Pressure coefficients for low-rise building envelopes derived from full-scale experiments

Abstract Full-scale measurements of surface pressures have been completed on a range of single-span buildings: several examples are presented for illustration. Methods for analysing full-scale data to obtain pressure coefficients have been examined. The quasi-steady approach has been found to provide an appropriate basis since the results so obtained lead to predictions of structural strains in an instrumented building which are in good agreement with measured strains. This provides justification for an analysis method which is outlined here and which, it is recommended, should be used for the derivation of pressure coefficients for design codes and standards. Full-scale measurements have indicated the importance of the geometric parameters of building height, span and roof slope in the assessment of wind loads. For the design of rudimentary buildings such as domestic dwellings, a simplified set of coefficients is presented for single- and two-storey domestic housing. This has particular application in developing cyclone-resistant housing. Further measurements and analysis are required to produce generalised pressure distributions for low-rise buildings.