Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Wind Actions Summary
Wind Actions Summary
Nomenclature
Suction (-ve) on
roof surfaces
windward wall and leeward wall
wind direction
Pressure
leeward wall (+ve) on
wind direction
windward wall
side wall
wind direction
upward slope
downward slope
wind direction
• Pressure – air flow towards surface; positive values (always perpendicular to surface)
• Suction - air flow away from surface; negative (always perpendicular to surface)
• Importance level – level assigned to structure determined by the number of people it is
designed to protect, role in post-disaster situations, whether it houses potentially dangerous
activities or materials. Refer excerpt from BCA.
Table B1.2b
Design events for safety
Annual Probability of Exceedance
Importance Wind
Snow Earthquake
Level Non-cyclonic Cyclonic
1 1:100 1:200 1:100 1:500
2 1:500 1:500 1:150 1:500
3 1:1000 1:1000 1:200 1:500
4 1:2000 1:2000 1:250 1:800
W4 For at least 4 wind directions, evaluate the pressures and then combine Clause 2.5
Calculate wind actions on them to give the action effect that is appropriate for the design of each
elements structural element.
<AS/NZS1170.2 Clause 2.5> (Designer selects combination of openings to give most adverse effect –
Consider includes doors, windows, vents, leakage)
Different combinations of openings
Different wind directions
Worked example
Wind loads on building elements
A church auditorium building is being designed for Waterman in Perth WA. Only the westerly
wind direction will be considered. The building will have one door (900 × 2100 mm) and four
windows (1800 × 1200 mm) on the North and South walls, a stained glass window (2400 × 1200 mm)
in the West wall, and double doors on the East wall (total area 1800 × 2100 mm). The site is at the top
of a beach-side reserve near the Indian Ocean and fronting a road. There are no buildings at all to the
west of the church site. All of the other buildings on the church site are behind the main auditorium
building.
Find: The total ultimate wind pressure on the stained glass window, and the net uplift load per metre
for the ultimate wind load on a highly loaded portal (Examine half the rafter spanning 12.6 m on the
rake.) Portal spacing is 3.2 m.
250 m
North
Scattered Mainly flat east of
limestone here for 400 m
outcrops,
grasses,
and saltbush
0.5 m Church
North Auditorium
coastline 2m 10 m 14 m
West Coast Drive
Site plan Waterman Church
23 m
7.8 m
24 m 2.7 m
Solution
W1 Site Wind Speed
The BCA shows that this building has an Importance Level 3, and that for a non-cyclonic wind region,
the annual probability of exceedance is 1:1000. The building is to be built in Perth, WA.
<Figure 3.1> shows that Perth is in Region A, and <Table 3.1> gives VR = 46 m/s for 1:1000 wind in
Region A.
For this problem, only one direction is considered. Region A1 has Md = 1.0 for Westerly winds
<Table 3.2>.
For Westerly winds, the approach to the structure is over
• Open ocean (Terrain category 2 for the ultimate wind event)
• Low scrub, grass and small rocky outcrops (Terrain Category 2)
7.8 + 2.7
Average roof height = = 5.25 m
2
<Table 4.2A> shows that the averaging distance for Terrain Categories for this building is 1000 m.
All terrain within 1000 m to the West of the site is Terrain Category 2. <Table 4.1A> is used for
Region A ultimate wind speeds. Mz,cat = 0.91 (for z = 5 m and Terrain Category 2)
The topography corresponds to an escarpment with the building near the crest. Here H = 14m, and
Lu = distance between the 7 m and 14 m contours. Scaling off the site plan gives Lu = 100 m.
H 14
Hence φ = = = 0.07 <4.4.2>
2 Lu 2 × 100
Also L1 = greater of 0.36 × 100 or 0.4 × 14. ie 36 m. As site is at the crest of the escarpment | x | = 0
14
<4.4.2> gives M t = 1 + = 1.10
3.5 (5.25 + 36)
Vsit,west = VR Md (Mz,cat Ms Mt) = 46 × 1.0 × (.91 × 1.0 × 1.10) = 46 m/s <2.2>
External Pressures
External pressure coefficient for windward wall Cp,e = +0.7 <Table 5.2(A)>
The Area Reduction Factor Ka does not apply to the windward wall. However if the area of the
window is small enough, the Local Pressure Factor Kl may apply. (The window pane is part of the
cladding)
a is the minimum of h, 0.2 d, and 0.2 b giving a = 0.2 b = 4.6 m
The limiting area = 0.25 a2 = 5.29 m2 <Table 5.6>
2
The area of the stained glass is 2.4 × 1.2 = 2.88 m i.e. the area of the window is less than the limiting
area for loca pressures, so the Local Pressure Factor (Kl) applies with Kl = 1.25 <Table 5.6>
The stained glass window is not porous – so Kp = 1.0 <5.4.5>
Combined effects
A combination of internal and external pressures can allow the use of the Combination Factor Kc.
However, <Table 5.5> does not include a reduction for positive wall pressures and negative internal
pressures, hence Kc = 1.0.
ROOF UPLIFT
Internal Pressures
Design scenario chosen will maximise outward pressure differential.
i.e. use a positive internal pressure i.e. an opening on the windward wall. However, there are no
potential openings on the windward wall, so take the case of a closed building – all walls equally
permeable. <Table 5.1(A)> gives two cases: -0.3 or +0.0. Here +0.0 is the most positive.
External Pressures R
With the wind from the West, the wind is parallel to the R
Ridge and the two roof surfaces are both “R” surfaces.
h 5.25
Here = = 0.219 i.e. < 0.5 wind
d 24
So, over the end 5.25 m of roof, <Table 5.3(A)> gives Cp,e = -0.9 or –0.4.
Use –0.9 as it is most negative.
End rafter supports a rectangular area of roof going 1.6 m into the building. The next one supports a
rectangle of width 3.2 m going from 1.6 m to 4.8 m from the Western end. The second rafter has a
larger contributory area, and is entirely within the highly loaded region in the Western 5.25 m of the
roof. It will be the critical rafter for wind uplift design and will have Cp,e = -0.9.
The portal rafter supports a large area, but the aerodynamics of the roof has two surfaces – one on each
side of the ridge. The area of each surface carried by the rafter is A = 12.6 × 3.2 = 40.3 m2
The Area Reduction Factor Ka for roofs and side walls can be found by interpolation in <Table 5.4>.
Interpolating between A = 25 m2 and A = 100 m2 gives Ka = 0.88.
The area supported by one rafter is too large to consider a Local Pressure Factor. Kl =1.0 <5.4.4>
The surface is not porous, so the reduction factor for porous cladding (Kp) does not apply.
Kp = 1.0 <5.4.5>
Combined effects
<Table 5.5> allows a reduction for roof suction and positive internal pressure. However, in this case,
the internal pressure is 0. All of the effect comes from external pressure, so there is not reduction.
Combination Factor Kc = 1.0.
Cfig (internal) = Cp,i Kc = 0.0 × 1.0 = 0.0 <5.2>
pi = (0.5 ρair) [Vdes,θ]2 Cfig Cdyn <2.4.1>
= 0.0 kPa
Cfig (external) = Cp,e Ka Kc Kl Kp = -0.9 × 0.88 × 1.0 × 1.0 × 1.0 = -0.792 <5.2>
pi = (0.5 ρair) [Vdes,θ]2 Cfig Cdyn <2.4.1>
2
= 0.5 × 1.2 × 46.0 × (-0.792) × 1.0 = -1005 Pa (pressure – outwards)