Articles
Wind on Rooftop Structures and Equipment
ASCE 7 has a method for calculating wind loads on rooftop Structures and equipment for buildings, and this article will describe that method. Fortunately, the method is relatively straight forward, not too complicated, and is covered in ASCE 7-16 Section 29.4.1 What type of Rooftop Equipment? In section 29.4.1 of ASCE 7, it coveres all rooftop structures and…
Components and Cladding Example
This article provides a Components and Cladding (C&C) example calculation for a typical building structure. We will first perform the calculations manually, and then show how the same calculations can be performed much easier using the MecaWind software. What is Components and Cladding? ASCE 7-16 defines Components and Cladding (C&C) as: “Elements of the building envelope or elements…
Fastest-Mile Wind Speed
Many times we have the difficult task of analyzing a structure that was designed long ago. In such cases, you may find that the wind speed used may appear significantly lower than the wind speed you would expect for that location using today’s standards. In these situations, it’s always important to understand the definition of…
Climbing the Ladder
MecaStack allows the user to enter ladders and platforms on their stack. These are considered an appurtenance, and not adding any structural stiffness to the stack. MecaStack does consider the wind area and weight added by these ladders and platforms, which can be significant on a stack. Ladder Weight and Wind Area: MecaStack considers the…
ASCE 7 Wind on Stacks and Similar
This article will explain how to calculate wind loads per ASCE 7 on stacks/chimneys and similar structures. ASCE 7-16, Chapter 29 covers “Other Structures”. This is a very broad section that covers a lot of different types of structures. Even if you don’t design stacks/chimneys, it is possible that other types of structures you design…
Troitsky Breach Analysis
This article covers the Troitsky Breach Analysis method. A breach is an opening in the cylindrical shell of the stack that compromises its structural integrity. This is usually either a rectangular ducting connection or a cylindrical pipe nozzle penetrating the stack shell. Previously we have written an article called “Life is a Breach” which outlined the method…
Wind Wizard
MecaWind has many features and options within the software, which can be both a blessing and a curse. It gives the user greater control over the results they obtain, but for the novice user it can be overwhelming to understand what is being requested with each option. This is the single biggest challenge facing new…
Piggy-Back Stacks
We often get the question of how to model a Tandem or Piggy back stack in MecaStack. One can be handled by the software and the other cannot. Piggy-Back Stacks: A Piggy-Back stack is one where one or more stack is supported by another stack. Usually the biggest stack is the main support, and then you…