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Forensic Investigations of Collapse of Industrial Sheds at Thuvakudy,

Tamil Nadu, India
C. Natarajan1 and A. Rajaraman2
1
Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
National Institute of Technology
Tiruchirappalli 15, India
2

Visiting Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Chennai 36, India

ABSTRACT
In a recent and unusual occurrence, localized wind in the form of a cyclone with eye
of the storm centered around NITT campus, caused considerable damage to many
small and medium industrial units. Present paper gives details of investigations
carried out to assess the mode and causes of failure. Personal visits, photographs and
discussions with local citizens form the data for the study. After classifying the
damaged structures into small and medium units, component level investigations
based on failed portions were carried out. The details reveal possible causes of failure
and methods to prevent such occurrences in future.
Keywords: Industry shed, Cyclone, Forensic Engineering, Windward wall.
INTRODUCTION
Every year several Indian communities are affected by strong wind events. These
wind events may come in the forms of short summer storms, widespread winter gales
or high impact tropical cyclones. There are risks associated with high winds in all
Indian east coastal cities and interior cities. Tropical cyclones are an accepted part of
life during the summer months in southern part of India. Many cyclones either track
out at sea and weaken before crossing the coast, or make landfall over sparsely
populated areas and cause no damage to buildings or infrastructure. However, there
have also been a number of cyclones which have affected coastal cities in very recent
history. Indian cities are also vulnerable to the effects of wild weather that generates
strong, potentially destructive winds.
Many of these events have been etched into the national history, but certainly all of
them are etched deeply into the local history and the lives of the communities
affected. It is important that the building industry learn from these experiences and
the community can continue to make changes to reduce the impact of future events.
Three fabrication units at the developed plots of industrial estate in Thuvakudy,
Tiruchirappalli district, suffered total collapse and extensive damages caused to the

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machinery in a gale on 30-05-2010 at 7.00 p.m. The gale, which held sway for about
20 minutes, left behind a trail of destruction. The force of the wind was such that an
empty container locked to a trailer was blown off to a distance of about 50 meters on
the premises of another unit. The roofing of asbestos and galvanized sheets at several
industrial sheds were torn to smithereens.
DESCRIPTION OF BUILDING
The sheds were constructed at the developed plots of industrial estate in Thuvakudy,
Tiruchirappalli district in the year 2000. The industry-shed dimensions are 22.2m in
width 64m in length x 11.5m in height with the gable roof rising from an eave height
of 10.5m at a slope of 1/20. Nine frames that span the width of the building and are
spaced 8m apart support the roof. The frames connected to each other by purlins.
Most of the purlins on the top of the rafter are spaced 1.25m apart. The second shed is
22m width, 66m length and of 14m height. The third shed is 35m width, 72m length
and of 12m height. The trusses investigated include conventional triangular truss.The
columns are spaced at a distance of 8m centre to centre. The columns consist of four
numbers of ISA50x50x6mm angles connected by 10mm diameter as lacing bar.No
secondary beams provided in the structures. The made up purlins are three numbers
of ISA25x25x5mm laced with 8mm diameter bars. The above structures designed for
both Dead load and Live loads only. Wind load of 1.2kN/m2 was taken into
consideration for the design of the structures.
Dead load on the truss includes self-weight of the truss, purlins, truss wind bracing,
and roof sheeting. As per International Standards 875-1987, the live load depends on
the slope angle of truss top chord. The wind pressure is taken as 1.2 kN/m2. External
wind pressure acting on the top chord on the windward side is also taking into
account. Action of earthquake forces on the truss is not considered.
Physical Observations
Based on the detailed inspection at the site, the following observations were made,
including from physical observations and from interviews of eyewitnesses as shown
in Figure 1:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

The industrial sheds collapsed.

The failure occurred during gale.
The event occurred in a short time.
The structure failed suddenly.
Foundations bolts were came out due to uplift pressure.

Additional Observations
From review of collected documents including shop drawings and original designs, it
is concluded that the structural designs are unsatisfactory within safety requirements.
Also the gale twisted the support systems envisaged to withstand wind speed of up to
150 km per hour. Other observations also include review of construction scheduling
and actual construction process.

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FAILURES
a) Impact of Gales
A number of metrological phenomena including gales, severe thunderstorms and
tropical cyclones can cause very strong winds. Each of these differs in their origins,
the winds they generate and the scale and magnitude of the effects on the
communities.
Synoptic events often associated with cold fronts, and can be reliably predicted often
in advance. Winds may build over some time, but generally, the duration of extreme
winds is relatively short. Further, the wind cell is often embedded in the front that
caused damages, so the damage can be significant in small localities, but overall- not
particularly wide spread. Synoptic wind events can occur at any time of the year.
Synoptic gales may cause significant tree damage, be associated with flooding, and
may produce roof damage, particularly in exposed buildings. Pockets of damage may
be more severe, but most cities would be able to respond to wind damage from gales
with little outside assistance.
b) Buildings Structure
Wind causes pressures on surface of buildings. These lead to loads on the structure.
The loads applied by the wind are bigger than the capacity of the structural elements,
then the element fail. In general, where the wind flow lines are moving towards the
building, then there is a pressure on the surface (tending to push against the surface
inwards). This is the case for the windward wall of a building. However, where the
air has a component of its movement that is away from the building, then the wind
causes suction on those surfaces (pulling the surface outwards). This is often the case
for roof surfaces and for side and leeward wall surfaces.
c) Typical Failure Modes for Buildings
External roof surfaces tend to have suctions that apply uplift loads to the roof. Most
building failures in high winds involve loss of some part of the roof. The wind pushes
inwards on the wall facing the wind. The inward pressure can be increased by impact
from debris that travel with the wind stream. Debris can be branches of the trees
outdoor furniture, or in extreme cases, caravans, cars or parts of damaged structures.
The wind pressure and extra load from debris impact can cause failure of elements in
the windward wall of the buildings typically windows, doors, and sometimes
cladding elements.
When a significant hole in the windward wall is made,the wind pressures against the
wall may rush in and apply to all inside surfaces of the building. The sudden increase
in internal pressures pushes upwards on the underside of the roof and this can
increase uplift forces on the roof structure.
In long duration wind events, such as tropical cyclones, debris presents significant
problems. Because of very high velocity gusts the debris can be loosened, lifted into
the air stream, or thrown through the air. If the debris should hit the ground, other

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gusts may pick it up and entrain it in the air stream again. The large number of gusts
can increase the probability of airborne debris colliding with other structures. In short
duration events such as downbursts, debris is less likely to pose a problem, as the
event is often a single gust.

d) Structural Elements
A large number of structural elements must be operational in order for building to
remain undamaged in high wind events. These include roof sheeting, which must act
as a plate-bending element to resist the uplift pressures.
Description of Failure
It is important to note that the construction materials used in the may be of poor
quality, the section chosen was not adequate, and the sections provided lesser than the
required area and because of the above reasons, the structures failed. A close
examination of the area, which failed, disclosed that most of the columns buckled and
twisted where the failure occurred (shown in Figures 2-7). The columns have a height
of 11m and act as cantilever and slender columns. There is an anchorage failure of
foundation bolts. The bond between the foundation bolts and the concrete was found
to be of poor quality and is shown in Figure 8. Some foundation bolts were found to
be without end hooks as shown in Figure 10. No proper base plate is provided in the
column bases as shown in Figures 9 and 11. The horizontal connecting member at the
bottom of the built up columns acted as base plates. It is obvious that no safety factor
was provided in the structural design.
CONCLUSION
Wind events have the potential to cause significant damages to buildings and other
structures. In the reported incident, it is clear that, the damages to the buildings can be
attributed to deficiencies in building design and construction. It is important to ensure
effective tie down of roof structural elements and prevent or resist full internal
pressurization of buildings due to severe wind. The extent of damage to the buildings
in a severe wind event is largely dependent upon the age and condition of the
building and on the environment. Regular maintenance of structural elements will
ensure that all elements have the intended capacity. After an event, a detailed
inspection must locate and repair any damage to ensure performance during future
events. Reconstruction would be undertaken to satisfy the current codes and standard
specifications and to be executed by technical persons well experienced in local
construction practices to ensure the structure is well designed and built with quality
materials under proper supervision. Systematic planning, designing, and careful
extension can also minimize failures.
REFERENCES
Boughton, Geoffrey N and D. Falck. (2007). Wind and Building Damage
Issues for Coastal Cities, Coastal Cities Natural Disasters, 1-10.
Carper, K. (1997). Construction Failure, 2nd Edition, Wiley, New York.
Leonards G. (1982). Investigation of Failures, J. Geotech. Eng. Div. ASCE, 108 (2),
185 246.

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Simiu, E. and Scanlan, R.H. (1996). Wind Effects on Structures, 3rd Ed., Wiley, NewYork.
Yates, Janet K. and E. Lockley. (2002). Documenting and Analyzing Construction
Failures, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 128 (1), 8-17.

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Figure 1. Collapse of industrial shed.

Figure 2. Failure of columns.

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Figure 3. Damaged roof.

Figure 4. Buckling of column.

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Figure 5. Collapse of column.

Figure 6. Collapses steel roof truss.

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Figure 7. Total damage of shed.

Figure 8. Anchorage failure of foundation bolt.

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Figure 9. Column without base plate.

Figure 10. View of the pulled out foundation bolt.

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Figure 11. Damaged columns.

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