Korah Parackal

Dr Korah Parackal

Completed PhD student
About
Dr Korah Parackal

Dr Korah Parackal is at the forefront of analysing and assessing the ways in which cyclones and other strong wind loads impact housing.

Korah’s PhD examined the dangers of losing fasteners on the roof of a home during a cyclone by using a wind tunnel to test the connections and surveying past cyclone damage to finally create a model that demonstrates progressive and cascading failures within a simulation.

“My PhD research studied the way roofing connections of houses fail in a progressive or cascading manner during severe winds,” Korah explained. “It was able to determine what parts of the roof are most vulnerable and how damage spreads.”

The outcomes of his PhD have allowed for the design and construction of more resilient structural systems and techniques for retrofitting existing structures.

In 2018, Korah was a finalist at the Early Career Researcher competition conducted by the CRC Association, and his research was also voted as the crowd favourite at the 13th America’s Conference on Wind Engineering in 2017. He presented at the CRC’s Research Forum in 2015 and gave a Three Minute Thesis at Research Driving Change – Showcase 2017.

Post-PhD, Korah was a researcher on the CRC project Improving the resilience of existing housing to severe wind events. Through this project, he has led the development of a new website called Weather the Storm to inform buildings and homeowners about how to improve an existing home’s key structural connections against extreme wind. The website is packed with helpful information about how to improve the strength and safety of a house, guiding users through three levels of protection: general maintenance, window and door protection, and roof tie-down retrofitting (offering the most protection).

Blog posts on Views & Visions

Post Date Key Topics
Windy in the US 31 May 2017 cyclone, engineering, severe weather

Student project

This study examined the dangers of losing fasteners on the roof of a home during a cyclone by using a wind tunnel to test the connections and surveying past cyclone damage to finally create a model that demonstrates progressive and cascading failures within a simulation. The outcomes of this PhD have allowed for the design and construction of more resilient structural systems and techniques for retrofitting existing structures.
Supervisory panel:
31 Aug 2020
Key findings: Certain house types can benefit from retrofitting for severe wind events
27 Aug 2019
Vulnerability and Adaptation to Wind Simulation (VAWS) is a software package that can be used to...
Progressive failures of roofs under wind loading
19 Sep 2018
Progressive or cascading failures of roofing connections were simulated using a computer model...
Load redistribution and progressive failures of batten to rafter connections under wind loading
29 Jun 2017
As-built single nailed batten to rafter connections were tested under fluctuating dynamic loads...
Korah Parackal Conference Poster 2016
12 Aug 2016
Peak wind loads on batten to truss connections on a typical gable roof house were examined using a...
Understanding progressive failures to wind load
18 Aug 2015
This study will determine the load redistribution and progressive failure mechanisms of houses to...

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