This webinar was co-sponsored by ASCE's Structural Engineering Institute and ASCE Continuing Education  

Purpose and Background

This three-part webinar series discusses how to use the wind load provisions of ASCE 7-10 Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures. The series will cover the basics of wind engineering including the atmospheric and aerodynamic effects of wind on buildings. The changes recently adopted for use in ASCE 7-10 will be a prominent part of the material. The changes include revised wind speed maps and a building classification system based on risk of a natural hazard to the building or contents, instead of occupancy as used in previous versions of the standard.

The series will cover all methods used to develop wind pressures on buildings – the analytical method (now called directional procedure), the low-rise method (now called envelope procedure), and simplified methods where wind pressures are determined from tables of results based on exposure classification, height and building characteristics. Wind pressure determination for both the Main Wind Force Resisting System (MWFRS) and Components and Cladding (C&C) are included. Wind pressures are developed for several buildings including variations on the pressures caused by changing the exposure and height of the buildings.

This webinar is being offered early in the outreach process for ASCE 7-10 to give engineers a chance to get familiar with the new provisions long before their local community adopts a building code that requires the use of these new provisions. Engineers may want to practice the use of these new provisions to determine the real effects on designs and on client requirements. Other engineering tools such as computer software will not likely be available yet. This webinar is one of the first efforts at outreach this early in the adoption cycle of this engineering standard.

Learning Outcomes

The webinar will provide engineers with information about how to apply the wind load provisions in ASCE 7-10 to design situations. The material has been developed to provide practicing engineers with the basics of wind engineering and how wind interacts with buildings. The newly revised sections in ASCE 7-10 are referenced throughout this webinar series to help the user become better acquainted with the reorganized wind provisions.

Webinar Benefits

• Gain an understanding of how wind interacts with building elements and how building design influences wind pressures
• Examine how to apply the wind load provisions to example buildings
• Learn what the significant changes are in the ASCE 7-10 wind provisions
• Learn about a new simplified method for determining wind pressures for buildings up to 160 feet tall

Intended Audience

The level of instruction is appropriate for engineers just learning the specific wind provisions of ASCE 7-10 and how to apply those provisions to design situations. The primary audience is structural engineers who have some experience at performing designs for buildings and other structures but have not had much experience with wind design.

Webinar Outline

• Background and basics
• Atmospheric effects
• Aerodynamic effects
• Basic wind equation
• Building classification
• ASCE 7-10 definitions
• Wind speed maps
• Analytical procedure
• Low-rise procedure
• Simplified procedures
• MWFRS and components and cladding
• Wind load cases
• Example – low-rise building
  – Analytical method
  – Low-rise method
• Example – unusual shaped building (analytical method)
• Example – low-rise building
  – Simplified method
  – Variation of exposure and height