Prediction of Maximum Span Limits for Flood-Resisting Doors Using Hydrostatic Loading

Prediction of Maximum Span Limits for Flood-Resisting Doors Using Hydrostatic Loading | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Prediction of Maximum Span Limits for Flood-Resisting Doors Using Hydrostatic Loading Thomas Mansfield, Amirali Shateri, Nasser Sherkat, Hirbod Varasteh This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9635258/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Property Flood Resilience (PFR) depends on flood doorsets that can maintain performance under hydrostatic loading, yet in practice such systems are often certified at a single reference width, creating uncertainty when wider apertures are required for flood-resilience applications. This study proposes a practical assessment framework for extending the allowable width of a BSI-certified outward-opening French door without the need for full-scale retesting at every aperture size. The method combines hydrostatic pressure calculations with member-level force normalisation, comparison against overload testing of the 1500 mm reference doorset at retained water depths up to 900 mm, and a deflection-based serviceability assessment linked to the highest experimentally verified no-leakage condition. For the certified 1500 mm × 600 mm reference configuration, the calculated force per load-bearing vertical was 0.6619725 kN, whereas the overload-tested 1500 mm × 900 mm condition produced 1.489438125 kN per load-bearing vertical. At the water depth of 600 mm, increasing the aperture width to 2300 mm raised the member-level force to 1.0150245 kN, which remained 0.474413625 kN below the overload benchmark. This corresponds to a 53.33% increase in aperture width relative to the certified configuration while remaining 31.85% below the overload-tested benchmark. Experimental observations further showed no leakage at 600 mm and 700 mm over one hour, while leakage at 800 mm and 900 mm occurred only after an initial delay, consistent with gasket-related limitations rather than immediate structural failure. These findings show that the proposed method provides a rational route for PFR-focused flood-resilience design by assessing widened service configurations against the demonstrated structural envelope of the reference system. For the outward-opening French door examined in this study, the results support a maximum working width of 2300 mm at 600 mm retained water depth. Civil Engineering Mechanical Engineering Property Flood Resilience (PFR) Flood resilience Hydrostatic loading BSI certification Aperture width extension Structural envelope Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9635258","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":635778415,"identity":"05181b23-e2a6-482f-81f5-ec4275ccdd0e","order_by":0,"name":"Thomas Mansfield","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"School of Engineering and Built Environment, University of Derby","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Thomas","middleName":"","lastName":"Mansfield","suffix":""},{"id":635778416,"identity":"ef30feaf-f94c-461a-a484-f582d455a2e0","order_by":1,"name":"Amirali Shateri","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6399-0211","institution":"School of Engineering and Built Environment, University of Derby","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Amirali","middleName":"","lastName":"Shateri","suffix":""},{"id":635778417,"identity":"4e6fbbcb-8a91-492b-bb49-36b543940cf3","order_by":2,"name":"Nasser Sherkat","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"School of Engineering and Built Environment, University of Derby","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nasser","middleName":"","lastName":"Sherkat","suffix":""},{"id":635778418,"identity":"bf7fbac4-9137-4ae6-8a74-ed3508a80a6b","order_by":3,"name":"Hirbod Varasteh","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA90lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAzhLgvmABAPDASjvADbFqFokGCTYEkjWwmNAnBZzBh7DzxU1dXX80j0fb3zccyexgf3wA2aeM7i1WDbwGEueOXZYQnLO2c2WM549S2zgSTNg5rmBx2EH2BIkG9gOSBjcyN0mzXPgcGIDQw4DM88HvFqSfzb8q5Owv5HzTPoPSAv/G0JamI9JNrYxSxhI5LBJM4C0SIBsweeww8zHLBv7DkvOuJFmbNlz4Jlxm8Qzg4Nz8Hjf4Hhj882Gb3X8/DOSH974ceCObD9/8sMHb47h1sLAjMZ3bGPAGytYgD1JqkfBKBgFo2BEAACTL1drI4r8qQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7590-8713","institution":"School of Engineering and Built Environment, University of Derby","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hirbod","middleName":"","lastName":"Varasteh","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-05-06 22:33:45","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9635258/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9635258/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":108806432,"identity":"3860023f-6583-4715-9755-acf068ddc016","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-08 15:28:33","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1222562,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"FinalV3.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9635258/v1_covered_a115faf4-2bc5-47cf-ad39-b1645cf4fa50.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePrediction of Maximum Span Limits for Flood-Resisting Doors Using Hydrostatic Loading\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[{"identity":"3003289b-13e1-4d50-b9da-412978aa6089","identifier":"10.13039/100014013","name":"UK Research and Innovation","awardNumber":"13975","order_by":0}],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"University of Derby","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Property Flood Resilience (PFR), Flood resilience, Hydrostatic loading, BSI certification, Aperture width extension, Structural envelope","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9635258/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9635258/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eProperty Flood Resilience (PFR) depends on flood doorsets that can maintain performance under hydrostatic loading, yet in practice such systems are often certified at a single reference width, creating uncertainty when wider apertures are required for flood-resilience applications. This study proposes a practical assessment framework for extending the allowable width of a BSI-certified outward-opening French door without the need for full-scale retesting at every aperture size. The method combines hydrostatic pressure calculations with member-level force normalisation, comparison against overload testing of the 1500 mm reference doorset at retained water depths up to 900 mm, and a deflection-based serviceability assessment linked to the highest experimentally verified no-leakage condition. For the certified 1500 mm \u0026times; 600 mm reference configuration, the calculated force per load-bearing vertical was 0.6619725 kN, whereas the overload-tested 1500 mm \u0026times; 900 mm condition produced 1.489438125 kN per load-bearing vertical. At the water depth of 600 mm, increasing the aperture width to 2300 mm raised the member-level force to 1.0150245 kN, which remained 0.474413625 kN below the overload benchmark. This corresponds to a 53.33% increase in aperture width relative to the certified configuration while remaining 31.85% below the overload-tested benchmark. Experimental observations further showed no leakage at 600 mm and 700 mm over one hour, while leakage at 800 mm and 900 mm occurred only after an initial delay, consistent with gasket-related limitations rather than immediate structural failure. These findings show that the proposed method provides a rational route for PFR-focused flood-resilience design by assessing widened service configurations against the demonstrated structural envelope of the reference system. For the outward-opening French door examined in this study, the results support a maximum working width of 2300 mm at 600 mm retained water depth.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Prediction of Maximum Span Limits for Flood-Resisting Doors Using Hydrostatic Loading","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-05-08 03:37:38","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9635258/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"baaffd49-f5c9-444a-b075-be0bada05aef","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 8th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":67667555,"name":"Civil Engineering"},{"id":67667556,"name":"Mechanical Engineering"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-08T03:37:38+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-05-08 03:37:38","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9635258","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9635258","identity":"rs-9635258","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}