@apsix Yes, stainless rebar was mentioned... and it's a fine alternative to conventional rebar as long as it's an Austinitic formulation of stainless (all stainless has iron in it, but some varieties of stainless lock the iron into a crystaline structure, Austinite, where it does not react the...
OK, these questions (and a parallel project) prompted me to do a little bit of digging about nearby metal effects on the MRI system operation.
If there is enough ferromagnetic metal (iron, nickel and cobalt) nearby to the MRI scanner, it throws off the 'tune' of the precisely-balanced magnetic...
@271828... Great questions, all!
If we can design for the loads, and simply substitute FRP or carbon fiber for the reinforcing for a CIP slab, both design and cost differentials are negligible.
I would hope that the architect would have enough respect / fear of botching the install of this...
Before anyone else says it, let me clarify my PSF value for my #4's at 18" oc / ew... the magnetic distortion effects are highly localized. It's inappropriate to average the weight across large areas away from the magnet. 1.8 PSF is the 'worst case' scenario of the 1.5 feet each direction which...
@structuresguy, it really depends on what your objectives are. First, it is hoped that the building will last 30 - 50 years, but the equipment will be swapped-out several times during that timeframe. Designing to the minimum allowable standards (or as close as you can get to the tolerances) may...
The criteria change. It used to be that MRI's required rooms as big as racquetball courts, now they're about 1/4 the prior size. As the sensitivity of the scanner goes up (higher field strength), the sensitivity to environmental disturbances also go up (primarily vibration). Different scan...
One of the challenges with designing MRI suites lies in the fact that the building will last 30 - 50 years, but the equipment has a mean usable life of 7-8 years, meaning that the MRI scanner will be replaced with new versions 3 to 7 times over the (hopeful) life of the suite. Each new...
As has been said before, a structural engineer needs to keep a few things in mind when designing a SoG for an MRI scanner.
Metal: These MRI scanners have magnetic fields tuned like Stradivarius instruments. Magnetic metals (iron, nickel & cobalt) will attract the magnetic field of the MRI and...
