Reliability of Lightning Protection Systems of Residential Buildings in Waterlogged Areas in Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

There have been reported cases of structural damage, especially in buildings in Eastern parts of Nigerian States such as Enugu State, Nigeria due to lightning strikes in waterlogged areas or during heavy rainfall. This necessitated investigations into reasons for such disasters, hence this study. The study aims to investigate the reliability of lightning protection systems in selected residential buildings in waterlogged areas in Nigeria. To achieve this aim, the study adopted a mixed research design (empirical and analytical research designs). Visual inspections and calculations were done according to the specifications of BS EN 62305 for earthing and lightning protection system design. Computations were performed using software developed by the G.M. Krzhizhanovsky Energy Institute, JSC ENIN, OJSC.  An Advanced Lightning Direction Finder (ALDF) was adopted to detect cloud-to-ground lightning strikes and determine their location by triangulation of two or more bearing lines. The results were corroborated with the ones obtained using the Dead Earth Method (as stipulated in BS 6651), and their means were recorded for every three measurements. The study concluded that buildings with poor lightning protection are prone to lightning strikes causing excessive vibrations that lead to building collapse; buildings located in waterlogged areas without adequate lightning protection suffer from higher impacts of lightning strikes because of the electro-hydraulic effects and have greater failure and mortality rates.