Wind loads on free-standing canopy roofs: Part 1 local wind pressures

Wind loads on free-standing canopy roofs have been studied in a wind-tunnel. Three types of roof geometries, i.e. gable, troughed and mono-sloped roofs, with roof pitches between 0° and 15°, were tested. Wind pressures were measured simultaneously at many points both on the upper and lower surfaces of the roof model for various wind directions. The paper describes the characteristics of the local wind pressures with special attention to the mechanism and estimation of the peak net pressure–difference coefficients. Based on the results for the most critical positive and negative peak pressure coefficients irrespective of wind direction, the wind force coefficients for the design of cladding and its immediately supporting structure are proposed. The proposed values are compared with the previous wind-tunnel results as well as with the specifications of the Australian/New Zealand (AS/NZ) Standard (2002).