Completing his PhD studies in 2018, 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 research 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 which 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 May 2018, Korah was a finalist at the Early Career Researcher competition conducted by the CRC Association, while 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.
Korah is still involved with the CRC, working as a Research Fellow at James Cook University on the CRC project Improving the resilience of existing housing to severe wind events.
Blog posts on Views & Visions
Post |
Date | Key Topics |
|---|---|---|
| Windy in the US | 31 May 2017 | cyclone, engineering, severe weather |
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