ASCE 7-10 Wind Load Calculation

Example
A fully worked example of ASCE 7-10 wind load
calculations
SkyCiv released a free wind load calculator that has several code
references including the ASCE 7-10 wind load procedure. In this section,
we are going to demonstrate how to calculate the wind loads, by using an
S3D warehouse model below:

Figure 1. Warehouse model in SkyCiv S3D as an example.

 Figure 2. Site location (from Google Maps).

Table 1. Building data needed for our wind calculation.

Location Cordova, Memphis, Tennessee

Occupancy Miscellaneous – Plant Structure

Terrain Flat farmland

64 ft × 104 ft in plan
Eave height of 30 ft
Dimensions Apex height at elev. 36 ft
Roof slope 3:16 (10.62°)
With opening

Purlins spaced at 2ft

Cladding
Wall studs spaced at 2ft

In our ASCE 7-10 wind load example, design wind pressures for a large,
three-story plant structure will be determined. Fig. 1 shows the
dimensions and framing of the building. The building data are shown in
Table 1.
Although there are a number of software that have wind load calculation
already integrated into their design and analysis, only a few provide a
detailed computation of this specific type of load. Users would need to
conduct manual calculations of this procedure in order to verify if the
results are the same as those obtained from the software.

The formula in determining the design wind pressure are:

For enclosed and partially enclosed buildings:

p=qGCp−qi(GCpi) (1)

For open buildings:

We will dive deep into the details of each parameter below. Moreover, we
will be using the Directional Procedure (Chapter 30 of ASCE 7-10) in
solving the design wind pressures.

Risk Category
The first thing to do in determining the design wind pressures is to
classify the risk category of the structure which is based on the use or
occupancy of the structure. For this example, since this is a plant
structure, the structure is classified as Risk Category IV. See Table 1.5-1
of ASCE 7-10 for more information about risk categories classification.

Basic Wind Speed, V

The ASCE 7-10 provides a wind map where the corresponding basic wind
speed of a location can be obtained from Figures 26.5-1A to 1C. The
Occupancy Category is defined and classified in the International Building
Code.

When viewing the wind maps, take the highest category number of the
defined Risk or Occupancy category. In most cases, including this
example, they are the same. From Figure 26.5-1B, Cordova, Memphis,
Tennessee is somehow near where the red dot on Figure 3 below, and
from there, the basic wind speed, V�, is 120 mph. Take note that for
other locations, you would need to interpolate the basic wind speed value
between wind contours.
 Figure 3. Basic wind speed map from ASCE 7-10.

Exposure Category
See Section 26.7 of ASCE 7-10 details the procedure in determining the
exposure category.

Depending on the wind direction selected, the exposure of the structure

shall be determined from the upwind 45° sector. The exposure to be
adopted should be the one that will yield the highest wind load from the
said direction.

The description of each exposure classification is detailed in Section

26.7.2 and 26.7.3 of ASCE 7-10. To better illustrate each case, examples
of each category are shown in the table below.

Table 2. Examples of areas classified according to exposure category

(Chapter C26 of ASCE 7-10).
EXPOSURE EXAMPLE

 Suburban residential area with mostly single-family dwellings – Low-rise structures, less
than 30 ft high, in the center of the photograph have sites designated as exposure b with
surface roughness Category B terrain around the site for a distance greater than 1500 ft in
any wind direction.
 An urban area with numerous closely spaced obstructions having the size of single-
family dwellings or larger – For all structures shown, terrain representative of surface
Exposure B
roughness category b extends more than twenty times the height of the structure or 2600
ft, whichever is greater, in the upwind direction. Structures in the foreground are located
in exposure B – Structures in the center top of the photograph adjacent to the clearing to
the left, which is greater than approximately 656 ft in length, are located in exposure c
when the wind comes from the left over the clearing.

 Flat open grassland with scattered obstructions having heights generally less than 30 ft.
 Open terrain with scattered obstructions having heights generally less than 30 ft for most
wind directions, all 1-story structures with a mean roof height less than 30 ft in the
Exposure C
photograph are less than 1500 ft or ten times the height of the structure, whichever is
greater, from an open field that prevents the use of exposure B.

 A building at the shoreline (excluding shorelines in hurricane-prone regions) with wind

flowing over open water for a distance of at least 1 mile. Shorelines in exposure D
Exposure D include inland waterways, the great lakes, and coastal areas of California, Oregon,
Washington, and Alaska.

For our example, since the location of the structure is in farmland in

Cordova, Memphis, Tennessee, without any buildings taller than 30 ft,
therefore the area is classified as Exposure C. A helpful tool in
determining the exposure category is to view your potential site through
a satellite image (Google Maps for example).

Wind Directionality Factor, Kd��

The wind directionality factors, Kd, for our structure are both equal to
0.85 since the building is the main wind force resisting system and also
has components and cladding attached to the structure. This is shown in
Table 26.6-1 of ASCE 7-10 as shown below in Figure 4.
Figure 4. Wind directionality factor based on structure type (Table 26.6-1
of ASCE 7-10).

Topographic Factor, Kzt

Since the location of the structure is in flat farmland, we can assume that
the topographic factor, Kzt, is 1.0. Otherwise, the factor can be solved
using Figure 26.8-1 of ASCE 7-10. To determine if further calculations of
the topographic factor are required, see Section 26.8.1, if your site does
not meet all of the conditions listed, then the topographic factor can be
taken as1.0.
 Figure 5. Parameters needed in calculation topographic
factor, Kzt��� (Table 26.8-1 of ASCE 7-10).

Velocity Pressure Coefficient, Kz

The velocity pressure coefficient, Kz, can be calculated using Table 27.3-1
of ASCE 7-10. This parameter depends on the height above ground level of
the point where the wind pressure is considered, and the exposure
category. Moreover, the values shown in the table is based on the
following formula:

Usually, velocity pressure coefficients at the mean roof height, Kh, and at
each floor level, Kzi, are the values we would need in order to solve for the
design wind pressures. For this example, since the wind pressure on the
windward side is parabolic in nature, we can simplify this load by
assuming that uniform pressure is applied on walls between floor levels.

The plant structure has three (3) floors, so we will divide the windward
pressure into these levels. Moreover, since the roof is a gable-style roof,
the roof mean height can be taken as the average of roof eaves and apex
elevation, which is 33 ft.

Table 4. Calculated values of velocity pressure coefficient for each

elevation height.
Elevation (ft) Kz

10 0.85

20 0.90

30 0.98

1.00 Kz
33
ℎ

Velocity Pressure
From Equation (3), we can solve for the velocity pressure, q in PSF, at
each elevation being considered.

Table 5. Calculated values of velocity pressure at each elevation height.

Elevation (ft) Kz q(psf) Remarks

10 0.85 26.63 1st floor

20 0.90 28.20 2nd floor

30 0.98 30.71 Roof eave

Roof mean
33 1.00 31.33
height, qℎ

Gust Effect Factor, G

The gust effect factor, G, is set to 0.85 as the structure is assumed rigid
(Section 26.9.1 of ASCE 7-10).

Enclosure Classification and Internal Pressure

Coefficient
The plant structure is assumed to have openings that satisfy the
definition of a partially enclosed building in Section 26.2 of ASCE 7-10.
Thus, the internal pressure coefficient, (GCpi), shall be +0.55 and -0.55
based on Table 26.11-1 of ASCE 7-10.
Figure 6. Internal Pressure Coefficient, (GCpi), from Table 26.11-1of ASCE
7-10.

External Pressure Coefficient, Cp

For enclosed and partially enclosed buildings, the External Pressure
Coefficient, Cp, is calculated using the information provided in Figure
27.4-1 through Figure 27.4-3. For a partially enclosed building with a gable
roof, use Figure 27.4-1.

External Pressure Coefficients for the walls and roof are calculated
separately using the building parameters L, B, and h, which are defined in
Note 7 of Figure 27.4-1.

Thus, we need to calculate the L/B and h/L:

Roof mean height, h = 33′

Building length, L = 64′
Building width, B = 104′
L/B = 0.615
h/L = 0.516
h/B = 0.317

From these values, we can obtain the external pressure coefficients, Cp,
for each surface using table 27.4-1 of ASCE 7-10. Take note that we can
use linear interpolation when roof angle, θ, L/B, and h/L values are in
between those that are in the table. For our example, the external
pressure coefficients of each surface are shown in Tables 6 to 8.

Table 6. Calculated external pressure coefficients for wall surfaces.

 Surface Cp

Windward
0.8
wall

Leeward wall -0.5

Side wall -0.7

Table 7. Calculated external pressure coefficients for roof surfaces (wind

load along L).

External pressure coefficients for roof Cp (along L)

Windward Leeward
h/L
10° 10.62° 15° 10° 10.62° 15°

-0.7
-0.9 -0.88
0.5 - -0.50 -0.50 -0.50
-0.18 -0.18
0.18

-
0.51 -0.91 -0.89 0.71
-0.51 -0.51 -0.50
6 -0.18 -0.18 -
0.18

-1.0
-1.3 -1.26
1.0 - -0.70 -0.69 -0.60
-0.18 -0.18
0.18

Table 8. Calculated external pressure coefficients for roof surfaces (wind

load along B).

External pressure coefficients for roof Cp(along

B)

h/B Location Cp

0.317 -0.9
0 to h
-0.18

-0.9
h/2 to h
-0.18

h to 2h -0.5
 -0.18

-0.3
>2h
-0.18

External pressure coefficient with two values as shown in Tables 7 and 8

shall be checked for both cases.

Design Wind Pressures for Main Wind Frame

Resisting System
Using Equation (1), the design wind pressures can be calculated. Results
of our calculations are shown on Tables 8 and 9 below. Take note that
there will be four cases acting on the structure as we will consider
pressures solved using (+GCpi) and (−GCpi), and the +Cp and −Cp for roof
To apply these pressures to the structure, we will consider a single frame
on the structure. Sample of applying case 1 and 2 (for both (GCpi)(����))
are shown in Figures 7 and 8. The wind direction shown in the
aforementioned figures is along the length, L, of the building.

Take note that a positive sign means that the pressure is acting towards
the surface while a negative sign is away from the surface. Bay length is
26 feet.

Figure 7. Design wind pressure applied on one frame – (+GCpi) and

absolute max roof pressure case.
 Figure 8. Design wind pressure applied on one frame – (−GCpi) and
absolute max roof pressure case.

Design Wind Pressures for Components and

Cladding (C&C)
Components and claddings are defined in Chapter C26 of ASCE 7-10 as:
“Components receive wind loads directly or from cladding and transfer
the load to the MWFRS” while “cladding receives wind loads
directly.” Examples of components include “fasteners, purlins, studs, roof
decking, and roof trusses” and for cladding are “wall coverings, curtain
walls, roof coverings, exterior windows, etc.”
Figure 9. Location of calculated C&C pressures.
The distance a from the edges can be calculated as the minimum of 10%
of least horizontal dimension or 0.4h but not less than either 4% of least
horizontal dimension or 3 ft.

a : 10% of 64ft = 6.4 ft > 3ft

0.4(33ft) = 13.2 ft 4% of 64ft = 2.56 ft
a = 6.4 ft

Wall Studs (C&C Wall Pressure)

Based on Figure 30.4-1, the (GCp) can be calculated for zones 4 and 5
based on the effective wind area. Take note that the definition of
effective wind area in Chapter C26 of ASCE 7-10 states that: “To better
approximate the actual load distribution in such cases, the width of the
effective wind area used to evaluate (GCp) need not be taken as less than
one-third the length of the area.” Hence, the effective wind area should be
the maximum of:

Effective wind area = 10ft*(2ft) or 10ft*(10/3 ft) = 20 sq.ft. or 33.3 sq ft.

Effective wind area = 33.3 sq ft.

The positive and negative (GCp) for walls can be approximated using the
graph shown below, as part of Figure 30.4-1:
Figure 10. Approximated (GCp) values from Figure 30.4-1 of ASCE 7-10.
 Figure 11. (GCp) values from Figure 30.4-2B of ASCE 7-10.

Table 12. Calculated C&C pressures for purlins.

C&C Pressures, psf

Zone +(GCp) -(GCp)
+(GCpi) -(GCpi)

-7.83 -42.30
1 0.30 -0.80
26.63 -7.83

-7.83 -54.83
2 0.30 -1.2
26.63 -20.36

-7.83 -79.89
3 0.30 -2.0
26.63 -45.43