Component-based hurricane vulnerability model for mid/high-rise commercial residential buildings

This paper focuses on the vulnerability of residential mid/high-rise buildings (MHRB) to hurricane-induced wind and wind-driven rain ingress, with a special emphasis on interior and contents damage. A component-based methodology utilizes the physics of rainwater ingress, distribution and propagation to provide the basis for the proposed MHRB risk assessment model. The model combines estimates of wind speed, impinging rain and surface run-off wind driven rain, envelope defects and breaches, interior water distribution and propagation, and component cost analyses to project envelope, interior and contents damage. The paper describes the model, verifies that it satisfies logical relationships to risk, and compares it against existing MHRB models. The new physics-based interior and contents vulnerability model should facilitate the evaluation of the cost effectiveness of mitigation measures.