Soon after Hurricane Andrew caused $20 billion in damages and havoc in Florida, Advanced Structures and Composites Center researchers began exploring ways to safeguard buildings from natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes. They focused on easy-to-manufacture, inexpensive construction panels which would provide improved resistance to hurricanes and other natural disasters.

The patented panels are oriented strand board (OSB) with a resin-and-fiberglas composite strip layered into the panel. These panels show a 125% increase in strength in hurricane winds and a 70% increase in ability to absorb energy during an earthquake.

United States Patent 6,699,575. Wood Composite Panels for Disaster-Resistant Construction 

Publications

• Cassidy, E.D., Davids, W.G., Dagher, H.J. and Gardner, D.J. (2006). "Performance of Wood Shear Walls Sheathed with FRP-Reinforced OSB Panels." Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE, 132(1): 153-163.
• Davids, W.G., Dagher, H.J., Cassidy, E.D., Martin, K. and Gardner, D. (2004). "FRP-reinforced Oriented Strand Board Panels in Wood-Framed Shear Wall Construction." Proceedings of the NSF Housing Research Agenda Workshop Vol. II. Feb 12-14, Orlando, Florida. Eds. Syal, M, Mullins, M., and Hastak, M. (invited).
• Martin, K.A. (2004). "Development of High Performance Narrow Shear Walls Utilizing FRP-Reinforced Sheathing Panels." M.S. Thesis, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maine, Orono, ME.
• Davids, W.G., Cassidy, E., Dagher, H.J. and Gardner, D. (2003). "FRP-reinforced Oriented Strand Board Panels for Disaster-Resistant Construction." ASCE Structures Congress 2003: Engineering Smarter. Seattle, WA, May 29-31, (CD-ROM).
• Cassidy, E.D. (2002). "Development and Structural Testing of FRP-Reinforced OSB Panels for Disaster-Resistant Construction." M.S. Thesis, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maine, Orono, ME.
• Dagher, H. and Davids, W. (2000). "A New Generation of Wood-FRP Hybrid Composites Can Improve Disaster Resistance." Proceedings of the 2^nd Annual Conference on Durability and Disaster Mitigation in Wood-Frame Housing, Madison, WI, Forest Products Society, Nov. 6-8, pp. 167-174.

Media

• Houtman N. UMaine receives patent for stronger building panel. Mar 16, 2004. University of Maine Press Release.

Research Partners

• National Institute of Standards and Technology
• National Science Foundation
• US Department of Agriculture

Center Contact

• William Davids, P.E., John C Bridge Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

  William.davids@umit.maine.edu

   

  207-581-2116

Graduate Students

• Eric Cassidy and Keith Martin