblright} by Nicoline Thomson, David Henderson and John Ginger highlights the under design of a standard external door for cyclonic conditions. Following this study, additional tests were conducted, replacing the timber doorframe with a steel doorframe and assessing various types of doors and lock mechanisms under cyclonic conditions.

The aim of this test programme was to perform full-scale simulated wind load strength testing of these different configurations of entrance doors. The AS 4040.2 static and AS 4040.3 cyclic simulated wind load strength test regimes\ were used as guides to load the test doors.

}, issn = {450}, author = {Leblais, Alex and David Henderson} }