Wind Actions on structures based on EN-1991-1-4

This document provides guidance to determine the values of the wind action to be used for
the design of typical steel structures according to EN 1991-1-4. A worked out example
dealing with the determination of the wind action on a simple mill type building is also given.

1.1 Methodology

The response of the structure to the effect of wind depends on the size, shape and dynamic
properties of the structure. This response should be calculated from the peak velocity
pressure qp and from the force and/or pressure coefficients.

1.1.1 Peak velocity pressure

The peak velocity pressure qp(z) is the velocity pressure used in the calculations.

It depends on the wind climate, the reference height, the terrain roughness and orography. It
is equal to the mean velocity pressure plus a contribution from short-term pressure
fluctuations.

The peak velocity pressure can be calculated using the following procedure.

1. Fundamental value of the basic wind velocity vb,0 (Clause 4.2)

The fundamental value of the basic wind velocity is the characteristic 10 minutes mean
wind velocity, irrespective of wind direction and time of year, at 10 m above ground level, in
open country terrain. It corresponds to a mean return period of 50 years (annual probability
of exceedence of 0.02).

The National Annex specifies the fundamental value of the basic wind velocity.

Important: It must be noted that many countries give the wind velocity corresponding to 3sec
gust. This value should be converted to 10minutes mean wind velocity using suitable factors.

2. Basic wind velocity vb (Clause 4.2)

vb = cdircseasonvb,0

where:
cdir is the directional factor
cseason is the seasonal factor
The recommended value is 1.0 for both cdir and cseason but the National Annex may give other
values.

A note in the code states that where the influence of altitude on the basic wind velocity vb is
not included in the specified fundamental value vb,o the National Annex may give a procedure
to take into account.

Also, the code recommends another factor cprob to take into account the probability of annual
exceedence of a particular wind speed.

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Thus, vb = cdircseasoncaltcpobvb,0

where:
calt is the altitude factor. The Natinal Annex may give a procedure to calculate it.
cprob is the probability factor

cprob =

here p is the probability for annual exceedence

The recommended values are 0.2 for K and 0.5 for n.

3. Basic velocity pressure qb (Clause 4.5)

The basic velocity pressure qb is calculated as follows:

q b = ½ ρ v b2

where:
ρ is the air density
= 1.25 kg/m3 (recommended value but the National Annex may give another value)

4. Terrain factor kr (Clause 4.3.2)

kr = 0.19 (z0/z0,II)0.07

where:
z0 is the roughness length according to the terrain category
z0,II is the roughness length for the terrain category II:
z0,II = 0.05 m
zmax = 200 m

Terrain categories and terrain parameters are defined in EN 1991-1-4 Table 4.1, but the
National Annex may give other values.

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5. Roughness factor cr(z) (Clause 4.3.2)

cr(z) = kr ln(z/z0) for zmin ≤ z ≤ zmax

cr(z) = cr(zmin) for z ≤ zmin

where:

z is the reference height defined by EN 1991-1-4 Figure 7.4.

zmin depends on the terrain category, EN 1991-1-4 Table 4.1.

6. Orography factor co(z) (Clause 4.3.3)

The orography consists of the study of the shape of the terrain in the vicinity of the
construction.

The effects of orography may be neglected when the average slope of the upwind terrain is
less than 3°. The recommended value of co(z) is 1.0, but the National Annex may give the
procedure to calculate the orography factor.

Annex A3 of EN 1991-1-4 gives the recommended procedure to determine co for hills, cliffs,
etc.

7. Turbulence factor kl (Clause 4.4)

The recommended value is 1.0 but the National Annex may give other values.

8. Peak velocity pressure qp(z) (Clause 4.5)

qp(z) = [1+7Iv(z)] ½ ρ vm2(z)

where:

Iv(z) is the turbulence intensity which allows to take into account the contribution from
short term fluctuations

Iv(z) = k1/[c0(z)ln(z/z0)] for zmin ≤ z ≤ zmax

Iv(z) = Iv(zmin) for z < zmin

zmax = 200 m

vm(z) is the mean wind velocity at height z above the terrain:

vm(z) = cr(z)co(z)vb

Alternative for step 8:

For structures where the effect of orography and turbulence is not significant, the
determination of the mean wind velocity vm(z) is not absolutely necessary. The peak velocity
pressure can be directly obtained from the exposure factor ce(z):
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 qp(z) = ce(z) qb

For flat terrain (co(z)=1) and for turbulence factor kl =1, the exposure factor ce(z) can be
directly obtained from Figure 4.2 of EN 1991-1-4, as a function of the height above terrain
and a function of terrain category.

1.1.2 Wind pressure on surfaces – Wind forces (Clause 5.3)

There are three types of wind forces acting on a building:

• External forces Fw,e (see §1.1.2.1)
• Internal forces Fw,i (see §1.1.2.2)
• Friction forces Ffr (see §1.1.2.3)

The external and internal forces result in pressures perpendicular to the walls (vertical walls,
roofs, etc.). By convention, pressure directed towards the surface is taken as positive,
and suction, directed away from the surface as negative.

1.1.2.1 External forces

The external forces are obtained from:

Fw,e=cscd∑weAref

where:

cscd is the structural factor (Section 6 of EN 1991-1-4)

we is the wind pressure acting on the external surface:
we = qp(ze)cpe
qp(ze) is the peak velocity pressure at the reference height ze

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 ze is the reference height for the external pressure (generally, the height of the
structure). It depends on the aspect ratio h/b, where h is the height of the building
and b is the cross dimension.
Generally, h is lower than b for mill type buildings. In this case, ze is taken equal to
the height of the building and the velocity pressure qp(z) is uniform on the whole
structure: qp(ze) = qp(h).

cpe is the pressure coefficient for the external pressure. See §1.1.3
Aref is the reference area. Here it is the area of the surface under consideration for the
design of the structure or the structural component.

1.1.2.2 Internal forces

The internal forces are obtained from:

Fw,i = ∑wiAref

where:
wi is the wind pressure acting on the internal surface:
wi = qp (zi) cpi
zi is the reference height for the internal pressure (generally: zi = ze )
qp(zi) is the peak velocity pressure at the height zi (generally: qp(zi) = qp(ze))
cpi is the pressure coefficient for the internal pressure, see §1.1.4

1.1.2.3 Friction forces (Clause 7.5)

The friction force results from the friction of the wind parallel to the external surface. Friction
is allowed for when the total area of all surfaces parallel to the wind is higher than four times
the total area of all external surfaces perpendicular to the wind (windward and leeward),
which is the case for long structures.

The friction forces are obtained from:

Ffr = cfrqp(ze)Afr

where:
cfr is the friction coefficient. It can be taken equal to:
0.01 for smooth surface (steel, smooth concrete, etc.)
0.02 for rough surface (rough concrete, tar-boards, etc.)
0.03 for very rough surface (ripples, ribs, folds, etc.)
qp(ze) is the peak velocity pressure at the reference height ze .

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 Afr is the reference area. Friction forces are applied on the part of the external surfaces
parallel to the wind Afr, located beyond a distance from the upwind eaves or corners,
equal to the smallest value of 2b or 4h, b and h as defined in above figure.

1.1.3 External Pressure coefficients for buildings (Clause 7.2)

The external pressure coefficients depend on the size of the loaded area A that produces the
wind action in the zone under consideration. In the tables, the external pressure coefficients
are given for loaded areas of 1m2 (cpe,1) and 10m2 (cpe,10) for the appropriate building
configurations as cpe,1, local coefficients, and cpe,10, for overall coefficients, respectively.

It must be noted that values of cpe,1 are intended for the design of small elements and fixings
with an area per element of 1m2 or less such as cladding elements and roofing elements
(shown in the example below). Values for cpe,10 may be used for the design of the overall load
bearing structure of buildings.

For loaded area between 1m2 and 10m2 the values should be interpolated using Figure 7.2.

Important: It should also be noted for purlins and runners values corresponding to cpe,1 should
not be taken directly. Instead actual loaded area of purlin should be found out and the
coefficient should be taken accordingly (shown in the example below).

Example:

Let us consider a mill building with 6m frame spacing and 1.4m purlin spacing.

Now, the loaded area for purlin = 6x1.4 = 8.4m2

the loaded area for sheeting fixture= 0.6x1.4 = 0.84 m2
(where 0.6m is the spacing of fixture i.e. screws)

Thus, we can see from above example that cpe,1 values are to be taken for sheeting fixtures only
and for purlin the values need to be interpolated between cpe,1 and cpe,10.

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1.1.3.1 External Pressure coefficients on vertical walls (Clause 7.2.2)

The values of the external pressure coefficients, given in tables in the Eurocode are attached
to defined zones.

The pressure distributions for windward walls are defined in EN 1991-1-4 Figure 7.4. Zones
for vertical walls are defined in EN 1991-1-4 Figure 7.5 and the external pressure coefficients
cpe,10 are given in EN 1991-1-4 Table 7.1. For intermediate values of h/d, linear interpolation
may apply.

Important: The reference height used in Eurocode is the maximum height of the building i.e. the
ridge height and not the eaves height.

The values of the external pressure coefficients may be given in the National Annex.

Figure 7.4

Important: The pressure distribution should be as per the above figure & not as is generally
varied with height. Moreover the above distribution is for windward wall only, on leeward/side
walls pressure corresponding to the maximum building height should be applied throughout.

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Important: The side walls are divided into zones A, B & C having different cpe values.
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1.1.3.2 External Pressure coefficients roofs

Zones for roofs and external coefficients cpe,10 attached to these zones are defined in EN 1991-
1-4 as follows:
• Flat roofs: Figure 7.6 and Table 7.2
• Monopitch roofs: Figure 7.7 and Tables 7.3a and 7.3b
• Duopitch roofs: Figure 7.8 and Tables 7.4a and 7.4b
• Hipped roofs: Figure 7.9 and Table 7.5
• Multispan roofs: Figure 7.10 and the coefficients cpe are derived from Tables 7.3 to 7.4.

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Important: The roofs are divided into different zones and the coefficients should be taken
accordingly. Moreover, as stated in Note 1 of Table 7.4a there will be four cases of external
pressure coefficients for each wind direction.
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Important: It must be noted as given in Note 2 that in c) the first and last cpe is of monopitch
roofs and the rest are of troughed duopitch roofs. Moreover, the reduction of cpe to 60% as
shown in the figure should be applied based on judgment (eg: for high bays).
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1.1.4 Internal Pressure coefficients for buildings (Clause 7.2.9)

The internal pressure coefficient cpi depends on the size and distribution of the openings in
the building envelope.

When in at least two sides of the building (façades or roof) the total area of
openings in each side is more than 30 % of the area of that side, the structure should be
considered as a canopy roof and free-standing walls.

A face of a building should be regarded as dominant when the area of openings in that face is
at least twice the area of openings in the remaining faces of the building considered.

Where an external opening would be dominant when open but is considered to be closed in
the ultimate limit state, during severe windstorms (wind used for the design of the structure),
the condition with the opening open should be considered as an accidental design situation.

For a building with a dominant face, the internal pressure should be taken as a fraction of
the external pressure at the openings of the dominant face:
• Area of the openings on the dominant face = 2 x area of openings in the remaining faces
cpi = 0.75 cpe
• Area of the openings in the dominant face = 3 x area of openings in the remaining faces
cpi = 0.90 cpe
• Area of the openings at the dominant face between 2 and 3 times the area of the openings
in the remaining faces:
Linear interpolation for calculating cpi

When the openings are located in zones with different values of cpe, an area weighted
average value should be used.

For buildings without a dominant face, the coefficient cpi should be determined from a
function of the ratio h/d and the opening ratio for each direction, as shown in Figure 8.5.

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For values between h/d = 0.25 and h/d = 1.0, linear interpolation may be used.

Where it is not possible or not considered justified to estimate for a particular case, then cpi
should be taken as the more onerous of +0.2 and – 0.3.

Example:

Building geometry: Length = 180m

Width = 72m
Height = 23m

Parameter of openings:
-area of openings of the side walls
width of the area of windows Lw,s = 23.2m
height of the area of windows hw,s = 1.2m
As = Lw,s hw,s = 27.84m2
-area of openings in the end walls
windows
width of the area of windows Lw,e = 12.6m
height of the area of windows hw,e = 1.2m
Ae,w = Lw,e hw,e = 15.12m2
industrial door
width of the door bw,d = 5.0m
height of the door hw,d = 4.6m
Ae,d = bw,d hw,d = 23m2
Af = Ae,w + Ae,d = 38.12m2
Cross wind effect (0 degree)

area of all openings Asum = 2 (As+ Af) = 131.92m2

area of all openings with negative or zero external pressure
Aneg,0 = As+ 2Af = 104.08m2
opening ratio = Aneg,0/ Asum = 0.789

h/d = 23/72 = 0.32

for = 0.789 and h/d = 0.25 cpi = -0.2 (from EN 1991-1-4 Figure 7.13)
for = 0.789 and h/d = 1.00 cpi = -0.3 (from EN 1991-1-4 Figure 7.13)
for = 0.789 and h/d = 0.32 cpi= -0.209 (from interpolation)

Long wind effect (90 degree)

Aneg,90 = 2As+ Af = 93.8m2
= Aneg,90/ Asum = 0.711
h/d = 23/180 = 0.128 < 0.25

for = 0.711 and h/d = 0.128 cpi= -0.08 (from EN 1991-1-4 Figure 7.13)

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