Floor Loading

[haggis]

Hi all, My question about floor loading is this. I am trying to establish the floor loading on a steel grid frame with steel plate on top temporarily covering a pit. I know the weight of the traffic on this floor and will be using 5 x 10 steel plates as the cover. Am I correct in assuming that to calculate the PSF loading on the floor I can only use the area of one steel plate. A one piece plate (not possible )would obviously distribute the load over the entire grid.
Thanks for any help in advance.

 

[Rawand]

I'll try to answer despite of that the whole question is fuzzy,

assume that the breadth of a plate is B, length is L
assume that the load on one sqm is q
assume that n is the number of plates sharing a side (frame element) n=1 for edge frames, n=2 for inner frames
the load transmitted to one long side of the plate will be as follows (for a plate 5x10) B x q x n (on one meter length)
the load on the short side will be simplified as 1 x q x n
considering only the direct loading on the frame since the plae will behave as one way slab

for the design of the plate itself, the grid frame, you will have to explore some structural references.

sorry... but it is easier to consult structural engineer directly good luck