1950's steel

[nuche1973]

I am working on at water tank that was constructed in the 1950's. There are no plans or specifications. I need to find the Fy for the steel used. (I know that A-36 was introduced in the 1960's) I found a older 1940's AISC that stated the tension stress could not exceed 20 ksi. My question is: could I use the Ft of 20 ksi in my .66Fy calc? (I collect old engineering manuals and I have a copy of the fifth edition. But it is a home and my wife got frustrated when I called and asked her to find the necessary information.) Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[JKW05]

20 ksi was the allowable tensile stress. The yield stress for steel for bridges and buildings for that era was 33 ksi.

 

[MotorVib]

Can you take a hardness reading of the steel, that should give you a ball park for the Tensile Strength. The hard part is finding a good place to take the reading. The last place I worked we had a nice hand held Brinell Tester.

Chris

 

[nuche1973]

Thanks, I appreciate it.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

Tell your boss you need to drive home to get the info - kiss your wife or more if you get lucky - go back to work....

What is the problem here??