RAM Structural System Help

Wind Pressure on Surface: Section 5.1

Wind pressure acting on external surfaces is calculated from:
we= cpe  qpze(5.1)
where
ze
=
reference height for external pressure (see Section 7)
cpe
=
pressure coefficient for external pressure (see Section 7)

The "cpe" coefficients are calculated from Table 7.1 for windward and leeward surfaces. Note that windward and leeward surfaces are marked with the latter "D" and "E" in the figure, respectively.

Zone D E
h/d Cpe = Cpe,10 Cpe = Cpe,10
5 +0.8 -0.7
1 +0.8 -0.5
≤ 0.25 +0.7 -0.3
Table 7.1 Recommended values of external pressure coefficients for vertical walls and rectangular buildings (only partial data for the table shown below)
The following points are important to note:
  1. Pressure coefficient "cpe" is divided into two components: overall coefficient "cpe,10" (pressures on surfaces > 10 m2) and local coefficient "cpe,1" (pressures < 1 m2). Current implementation does not count local effects, hence, it is assumed that "cpe = cpe,10". Also note that the equation given for Figure 7.2 is not implemented (i.e., interpolation of cpe between cpe,10 and cpe,1).
  2. In calculation of cpe according to Table 7.1, the following rule is applied to obtain the value of d: if the extends of the story/stories above are greater than the extends of the current story, the greater extends from the stories above is used.
  3. In calculation of cpe according to Table 7.1, an option to apply a correction for lack of windward and leeward correlation is also included (see Section 7.2.2, Note (3)). In this case, the same rule applied to cpe is followed to obtain "d".
  4. The cpe coefficients can be also directly entered by the user. In this case, values for X and Y directions are entered separately for windward and leeward surfaces.
  5. Interpolation is applied for intermediate values of h/d in Table 7.1.