Kennedy Space Center

[rsteel13]

Did anyone read the reports about the Kennedy Space Center in Florida being hit by hurricane Francis?

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...=/ap/20040907/ap_on_sc/frances_space_center_5

I found it interesting that they sustained the amount of damage they are reporting. Notice the recorded wind speeds:

"The storm made landfall early Sunday at Sewall's Point, some 100 miles south of the space center. The facility endured sustained winds of more than 70 mph, and gusts reached 94 mph at the peak of the storm, Kennedy told reporters in a telephone conference from Crystal City, Va."

This is well below the bascic design requirements for a hurricane prone region. Why did they suffer so much damage?

"The holes left by the missing panels created 40,000 square feet of "open window" on two sides of the building, Kennedy said. Each aluminum panel measures 4 feet by 10 feet. Kennedy said it was too soon to provide a dollar figure for all the damage. Hurricane Charley three weeks earlier caused $700,000 worth of damage, and this will be "significantly more," he noted."

Is this a case of the government not following their own codes?

 

[btrueblood]

from farther down in that same article:

"The Vehicle Assembly Building was built to accommodate the giant Apollo rocketships that carried men to the moon. Construction began in 1963 and was finished in 1963. Although the building was designed to withstand sustained wind of 114 mph and gusts of up to 125 mph, it had begun to deteriorate in places during the 1990s, especially the roof."

That is a 50-year old building, designed for what was considered worst-case back then, and for a 10 year design lifespan of the project. NASA's budget for the last 40 years has been pretty damn slim, and I'd bet my pants buttons that little of it has been spent on repair of roof panels for the VAB.

 

[JedClampett]

At this stage of the investigation, it's difficult to proportion blame, if there is any. However, when I worked at a company that designed large open buildings, a certain portion of the siding was considered "blow-off" siding, which was meant to fail during tornados. This prevented the whole building from becoming over-pressurized and the steel framework failing. It might be that siding which blew off.

 

[JAE]

Also - the article you link to indicates that the wind was gusting to 96 mph.

 

[SlideRuleEra]

Don't underestimate the cumulative effect of 40 years of salt air on a steel frame building (especially the connections), even with comprehensive routine maintenance. Looks like a rework of the roof was planned, just a little too late:

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=11452

Construction was by American Bridge Co., completion date October 10, 1965 (not 1963). I went to see it in 1969, very impresssive.

 

[Ron]

Wind gusts of 124 mph were recorded just south of the VAB, so who knows what the actual wind was that took off the panels. The roof has been redone on the VAB, but as with any building in that environment, there are hidden connections and attachments that can't be maintained without significant difficulty, particularly on the wall panels.

The building, by all accounts, has performed nicely for its life span. Yes, there have been problems over the years...roof leaks, movement, etc.

If designed today, it would be designed for a higher sustained wind speed, and the component and cladding design would receive greater attention than under the old codes.