Sejak kebelakangan ini, tsunami telah berlaku di banyak negara Asia dan
Malaysia juga tidak dikecualikan. Untuk melindungi nyawa insan, penubuhan kod rekabentuk bagi struktur rintang tsunami yang bersesuaian dengan keperluan tempatan merupakan satu-satunya cara penyelesaian yang muktamad untuk mengurangkan kerugian akibat daripada tsunami yang melanda di sesuatu kawasan. Kewujudan bahagian bukaan dalam struktur bangunan telah dianggap sebagai salah satu ciri yang berfaedah bagi mengurangkan kesan negatif yang dibawa oleh tsunami terhadap bangunan. Dalam penyelidikan ini, prestasi struktur bangunan dilengkapi dengan bukaan yang terdedah kepada tsunami telah dikaji. Pemodelan fizikal yang mensimulasikan peristiwa tsunami berlaku pada tahun 2004 telah dilakukan dengan flum hidraulik yang distrukturkan dengan satu profil pantai umum di Barat Laut Semenanjung Malaysia. Model bangunan yang dilengkapi dengan beberapa ketinggian (36 mm, 66 mm, 96 mm dan 126 mm) dan saiz bukaan (0%, 20%, 40% dan 60% amaun bukaan) telah diuji. Setiap model ini diujikan dengan tiga ketinggian gelombang nominal: 40 mm, 60 mm dan 80 mm yang mewakili 4.0 m, 6.0 m dan 8.0 m masing-masing dalam keadaan sebenar. Setelah pembebasan air simpanan tangki, gelombang tsunami bertempoh panjang telah dicetus dan gelombang mengalir melalui kecerunan santah sebelum mencapai model bangunan. Sejarah waktu daya paduan dan tekanan gelombang telah diukur. Data eksperimen menunjukkan bahawa peratusan pengurangan daya paduan pada model tidak dihubungkaitkan secara linear dengan peratusan saiz bukaan model. Persamaan yang menghubungkait minimum peratusan pengurangan daya paduan mengufuk untuk bangunan dan peratusan bukaan telah dicadangkan.
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Lately, tsunamis have been lively taking place in many Asia countries and
Malaysia has no exception. To safeguard human lives, the establishment of design code for tsunami-resistant structures that suits the regional needs is the only and ultimate solution to minimise the loss due to tsunami hit in an area. The presence of openings in building structures has been regarded as one of the beneficial features of structures that could reduce the adverse impact of tsunami waves on structures. In this research, the effects of tsunami impact on performance of building structures with openings were studied. Physical modelling that simulated the past tsunami event in 2004 was executed on a hydraulic wave flume structured with a common beach profile in Northwest of Peninsular Malaysia. Building models structured with different heights (36 mm, 66 mm, 96 mm and 126 mm) and opening sizes (0%, 20%, 40% and 60% of opening) were tested. Each of these models was subjected to three different nominal wave heights: 40 mm, 60 mm and 80 mm that represent 4.0 m, 6.0 m and 8.0 m respectively in a reality. Upon the liberation of water stored in a tank, a long period solitary wave was triggered and the wave streamed over the designated plane slope before reaching building models. The time histories of resultant forces and wave pressures were measured. Experimental data shows that the percentage of force reduction is not linearly correlated with the percentage of opening size of the model. Equation that correlates the minimum horizontal force reduction for building and percentage of opening was proposed.