SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/eng-wind-pressure-suction

How can wind load act on building surfaces?

Wind can create both pressure and suction on building components.

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  1. Only as inward push on the windward wall
  2. Pressure and suction ✔
  3. Only as a downward push on the roof

Why: Airflow pushes on windward surfaces and can lower pressure on roofs, side walls, or leeward faces. Connections must resist uplift and outward forces as well as inward pressure.

Huh, didn't know that: Corners and roof edges can experience especially large local suction.

The dad joke
Why did the roof hold tight? It did not want to get carried away.
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References

Answer: Pressure and suction. Airflow pushes on windward surfaces and can lower pressure on roofs, side walls, or leeward faces. Connections must resist uplift and outward forces as well as inward pressure.

  1. University of Massachusetts Structural Load Factors people.umass.edu/cee433/course_topics/load_factors.html
    Wind - generates pressures and suctions on building components.
    Checked 2026-10-10.

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