Researchers meet in SC and use cannon to see the effects of hail on homes, businesses

WIFE FOR.COM IN FORECASTING OUR FUTURE EARLIER THIS WEEK, RESEARCH METEOROLOGISTS DISCUSS HOW THEY CAN BEST GUARD HOMES AGAINST HAIL DAMAGE. METEOROLOGIST GRIFFIN HARDY TRAVELED TO RICHBURG TO LEARN MORE. WE’RE HERE AT THE INSURANCE INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS AND HOME SAFETY DOWN IN RICHBURG, LEARNING ABOUT HAIL IMPACTS. THEY’VE GOT A FULL FREEZER FULL OF HAILSTONES UP TO TWO INCHES HERE AND A HAIL CANNON THAT THEY SHOOT AT SHINGLES TO FIGURE OUT EXACTLY HOW MUCH DAMAGE THEY CAN DO. THREE, TWO, ONE DOCTOR IAN GIAMMANCO IS THE LEAD RESEARCH METEOROLOGY ARTIST HERE AT IBHS AND MET WEDNESDAY WITH FELLOW HAIL RESEARCHERS FROM THE NORTHERN HAIL PROJECT, BASED IN ALBERTA, CANADA. THEIR MAIN GOAL IS TO FIND NEW WAYS TO CONSTRUCT HOMES AND BUSINESSES THAT HELP MITIGATE COSTS FROM DAMAGES BROUGHT BY SEVERE HAIL STORMS. AND SO IT’S VERY IMPORTANT AS YOU START TO GET TIRED OF DEALING WITH REPLACING YOUR ROOF FROM HAIL DAMAGE TO LOOK FOR BETTER PERFORMING BUILDING PRODUCTS THAT CAN ACTUALLY REMOVE SOME OF THAT FRUSTRATION OF HAVING TO REPLACE YOUR ROOF EVERY 3 OR 4 YEARS. AND IN THE LAB, THERE’S A HUGE AMOUNT OF EQUIPMENT THEY USE TO REPLICATE REALISTIC HAILSTONES, EVEN GETTING THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF EACH HAILSTONE, ALONG WITH THE SIZE IS CONSIDERED DURING TESTING. TO CREATE OUR LABORATORY HAILSTONES, WE ACTUALLY USE DISSOLVED CARBON DIOXIDE TO HELP INTRODUCE GAS AND REALLY TINY, TINY BUBBLES THAT MIMIC SOME OF THE SAME STRUCTURE AND STRENGTH THAT YOU SEE IN NATURAL HAILSTONES. WE WANT HAILSTONE NUMBER SEVEN TO BE THE SAME AS HAILSTONE NUMBER 205. SO WE’VE GOT TO MATCH THOSE ICE PROPERTIES TO BE ABLE TO SHOOT THEM AT THE DIFFERENT MATERIALS. SO THEY GET A FAIR SHAKE IN HOW WE UNDERSTAND THE MODES OF DAMAGE. AND AGAIN, WHICH ONES PERFORM WELL, WHICH PRODUCTS DON’T PERFORM WELL. THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION FOR WHAT’S BEING DONE HERE IS WHAT DOCTOR GIAMMANCO SAYS IS ONE OF THE MOST REWARDING PARTS OF THE RESEARCH THEY GET TO DO HERE AT IBHS IS A LOT OF TIMES WHEN WE DO RESEARCH, WE’RE DOING IT TO GET A BETTER SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING. BUT IN THIS CASE, WE’RE NOT ONLY LEARNING AND ADVANCING THE SCIENCE. WE HAVE A PRACTICAL APPLICATION FOR ALL OF US WHO HAVE ROOFS, WHO HAVE WALLS THAT CAN GET DAMAGED FROM HAIL. SO THAT’S ONE OF THE MOST REWARDING THINGS ABOUT THIS WORK. REPORTING IN RICHBURG METEOROLOGIST GRIFFIN HARD

Research meteorologists from the Insurance Institute of Business and Home Safety and the Northern Hail Project met in South Carolina this week to discuss how hail can damage homes and businesses. WYFF News 4 Meteorologist Griffin Hardy was there. Hardy says the main attraction at IBHS for their research meteorologists is their hail cannon. This is a pneumatic cannon they use to fire hailstones created in the lab at different types of building materials, including roof tiles.“This is the place where all that work happens where we’re shooting hail at different roofing materials and different wall materials,” Dr. Ian Giammanco, the lead research meteorologist at IBHS, said. “It's also where we manufacture laboratory hail stones that mimic what we see out in the real world. So here’s where all that engineering test work comes together to see which products can perform in which ones can’t.”There’s a huge amount of equipment they use to replicate realistic hailstones. Even getting the chemical composition of each hailstone, along with its size, is considered during testing.“We want hailstone number seven to be the same as hailstone number 205,” Giammanco said. “So we’ve got to match those ice properties to be able to shoot them at the different materials so they get a fair shake in how we understand the modes of damage — and again — which products don’t perform well and which products don’t perform well.”The practical application for what’s being done here is what Giammanco says is one of the most rewarding parts of the research they get to do at IBHS.“A lot of times when we do research — we’re doing it to get a better scientific understanding," Giammanco said. "But in this case — we’re not only learning and advancing the science — we have a practical application for all of us who have roofs — who have walls — that can get damaged from hail. So that’s one of the most rewarding things about this work.”For more information on different types of weather research being done at the IBHS in Richburg, be sure to head over to their website.

RICHBURG, S.C. —

Research meteorologists from the Insurance Institute of Business and Home Safety and the Northern Hail Project met in South Carolina this week to discuss how hail can damage homes and businesses.

WYFF News 4 Meteorologist Griffin Hardy was there.

Hardy says the main attraction at IBHS for their research meteorologists is their hail cannon. This is a pneumatic cannon they use to fire hailstones created in the lab at different types of building materials, including roof tiles.

“This is the place where all that work happens where we’re shooting hail at different roofing materials and different wall materials,” Dr. Ian Giammanco, the lead research meteorologist at IBHS, said. “It's also where we manufacture laboratory hail stones that mimic what we see out in the real world. So here’s where all that engineering test work comes together to see which products can perform in which ones can’t.”

There’s a huge amount of equipment they use to replicate realistic hailstones. Even getting the chemical composition of each hailstone, along with its size, is considered during testing.

“We want hailstone number seven to be the same as hailstone number 205,” Giammanco said. “So we’ve got to match those ice properties to be able to shoot them at the different materials so they get a fair shake in how we understand the modes of damage — and again — which products don’t perform well and which products don’t perform well.”

The practical application for what’s being done here is what Giammanco says is one of the most rewarding parts of the research they get to do at IBHS.

“A lot of times when we do research — we’re doing it to get a better scientific understanding," Giammanco said. "But in this case — we’re not only learning and advancing the science — we have a practical application for all of us who have roofs — who have walls — that can get damaged from hail. So that’s one of the most rewarding things about this work.”

For more information on different types of weather research being done at the IBHS in Richburg, be sure to head over to their website.

Researchers meet in SC and use cannon to see the effects of hail on homes, businesses

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