Published works

Damage investigations following cyclonic events have shown failure of soffit lining, including on contemporary buildings, as illustrated in Figure 2 to Figure 12. Failure of soffit lining can lead to further major damage to the building by allowing wind driven rain to enter the ceiling attic, causing the ceilings to collapse and further water damage. In addition to water damage to contents and internals, soffit lining failure creates increased stress to the building envelope due to the increased internal pressure caused by wind entering the roof cavity through the eaves, which can lead to further failure such as roof failure.

Small weaknesses can therefore lead to large failures.

This report uses results, and summarises parts, of the thesis “Design of soffits and eaves to resist wind loads in cyclonic regions” by Lalin Chhoeuk, in particular the mechanical assessment of various combinations of soffit lining to batten connections to evaluate their suitability for use in cyclonic regions.

The aim of this test programme was to perform full-scale simulated wind load strength testing of these different configurations of soffit lining to batten connections. The AS 4040.2 static simulated wind load strength test regimes was used as guides to load the test specimens.

The simulated wind load strength tests were conducted in an airbox testing facility located at the Cyclone Testing Station at James Cook University.