Cross-laminated Timber Tornado Safe Room as a Stand-alone Module

Abstract

A tornado safe room is typically a small interior room such as an office or a bathroom which is strengthened in order to provide occupants with near-absolute protection during extreme loading events such as tornadoes. The loads associated with extreme wind loading events are generally in the form of wind induced pressures or impact loading from windborne debris. These rooms are designed to be structurally independent so as to maintain their integrity given the destruction of the surrounding structure. Prefabrication of such rooms as a stand-alone module can be an important advantage since the proper installation of the connection system is particularly critical to its structural performance. Furthermore, the safe room may be fabricated with utility services such as plumbing, electrical, and HVAC systems. Cross-laminated Timber (CLT) is an innovative engineered wood product that has been increasingly used in building construction over the past decade. It is a massive timber slab with excellent strength and stiffness properties as well as remarkable fabrication precision and dimensional stability. In this study, the feasibility and potential for a modular tornado safe room constructed out of CLT panels is discussed. Such structures may represent viable solutions for difficulties associated with residential safe room construction providing a safe, more sustainable, and potentially economic alternative to conventional systems.