ASCE 7-02, Open, Enclosed or Partially Enclosed

[jheidt2543]

For a building, like a truck terminal or airplane hanger where the doors are a significant % of the wall area and there are usually multiple doors, how are you handling the determination of Open, Enclosed or Partially Enclosed. All the doors could be open, they all could be closed or some combination in between.

 

[UcfSE]

Windows and doors must be designed and detailed to withstand the appropriate components and cladding wind pressure to be considered closed, i.e. not a wall opening. Otherwise they are considered an opening. From there the area of what is considered an opening should be used to determine the building enclosure. My guess is this applies also to your situation.

 

[blake989]

Doors are openings. Reference the commentary of the 02 code section C6.5.9.

 

[jheidt2543]

Maybe I need to restate my question.

Yes, doors are openings and the doors themselves are designed as C&C. However, whether the door is open or closed affects the internal pressure of the building. In a building with numberous large doors, do you figure they are all open, all closed or a % of them open and a % closed? This can have a big effect on the building framing and roof deck and at first glance it seems too conservative to design for the case all doors on one side are open and all on the other side closed. Or, all doors closed or all doors open. What are the designers of truck terminals or airplane hangers doing in actual practice?

 

[UcfSE]

Usually, especially in hurricane regions, design wind speeds are accompanied by a large storm. NO ONE in their right mind leaves doors and windows open in a hurricane. Your question could easily apply to, say, french doors or a garage door on a house. If you leave the door open the storm comes in. Does that make any sense? You can engineer for whether doors and windows are designed to take wind loads. You cannot engineer for whether Gomer Stooge leaves the door open in a hurricane. It's kind of like legislating stupidity, you can't do it. Otherwise, if you really feel it needs to be pressed, design for the worst case of which you can think. If it makes you feel better put a note on your drawings stating that all doors must be closed during a design wind event.

 

[JAE]

....Gomer Stooge?

So much is packed into a name sometimes.