'The damage will not be as severe': Iowa State's new tornado simulator could change building design

HE IS SET TO BE SENTENCED NEXT MONTH. A NEW STUDY AT IOWA STATE COULD ONE DAY SAVE LIVES. THIS IS VERY COOL STUFF HERE ON THE UNIVERSITY’S CAMPUS. TORNADO SIMULATIONS SHOW HOW DESTRUCTION GOES DOWN DURING THE POWERFUL STORMS. KCCI IS PEPPER PURPURA. GOT TO SEE THE WINDS IN ACTION. PEPPER, STACY, BEN, THE TORNADO SIMULATOR IS A GLIMPSE INTO HOW HOMES, BUSINESSES AND REALLY ANY STRUCTURE IN A TORNADO’S PATH IS DESTROYED. NOW THE SCHOOL WANTS TO BUILD AN EVEN BIGGER VERSION. ONE THAT CAN TEST REAL BUILDINGS. A SPINNING VORTEX CAPABLE OF SEVERE DESTRUCTION IN NATURE. BUT UNDER DR. PARTHA SARKAR’S WATCH AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN AS IT MOVES. SARKAR OVERSEES THIS DEVICE, A TORNADO SIMULATOR, AND THIS FACILITY SIMULATES A MOVING TORNADO ON TOP OF THE STRUCTURES. HE WANTS TO KNOW HOW THE HIGH WINDS INSIDE A STORM AFFECT BUILDINGS. WHATEVER YOU WANT TO TEST. WE CAN BUILD A MODEL OF THAT AND AND PUT IT UNDERNEATH IT. HIS GOAL IS FINDING OUT HOW BUILDINGS ARE DESTROYED DURING THE STORM. IF YOU START DESIGNING THE STRUCTURES TO RESIST THIS KIND OF WIND, THEN THE DAMAGE WILL NOT BE AS SEVERE. REDUCING THE DEVASTATION AND POTENTIALLY SAVING LIVES. HE’S LEARNED A LOT USING HIS MODELS. BUT THERE’S ONE PROBLEM THAT IS NOT THE REAL THING. THE REAL THING IS MUCH MORE COMPLICATED. BUT MEASURING THE REAL THING IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE. THERE’S NO KNOWN WAY TO PREDICT WHERE A TORNADO MAY TOUCH DOWN, BUT IT A NEW SIMULATOR COULD GET HIM ONE STEP CLOSER. IT WILL BE ABLE TO TEST A MUCH LARGER ARCHER MODEL OR A EVEN A FULL SCALE STRUCTURE IN THIS PARTICULAR IN A NEW FACILITY, A NEW $14 MILLION GRANT FROM THE US NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION IS GIVING SARKAR THE FUNDS TO DESIGN A NEW SIMULATOR CAPABLE OF BIGGER SIMULATIONS MORE LIKE THE ONE SEEN IN NATURE. IRA. IF ANYBODY CAN COME AND TEST A STRUCTURE, HOW THEY PERFORM. SO WHEN THE TIME COMES TO SEEK SHELTER, HE KNOWS HOW TO MAKE THE BUILDING HOLD. YOU SEE THE ENTIRE STRUCTURE GETS WIPED OUT. WE ARE TRYING TO PREVENT THAT FROM HAPPENING. SARKAR WILL DESIGN THE NEW FACILITY OVER THE NEXT FOUR YEARS. AFTE

A new Iowa State project to design a tornado simulator could help test buildings under tornadic conditions. Dr. Partha Sarkar studies how buildings are destroyed during severe weather. He wants to understand where the weak points are so he can design safer, sturdier buildings that are more resistant to severe storms. The issue is the data he needs would require him to know where a tornado will strike, something scientists don't know how to predict. So, instead, he creates his own storms.Sarkar builds miniature models of existing structures and puts them into a tornado simulator to test their strength. He controls the size, strength and path of his scaled-down natural disasters. Then, he takes his measurements and uses algorithms to estimate how the same situation would play out in nature. But he knows there are variables his simulation can't predict. Now, he is working on creating a new, bigger and more realistic simulator that can mimic storms more accurately. The U.S. National Science Foundation is giving Sarkar a $14 million grant to design the new simulator. Sarkar said he hopes this one will be large enough that full-size structures will fit inside to be exposed to the winds once the design is complete. He will seek more funding to build it.

AMES, Iowa —

A new Iowa State project to design a tornado simulator could help test buildings under tornadic conditions.

Dr. Partha Sarkar studies how buildings are destroyed during severe weather. He wants to understand where the weak points are so he can design safer, sturdier buildings that are more resistant to severe storms.

The issue is the data he needs would require him to know where a tornado will strike, something scientists don't know how to predict. So, instead, he creates his own storms.

Sarkar builds miniature models of existing structures and puts them into a tornado simulator to test their strength. He controls the size, strength and path of his scaled-down natural disasters.

Then, he takes his measurements and uses algorithms to estimate how the same situation would play out in nature. But he knows there are variables his simulation can't predict.

Now, he is working on creating a new, bigger and more realistic simulator that can mimic storms more accurately.

The U.S. National Science Foundation is giving Sarkar a $14 million grant to design the new simulator. Sarkar said he hopes this one will be large enough that full-size structures will fit inside to be exposed to the winds once the design is complete. He will seek more funding to build it.

'The damage will not be as severe': Iowa State's new tornado simulator could change building design

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