Proposal for determination of wind action on steel rack supported warehouses during execution

The exponential growth of e-commerce in the last decade boosts the need of large logistic centers. Steel rack supported warehouses (SRSWs) are one of the most competitive solutions for such infrastructures. The execution phase of SRSWs is challenging, as the stability of the structure has to be ensured throughout the different erection stages. The wind action is here particular important. The density of structural elements and the incompleteness of the SRSWs structure, is a vulnerable condition under wind loads. The determination of wind forces during execution according to the EN 1991-1-4 is very limited when dealing with open frame structures, and in particular, with structural systems such as SRSWs. In order to overcome this lack, the wind action on SRSWs during execution has been subject of a recent concluded RFCS research project “STEELWAR”. This paper presents the proposal of a method to determine the wind forces on SRSWs under construction. The method is derived from a series of wind tunnel tests. Subsequently, given the inherent limitation of such experimental program, the extension of the method to a range of practical cases is proposed. Finally, an application to a real case study is used to assess the vulnerability of the SRSWs during the execution.