Beam Deflection

[EOIT]

Hello All,

We are going to weld a temporary wide flange beam to existing structural steel for an overhead trolley system. It will either be catalivered or simple suppoted at two fixed points or a combination of both. I have the calculations for the deflection of either support setup and the appropriate I and E for different beams. The length between supports is around 18 feet and the loads are about 10,000 pounds.

Question: Is there a standard "acceptable deflection" for supporting different structures or some sort of "max shear" for the critical load at the worst case point for either system?? I can find this type of setup for a buckling column but not for a beam under load.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

EOIT

 

[COEngineeer]

For residential it is L/360 for live load. I always design it at L/480 LL and L/240 Total Load though. If you are not sure, I would just design it for L/600 Live load.

 

[Gumpmaster]

You might want to check the trolley deflection limits. The trolleys are actually limited by a slope, but it's easier to calc a deflection, so the deflection limit is often L/1000 in the strong axis and L/600 lateral deflection (both are total load I think). Check with the trolley manufacturer to be sure.

 

[UcfSE]

I agree with checking with the manufacturer. They often have their own data reflecting the criteria to which you must design.