Terms and definition

Ground level: By default the global XY plane in SCIA Engineer denotes the ground /
terrain level. If the national code and national annex are EC-EN, user has a choice to
offset the ground level by specifying a value of zmin in wind data.

Wind load will be applied only to part of the building defined above this ground level.

Wind direction: Wind direction denotes the orthogonal wind direction to the geographic
north is mapped to orthogonal directions as shown below.

o o
0 wind 270 wind

Str

o
180 wind
o
90 wind

Wind direction angle is angle about the Z axis from global X axis vector to wind direction
vector. If the wind direction is zero, then wind is blowing along X axis.

Windward, Leeward and Sidewall: Each wall of a building facing the wind is classified
as windward, leeward or sidewall. Any change in wind direction requires re-identification
of the windward, leeward and sidewall. The following figures show how change in wind
flow direction affects the identification of windward, leeward and sidewall faces.

6
 Side
ll

W
Windward Leeward wall
wall

Side
ll

Side
ll

W
Leeward Windward
wall wall

Sidewall

TBC - Explain how we deal with non rectangular faces

Crosswind width and In-wind depth: These denote the building dimension across the
wind and along the wind and vary for each wind direction. See figure below.

When the plan of the building varies with height crosswind width is computed at each
level for scaling length computation. Refer to section 6.1.2.2 for explanation of the
same.

Wind
Crosswind
width In-wind
depth

7
Wall and roof: 2D element which has an inclination of ±10 degrees in the vertical plane
is treated as a wall. Otherwise it is taken as roof.

Roof type: The roof type (flat or pitched) input by the user will be verified against those
computed by the program and error message displayed if required.

The identification of roof type is done by checking the angle between the normal vector
of the roof and the global Z-axis (vertical axis). This angle will be greater than zero for
pitched roof (a tolerance of ± 5 deg is allowed).

8
Do’s and don’ts

Do’S

1. For automatic wind load generation the outer surface of the building should be
covered with 2D elements (plate/wall/panel) representing wall and roof. These 2D
elements should be assigned wind data by selecting the property ‘3D wind’.

2. The local axis of the 2D elements should be such that the normal vector is pointing
away the building. In the picture below the blue arrows denote the normal vector
shown pointing away from the building which is correct.

This is essential in order to get the wind loads in the correct direction. If the normal
vector direction is incorrect the ‘Swap orientation’ property is used to get them right.

3. The model created should be completely closed building. Open buildings will produce
error message as they are not handled by the software.

4. The face which has an inclination of more than ±10 degree, is considered as roof.
Declaring the face as wall will produce an error message.

5. The roof with an angle equal to 5 degree, then consider it as pitched roof. Declaring
the roof as ‘flat roof’ would produce a error message.

Don’ts

1. Terrain level should not be less than the minimum z of the building.
2. Pitched roof should not be assigned as Flat roof.
3. Do not assign wind data for the face which is present inside the building.

9
Wind velocity and pressure

EN 1991-1-4

TBC -Intro

Basic wind speed

Basic wind speed, Vb is determined in accordance to cl.4.2 of EN 1991-1-4.

Vb = Cdir * Cseason * Cprob * Vb,0 (cl.4.1 of EN 1991-1-4)

Cdir - Directional factor [cl.4.2(2)P NOTE 2]

Cseason - Season factor [cl.4.2(2)P NOTE 3]

Cprob – Probability factor [cl.4.2(2)P NOTE 4]

Cprob = [(1 – K * ln(-ln(1-p)))/(1 – K * ln(-ln(0.98)))]n [cl.4.2 of EN 1991-1-4]

p – Probability of annual exceedence in percentage

K – Shape parameter depending on the coefficient of variation of the extreme-

value distribution

n - Exponent

Vb,0 - Fundamental value of the basic wind velocity [cl.4.2(2)P]

Vb,0 = Vb,map * Calt (cl.NA.1 of UK NA to EN 1991-1-4))

Vb,map - Fundamental basic wind velocity before altitude correction [eq.NA.1]

Calt = 1 + 0.001*A for z ≤ 10m [eq.NA.2a]

Calt = 1 + 0.001*A*(10/z)0.2 for z > 10m [eq.NA.2b]

Calt – Altitude factor [cl.NA.2.5 of UK NA to EN 1991-1-4]

z - Height of the part above ground in m
OR
z - Altitude of the upwind base of the orography feature for significant orography
as defined in figure NA.2 in UK NA to EN 1991-1-4

A - Site altitude in m

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 with low vegetation such as grass and isolated obstacles
with separations of at least 20 obstacle heights.

For default EN this value is to be input by the user.

For UK national annex, it is calculated as per the expression shown above. A map is
provided as an aid to determine these values based on the site location through CADS
website http://wind.cadsglobal.net/. Vb,map and site altitude can be directly read from
the webpage.

10