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Note 28 Level 1

38 TheStructuralEngineer Technical
July 2013 Technical Guidance Note

Introduction to extreme
loading conditions
Introduction ICON W Design principles
Extreme loading conditions are also known as ‘accidental loads’ as they LEGEND
occur during conditions usually attributed to events that are fundamentally
unlikely to occur. They are referred to as ‘accidental design situations’ and W Applied practice

as such, the rules governing the application of loads/actions that arise from
such rare events are very different to those that exist for more everyday W Further reading
occurences. This note will pay particular attention to partial factors with
reference to BS EN 1990: Eurocode – Basis of structural design, to illustrate
how extreme events are approached within a code of practice, and will W Web resources

explain how the code interprets the application of loads/actions for the
design of structures for such events.

Consequence Class
Structures are not typically designed for
accidental loads/actions. The majority
of structures in the UK are placed into a
Consequence Class, which is defined in
Annex A of BS EN 1991-1-7 General Actions -
Accidental Action. The structure is designed
using the appropriate approach for the
Consequence Class. The Consequence
Class is based on the significance of the
failure of the structure rather than the
likelihood of it failing.

Codified approach to extreme

Design principles
Definition of ‘extreme’
A literal definition of the word ‘extreme’ is:
‘something that exceeds what is usual or
reasonable’. A list of extreme events that
although unlikely, could nevertheless affect a
structure, might include the following:
• Vehicular impact
• Seismic event
• High winds
• Flooding
• Explosion
• High/Low temperature
• Mechanical failure of plant that would
impact the structure e.g. lifts
It is reasonable to assume that a structure
will, at some point, be exposed to one or
some of these events during its lifetime and
that some consideration should be given to
them during the design process.
There are, however, events that although
even less likely, are certainly extreme. The
likelihood of these occurring is so low that
to design for them would, in most instances,
be considered unreasonable. Such events
include:
• Tornado
• Volcanic eruption
• Tsunami
• Meteor impact
• Thermo nuclear war
It is important to note that while most
structures are not designed for such events,
there are certain exceptions such as power
stations. For such structures, some of
the more extreme events are taken into
consideration.
conditions
The approach that BS EN 1990 adopts
for extreme conditions is based on the
manipulation of the partial factors that are
applied to loads/actions. These factors
are significantly lower than those used
for permanent conditions, based on the
assumption that the scenarios under which
these events occur are very rare and as
such, the partial factors that apply to the
permanent condition are not appropriate.
By way of explanation, the partial factors for
extreme conditions are as follows:
A is the variable label for accidental actions,
which are actions due to extreme events. This
has two subscripts: Ad and AEd. The former is
for all accidental actions, while the latter is for
actions generated by seismic events.
Expression 6.11a in BS EN 1990 describes
the general format used for calculating
actions within extreme conditions, excluding
seismic actions:

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E d = " G k,j; P; A d; (} 1,1 or } 2,1) Q k,1; } 2,i; Q k,1 , j $ 1; i > 1
This can be simplified for structures that
do not have any pre-stress elements within
them, to:
E d = G k, j + A d + } 1 Q k, 1 + } 2 Q k, 2
Where:
Ed is the effect of the action
Gk,j is the permanent action e.g. self-weight
of the structure
Ad is the action due to an accidental event
Qk,1 is the leading frequent variable action
e.g. occupancy and furniture
Qk,2 is the accompanying quasi-permanent
variable action e.g. wind
ψ1 is the factor for leading frequent value of
a variable action*
ψ2 is the factor for accompanying
quasi-permanent value of a variable action*
*These values are drawn from Table A1.1 of
BS EN 1990
In addition to partial factors applied to loads/
actions, materials partial factors are altered
to reflect the conditions the event occurs in.
As an example, the factors for a commercial
office building that is being subjected to the
blast force would be these combinations:
E d = G k,j + A d + 0.5Q k,1 + 0Q k,2
E d = G k,j + A d + 0.2Q k,1 + 0.3Q k,2
Here, the factors applied to the permanent
and variable actions are much lower than
that for when considering normal conditions.
The primary reason for employing such
factors is due to the probability of such an
event being so low, as to be certain that
magnitudes of loads are much lower than in
the permanent condition.
Consider further the accompanying
quasi-permanent variable action, which is
typically the wind force that is exerted onto
a structure. In the first combination this has
a factor of 0.3 applied to it in the example,
as the frequency of occurrence for the wind
force is much less than what is typically
considered for the normal condition case.
Blast force
The force from a blast is difficult to
determine due to the myriad of variables
that need to be considered. The size of the
explosion and its location are key factors in
calculating the likely force generated. This
can be calculated, but a significant amount
of information needs to be known about the
structure, its location and access limitations
before any assessment can be carried out.
Part A of the Building Regulations of England
TSE19_38-39.indd 39
has a generic value
of 34 kN/m2 as a
force that needs
to be resisted
by key elements within a structure. These
elements must remain intact following an
explosion, else a large proportion of the
structure will likely collapse. When assessing
these elements against this force, the partial
factors described previously apply. This
typically results in the key element being
able to withstand the blast force without
any significant modifications, as it is already
designed for much higher forces due to the
larger partial factors applied to actions in
non-extreme events.
Seismic events
Seismic events generate very short duration
actions throughout a structure. They are
infrequent and as such are treated as a form
of accidental action by BS EN 1990. There
is a variation on the partial factors to reflect
the nature of the actions being generated by
seismic activity:
E d = G k,j + A Ed + } 2 Q k,2
Notice how the frequent variable action
has been removed from the expression. It
is removed because it is considered to be
a mass that is beneficial to the structure
during a seismic event. With its magnitude
being variable, it is considered to be best
practice to ignore it completely.
High winds and extreme temperatures
High winds and extreme temperatures are
designed for, using normal methods and
are not considered to be accidental. The
magnitude of wind force is based on a
statistical assessment of past records to
determine extreme values for a particular
return period. These are typically 50 or 120
years but can be up to 10,000 years for
a nuclear power station. These are then
designed for, using appropriate partial factors.
Flooding
Sub-structures to buildings are designed
to accommodate flooding by assuming
hydrostatic pressures will be applied to them
at some depth. The affects of flowing water
around sub-structures is covered by applying
general robustness requirements.
Mechanical failure of plant
The possibility of plant that forms part of the
building services failing, must be taken into
consideration. A common example of this is
the failing of a lift, which can result in very
high impact force, despite the inclusion of
buffers to dampen it after the lift has fallen.
Such a force is deemed to be highly unlikely
and therefore treated as accidental.
www.thestructuralengineer.org
39
Eurocode 0.
Applied practice
BS EN 1990-1 Eurocode 0: Basis of Design
BS EN 1991-1-7 General Actions -
Accidental Actions
BS EN 1998 Design of Structures for
Earthquake Resistance
Building Regulations 2010, Approved
Document A - Structure (2004 edition
incorporating 2010 amendments)
Glossary and
further reading
Accidental action – An expression used
in BS EN 1990 which is defined as an action,
usually of short duration but of significant
magnitude, that is unlikely to occur on a given
structure during the design working life.
Extreme conditions – An event to
which a structure could be exposed, that
would generate unusually high actions over
a short period.
Further Reading
The Institution of Structural Engineers (2010)
Manual for the design of building structures
to Eurocode 1 and basis of structural design
London: The Institution of Structural Engineers
Institution of Structural Engineers (2010)
Manual for the seismic design of concrete
buildings to Eurocode 8 London: The
Institution of Structural Engineers
Ingleton J. (Ed.) (1999) Natural Disaster
Management Leicester, UK, Tudor Rose
Holdings Ltd
Federal Emergency Management Agency
(2005) Risk Assessment – A How-To Guide
to Mitigate Potential Terrorist Attacks
Against Buildings (No. 452) [Online] Available
at: www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.
do?id=1938 (Accessed: June 2013)
Eurocode 0.
Web resources
Federal Emergency Management Agency:
www.fema.gov
The Institution of Structural Engineers library:
www.istructe.org/resources-centre/library
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