AeroSim

Wind studies for warehouses

Logistics parks, industrial plants and hangars, where wind governs the steel.

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Consulting services

The wind services a shed usually needs: the speed-up the terrain gives the wind, the pressures on roof and walls, and the basic wind speed of the site.

Topographic factor (S1)

How much the terrain speeds the wind up over your plateau.

What it is

The wind speed-up caused by the relief around the site, computed over the real terrain instead of read from a closed-form equation. The standard treats slopes, hills and escarpments as idealised two-dimensional shapes; we build a digital terrain model of the actual site and its surroundings and return the topographic factor point by point over the layout, for each wind direction.

When you need it

  • The plateau is cut into a hillside, sits on top of a hill, or runs along the edge of an escarpment.
  • The surrounding relief looks like none of the idealised shapes in the standard, so the code factor is a guess in either direction.
  • Applying one blanket S1 to the whole site prices the entire structure for the worst single point.
  • The development has several sheds at different levels and one factor cannot represent all of them.
  • The structural engineer has to justify the adopted S1 to the client, the insurer or a design review.
  • Earthworks are still open and you want to know which layout takes the least wind.

What we deliver

Digital terrain model of the plateau and the relief for kilometres around
S1 field mapped over the layout, direction by direction
Vertical wind profiles at the level of each building
Comparison against the code factor, with the value we recommend for design
Technical report signed by an engineer, ready for the design calculations

How we do it

  1. 1Build the digital terrain model from survey and public elevation data, covering the plateau and the relief that influences it.
  2. 2Run the simulations for the wind directions that govern the site, with an atmospheric boundary layer at the inlet.
  3. 3Extract the speed-up over the layout and convert it into a topographic factor per direction and per building.
  4. 4Consolidate the corrected wind field and the recommended factor into the report for the structural design.

Real project

Logistics development

Wind speeds computed over the site plateau of a logistics development, replacing a blanket code factor with the real topographic speed-up. The more accurate loads cut structural material across the board.

+100,000 m²

Site area

-6%

Foundation piles

-8%

Footings

-9%

Concrete columns

-7%

Steel roof

Pressure coefficients (Cp)

Roof and wall pressures by zone, for the steel and for the cladding.

What it is

External pressure coefficients over the whole envelope of the shed - roof, walls, eaves, ridge, corners, skylights and canopies - taken from a high-fidelity LES with the neighbouring buildings and the terrain in the model. Delivered as a map and as tabulated coefficients by zone, split between the primary structure and the cladding and its fixings.

When you need it

  • The geometry is outside the code tables: shed roofs, arches, multiple spans, blocks at different heights.
  • Neighbouring sheds sit close enough to change the loading through channelling and interference.
  • Skylights, canopies, covered docks and long eaves, where local suction governs how the sheeting is fixed.
  • The steel package is big enough that a few per cent of load pays for the study several times over.
  • Sheeting or purlins have been torn off on this site or on a comparable one nearby.
  • A design review or the insurer wants pressures justified by a site-specific study rather than a table.

What we deliver

External Cp map over roof and walls, for every wind direction simulated
Tabulated coefficients by zone, ready to be applied in the structural model
Separate coefficients for the primary structure and for cladding and fixings
Neighbourhood and terrain effects included in the digital model
Comparison against the code coefficients, showing where they are conservative and where they are not

How we do it

  1. 1Model the sheds, the neighbouring buildings and the site terrain as they will be built.
  2. 2Run LES for the governing wind directions, resolving the separation at eaves, ridge and corners.
  3. 3Extract the pressure field over the envelope and average it into design zones.
  4. 4Table the coefficients for the structure and for the cladding, and report them against the code values.

Basic wind speed (V0)

The design wind speed for your site, from real station records.

What it is

A site-specific basic wind speed derived from the records of the meteorological stations around the site: the series are collected, corrected for anemometer height, terrain roughness and exposure, and fitted statistically for the design return period. It is the number every other wind study multiplies, so getting it right propagates through the whole design.

When you need it

  • The site falls between isopleths and reading the map is a judgement call worth several per cent of load.
  • The code map is decades old and there are nearby stations with long records that tell a different story.
  • The built area is large enough that one metre per second of V0 moves the steel tonnage.
  • You need a return period other than the standard one - temporary structures, staged construction, extended service life.
  • You are comparing sites in different regions and want the wind load of each before choosing.
  • You are about to commission an S1 or Cp study and want it to start from the right speed.

What we deliver

Selection and critique of the representative meteorological stations
Treated series, corrected for anemometer height, terrain and exposure
Extreme-value fit and V0 by return period
Wind rose and directional distribution for the site
Comparison against the code isopleth map, with the documented alternatives and our recommendation

How we do it

  1. 1Identify the meteorological stations near the site and check their records for length, gaps and consistency.
  2. 2Treat the series: correct for anemometer height, surrounding roughness and exposure, and homogenise the record.
  3. 3Fit an extreme-value distribution and derive V0 for the design return periods.
  4. 4Report the alternatives against the code map, with the recommendation and everything needed to defend it.
Trusted & validated

Why you can trust our results

We are not a physical wind tunnel - we are a CFD specialist whose results are validated against wind tunnel measurements. AeroSim is an international reference in computational wind engineering.

Journal of Wind Engineering & Industrial Aerodynamics

Peer-reviewed

Published solver

JWEIA, 2026

Validated against wind tunnel
70+ consulting projects across the Americas and Europe
Peer-reviewed, published solver (JWEIA, 2026)
High-fidelity LES simulations
Research PaperTechnical PresentationValidation GuideProjects

Peer-reviewed: Oliveira Jr., W., et al. “Nassu: A high performance LES solver for computational wind engineering”. Journal of Wind Engineering & Industrial Aerodynamics, 274 (2026) 106465.

Is your project neither a warehouse nor a tower?

Talk to us: we also study hangars, ports, canopies and one-off structures.

See the services for buildings

Have a project in development?

Tell us the geometry and the site, and we will tell you what the wind study needs to cover.

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