Section 20 Eurocode 1

EN 1991-1-4
Section 7 (Page 61 to 65)

20.1 Free-standing walls, parapets, fences and signboards

F or free-standing walls and parapets resulting pressure coefficients cp,net

should be specified for the zones A, B, C and D as shown in Figure 7.19.

Figure 20.95 From Figure 7.19 [modified] - Key to zones of free-standing walls and parapets.

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The values of the resulting pressure coefficients cp,net for free-standing walls and
parapets depend on the solidity ratio  . For solid walls the solidity  should be
taken as 1, and for walls which are 80% solid (i.e. have 20% openings)  = 0,8.
Porous walls and fences with a solidity ratio   0 8 should be treated as plane
lattices in accordance with 7.11.

Values of the resulting pressure coefficients cp,net for free-standing walls and
parapets may be given in the National Annex. Recommended values are given in
Table 7.9 for two different solidity ratio. These recommended values correspond
to a direction of oblique wind compared to the wall without return corner (see
Figure 7.19) and, in the case of the wall with return corner, to the two opposite
directions indicated in Figure 7.19 (modified)(11). The reference area in both
cases is the gross area. Linear interpolation may be used for solidity ratio
between 0,8 and 1.

Solidity Zone A B C D

lh3 2,3 1,4 1,2 1,2

with return
lh = 5 2,9 1,8 1,4 1,2
corners
 = 1 l  h  10 3,4 2,1 1,7 1,2

with return corners of

2,1 1,8 1,4 1,2
length > h(a)

 = 0 8 1,2 1,2 1,2 1,2

Table 20.49 Recommended pressure coefficients cp,net for free-standing walls and parapets.

(a). Linear interpolation may be used for return corner lengths between 0,0 and h.

The reference height for free standing walls and fences should be taken as ze = h,
see Figure 7.19. The reference height for parapets on buildings should be taken
as ze = (h + hp), see Figure 7.6.

20.2 Shelter factors for walls and fences

If there are other walls or fences upwind that are equal in height or taller than
the wall or fence of height, h, under consideration, then an additional shelter
factor can be used with the net pressure coefficients for walls and lattice fences.
The value of the shelter factor  s depends on the spacing between the walls or
fences x, and the solidity  , of the upwind (sheltering) wall or fence. Values of  s
are given in Figure 7.20. The resulting net pressure coefficient on the sheltered
wall, cp,net,s, is given by:

c p net s =  s  c p net . (Eq. 20‐74)

(11) See “WIND-I” and “WIND-II”.

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Figure 20.96 From Figure 7.20 - Shelter factor  s for walls and fences for  -values between 0,8 and 1,0.

The shelter factor should not be applied in the end zones within a distance of h
measured from the free end of the wall. In addition, no advantage from shelter
should be taken on parts of the downwind wall which extend beyond the
projected ends of the upwind wall.

20.3 Signboards

For signboards separated from the ground by a height zg greater than h/4 (see
Figure 7.21) or less than h/4 with b/h < 1, the force coefficients are given by
Expression (7.7):

c f = 1 80 . (Eq. 20‐75)

The resultant force normal to the signboard should be taken to act at the height
of the centre of the signboard with a horizontal eccentricity “e”. The value of the
horizontal eccentricity e may be given in the National Annex. The recommended
value is:

e =  0 25  b . (Eq. 20‐76)

Signboards separated from the ground by a height zg less than h/4 and with
b  h  1 should be treated as boundary walls, see 7.4.1. Divergence or stall flutter
instabilities should be checked.

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Figure 20.97 From Figure 7.21 - Key for signboards.

20.4 Friction coefficients

Friction should be considered for the cases defined in 5.3(3). Friction forces can
arise when the wind blows parallel to external surfaces such as walls or roofs.
Friction coefficients cfr, for walls and roof surfaces are given in Table 7.10. The

Figure 20.98 From Figure 7.22 [modified]- Reference area for friction.

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reference area Afr is given in Figure 7.22. Friction forces should be applied on the
part of the external surfaces parallel to the wind, located beyond a distance from
the upwind eaves or corners, equal to the smallest value of 2b or 4h.

Surface Friction coefficient cfr

Smooth (i.e. steel, smooth concrete) 0,01

Rough (i.e. rough concrete, tar-boards) 0,02

very rough (i.e. ripples, ribs, folds) 0,04

Table 20.50 From Table 7.10 - Frictional coefficients cfr for walls, parapets and roof surfaces.

The reference height ze should be taken equal to the structure height above
ground or building height “h”, see Figure 7.22.

20.5 Verification tests

EN1991‐1‐4_(A)_12.XLS.  6.34 MB. Created: 24 July 2013. Last/Rel.-date: 24 July

2013. Sheets:
— Splash
— CodeSec7(61to64)
— CodeSec7(64to65).

EXAMPLE 20-BS‐ Free‐standing walls and parapets ‐ Sec. 7.4.1 ‐ test1

Given: A free standing wall with return corner is given. Height of the free standing wall h
= 4,00 m. Length of the free standing wall L = 3,50 m. Solidity ratio  = 0 85 .
According to Table 7.9, find the recommended pressure coefficients cp,net.
[Reference sheet: CodeSec7(61to64)]‐[Cell‐Range: A1:O1‐A78:O78].

Solution: We have: 0,3h = 1,20 m; 2h = 8,00 m; 4h = 16,00 m; L/h = 3,50/4,00 = 0,88 (rounded value). 
Solidity  0 8    1  with return corners and  0  L  h : linear interpolation between 0,0 and 
h. From Table 7.9:   = 0 8  with cp,net = 1,2 (zones A, B, C, D),   = 1  with return corners 
of length > h with cp,net = 2,1 (zone A); 1,8 (zone B); 1,4 (zone C); 1,2 (zone D).
Case with L < 2h applies (see Figure 7.18): only the zones A and B. Linear interpolation 
between 0,0 and h = 4,00 m with   = 1  and L = 3,50 m:
2 1 – 0 c p net – 0
------------------ = --------------------
-  c p net = 1 8375  1 84  (zone A with   = 1 )
4–0 3 50 – 0
1 8 – 0 c p net – 0
------------------ = --------------------
-  c p net = 1 575  1 58  (zone B with   = 1 ).
4–0 3 50 – 0
For zone A linear interpolation between   = 0 8  with cp,net = 1,2 and   = 1  with cp,net = 
1,84:

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c p net – 1 2
 84 – 1 2- = -----------------------------
1-------------------------- -  c p net = 1 36 .
1 0 – 0 8 0 85 – 0 80
For zone B linear interp. between   = 0 8  with cp,net = 1,2 and   = 1  with cp,net = 1,58:
c p net – 1 2
 58 – 1 2- = -----------------------------
1-------------------------- -  c p net = 1 295  1 30 .
1 0 – 0 8 0 85 – 0 80
The reference height for free standing walls should be taken as ze = h = 4,00 m, see Figure 
7.19.
example-end

EXAMPLE 20-BT‐ Shelter factors for walls and fences ‐ Sec. 7.4.2 ‐ test2

Given: A wall upwind taller than the wall of height h = 4,00 m considered in the previous 
example is given. The solidity    of the upwind sheltering wall is equal to 0,9. The spacing 
between the walls is x < 40,00 m. Find the resulting pressure coefficient cp,net,s on the 
sheltered wall.
[Reference sheet: CodeSec7(61to64)]‐[Cell‐Range: A82:O82‐A144:O144].

Solution: Height of wall under consideration: h = 4,00 m. Therefore: x/h = (40,00)/(4,00) = 10. From 
Figure 7.20 ‐ “Shelter factor   s  for walls and fences for   ‐values between 0,8 and 1,0”: 
 s = 0 65  for   = 1  with x/h = 10;   s = 0 45  for   = 0 8  with x/h = 10. 

Figure 20.99From Excel® output.

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Linear interpolation (sheltering wall with   = 0 9 ) for  0 8    1 : 
 s =  0 65 + 0 45   2 = 0 55 .
From previous example we have (case with L < 2h applies): cp,net = 1,36 (zone A); 1,30 
(zone B). Therefore the resulting net pressure coefficients are:
c p net s =  s  c p net = 0 55  1 36 = 0 75  (zone A);
c p net s =  s  c p net = 0 55  1 30 = 0 72  (zone B).

The shelter factors should not be applied in the end zones within a distance of h 
measured from the free end of the wall.
example-end

EXAMPLE 20-BU‐ Signboards ‐ Sec. 7.4.3 ‐ test3

Given: A signboard separated from the ground by a height zg = 2,00 m is given. The dimension of 
the signboard are h = 10,00 m (height), b = 3,00 (width). The peak velocity pressure at the 
reference height  z e = z g + 0 5h = 7 00 m  is  q p  z e  = 1 50 kN  m 2 . Calculate the shear and 
bending reaction at the base of the structure.
[Reference sheet: CodeSec7(61to64)]‐[Cell‐Range: A149:O149‐A253:O253].

Solution: Reference area:  A ref = b  h =  3 00    10 00  = 30 00 m 2 . Case 2 applies with:

z g  h  4  2 00   10 00  4  = 2 50
b  h  1  3 00  10 00 = 0 30  1.
Therefore, we have  c f = 1 80  and  e =  0 25b =  0 25   3 00  =  0 75 m .

Shear and bending reactions acting at the base of the structure
F w = c s  c d  q p  z e   c f  A ref = c s  c d  1 50  1 80  30 00 = c s  c d  81 00 kN .
M wV = F w  e =   c s  c d  81 00   0 75 =  c s  c d  60 75 kNm .
M wH = F w  z e =   c s  c d  81 00   7 00 =  c s  c d  567 00 kNm .

example-end

EXAMPLE 20-BV‐ Friction coefficients ‐ Sec. 7.5 ‐ test4

Given: A simple rectangular building with duopitch roof is given. The dimensions of the 
building are: ridge height h = ze = 6,00 m, gutter height hmin = 2,00 m, width b = 15,00 m 
(crosswind dimension) and depth d = 30,00 m. Find the frictional force considering a lack 
of correlation of wind pressures.
[Reference sheet: CodeSec7(64to65)]‐[Cell‐Range: A1:O1‐A128:O128].

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Solution: Pitch roof angle:
h – h min 4 00
- = tan  = ------------  0 53    28  cos   0 88 .
------------------
0 5b 7 50
Substituting the given numerical data we obtain:
min  2b ; 4h  = min  2   15 00  ; 4   6 00   = 24 00 m ,
d – min  2b ; 4h  = 30 00 – 24 00 = 6 00 m ,
A fr = 2  d – min  2b ; 4h     h min + 0 5b  cos   = 2   6 00    2 00 + 0 5   15 00    0 88  
A fr = 126 00 m 2 .
With a peak velocity pressure (say)  q p  z e  = 1 50 kN  m 2  and a frictional coefficient 
c fr = 0 02 , we get:
F fr = c fr  q p  z e   A fr = 0 02  1 50  126 00 = 3 78 kN ,
F fr  A fr = c fr  q p  z e  = 0 02  1 50 = 0 03 kN  m 2 .

In the summation of the wind forces acting on building structures, the lack of correlation 
of wind pressures between the windward and leeward sides may be taken into account. 
The lack of correlation of wind pressures between the windward and leeward side may be 
considered as follows. For buildings with h/d > 5 the resulting force is multiplied by 1. For 
buildings with h/d < 1, the resulting force is multiplied by 0,85. For intermediate values of 
h/d, linear interpolation may be applied.
Building with  h  d = 6 00  30 00 = 0 20  h  d  1 . Therefore, the resulting 
frictional force should be multiplied by   = 0 85 :
F fr = 0 85   3 78  = 3 21 kN ;
F fr  A fr = c fr  q p  z e    = 0 02  1 50  0 85 = 0 0255 kN  m 2 .

example-end

EXAMPLE 20-BW‐ Free‐standing walls and parapets ‐ Wind actions (Sec. 5.3 ‐ Eq. (5.3)) ‐ test5

Given: Using the same data given in the Example 20‐BS, find the wind forces acting on the 
free‐standing wall. Let us assume the following assumptions:
– peak velocity pressure at the reference height  z e = h = 4 00 m :  q p  z e  = 600 N  m 2
– structural factor (as defined in Sec. 6):  c s c d = 1 0 .
[Reference sheet: CodeSec7(61to64)]‐[Cell‐Range: A1:O1‐A78:O78].

Solution: From Example 11‐V we have:
Case with  L  2h  (see Figure 7.18). 
Linear interpolation from Table 7.9 with solidity ratio equal to   = 0 85  -  :
– Zone A:  c p net = 1 36
– Zone B:  c p net = 1 30 .
From Figure 7.19 ‐ “Key to zones of free‐standing walls and parapets” (case  L  2h ), we get:

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Figure 20.100 PreCalculus Excel® form: procedure for a quick pre-calculation.

Zone A:  0 3h = 0 3   4 00  = 1 20 m  with
A ref A =   0 3h 2 = 0 85  0 3   4 00  2 = 4 08 m 2  (rounded value),
Zone B:  L – 0 3h = 3 50 – 0 3   4 00  = 2 30 m  with
A ref B =    L – 0 3  h   h = 0 85   3 50 – 0 3   4 00    4 00 = 7 82 m 2  (rounded value),

Shear and bending reactions acting at the base of the structure
Zone A
F w A = c s c d  q p  z e   c p net  A ref A = 1 0  0 60  1 36  4 08 = 3 33 kN .
M wA = F w A  0 5h =  3 33   2 00 = 6 66 kNm .

Zone B
F w B = c s c d  q p  z e   c p net  A ref B = 1 0  0 60  1 30  7 82 = 6 10 kN .
M wB = F w  0 5h =  6 10   2 00 = 12 20 kNm .

example-end

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20.6 References [Section 20]

EN 1991-1-4:2005/A1:2010. Eurocode 1: Actions on structures - Part 1-4:

General actions - Wind actions. Brussels: CEN/TC 250 - Structural
Eurocodes, April 2010.

EN 1991-1-4:2005. Eurocode 1: Actions on structures - Part 1-4: General actions

- Wind actions. Brussels: CEN/TC 250 - Structural Eurocodes,
March 2005 (DAV).

Manual for the design of building structures to Eurocode 1 and Basis of

Structural Design, April 2010. © 2010 The Institution of Structural
Engineers.