Will Internal Wind Pressure affect the Stability of Buildings?

An interesting question on internal wind pressure that came up at the civilera structural discussion forum: ‘’Will the internal pressure inside a building/ internal wind pressure affect its stability?’’ I thought it sounded like a pretty interesting question to cover, and many students asked me to do a video when I posted this question as a Structural Quiz in Instagram. I’m going to explain with sketches what stability of a building is and how internal wind pressure is not contributing to any instability. I hope you like it!
The external windward pressure and the Leeward pressures are additive.
The external side pressure is equal and opposite
As per IS 875 Part 3, the wind code, the internal distribution of wind can be considered uniform, either a pressure or a suction. Both conditions need to be considered but one at a time and hence internal pressure coefficients are equal and opposite and cancels each other.
Internal pressure and internal pressure coefficients matter for the side wall cladding design. You cannot ignore them
Internal pressure also affects the roof design if it is a truss as the truss will be subjected to uplift due to the internal pressure.
Over all stability of a building is not affected by the internal wind pressure.
If you have any questions or comments on this topic of wind load and wind pressure or even on stability of structures, please discuss here in the comments.
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