Tsunami force on low building and the effect of surrounding buildings

Today tsunami hazard has become an important aspect in national security of Indonesia and generated many researches. Tsunami disaster in the Hindian Ocean 2004 has caused a lot of buildings damaged and probably the greatest loss of lives ever due to tsunami. This research aims to analyze the tsunami force acting on the low building or overtopping building and the effect of other buildings nearby. The research was conducted using physical model at the Hydraulic and Hydrology Laboratory, Research Centre for Engineering Science, Gadjah Mada University Yogyakarta. The physical model simulations were carried out in the wave flume of 24 m long, 1.5 m high, and 1.45 m width that was facilitated with tsunami generator based on dam break system. The buildings were placed in a row perpendicular to tsunami wave flume. The distances between the buildings were varied to observe the effect of such opening on the impact. The physical simulation represented the tsunami attack in Aceh in 2004, where the houses and other low structures were overtopped by tsunami. The building models were made of plywood. Data acquisition was carried out using a load cell to measure the total force on the building. The results shows that the maximum force depends on the opening between the buildings and that higher building nearby gave more impact to the building investigated. Simple equations for practical use are proposed to calculate the tsunami force on the overtopping building with the effect of the surrounding buildings. © APAC 2013.All rights reserved.