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Author
Leyendecker, E. V. | Burnett, E. F. P.
Title
Incidence of Abnormal Loading in Residential Buildings. Final Report.
Coporate
National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC
Sponsor
Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, DC
Report
NBSIR 76-1048
December 1976
Distribution
Available from National Technical Information Service
Contract
IAA-H-37-72
Keywords
residential buildings; disasters; explosions; collisions; sonic booms; collapse; design criteria; hazardous materials; building codes | sonic booms
Identifiers
abnormal loads; progressive collapse
Abstract
The findings of an analysis of available U.S. statistics concerning the incidence of abnormal loading events in residential buildings are presented. The study evaluates natural gas explosions, bomb explosions, motor vehicle collision, sonic boom, aircraft collision, and explosion of hazardous materials. It is concluded that the gas related explosion, bomb explosion, and vehicular collision are of significance in building design for progressive collapse. Of these, the natural gas explosion is the most significant in terms of incidence. The gas explosion causing severe damage occurs with an annual frequency of 1.6 per million dwelling units and approaches a probability of 0.001 per apartment building per year.