Live Load portion of equipment weight. 1

[3doorsdwn]

Can the fluid part of the operating weight of a piece of equipment be considered live load?

I have some equipment (i.e. vertical vessels/columns) that have a great deal of fluid in them while they operate (in fact, the fluid weight is more than that of the vessel empty). On the one hand some people feel that the total operating weight of a piece of equipment should always be considered [all] dead load. But I’ve always been of the opinion that if a load can change in location or magnitude: it’s live. Thoughts?

 

[csd72]

You get a higher safety factor for live, so I would treat it as live load. The machine has a dynamic aspect and also could be overfilled therefore a DL safety factor would be too little.

If it is supported on a concrete slab, then I would treat it as long term load same as dead load.

 

[nutte]

Load due to fluid, F, has its own category in ASCE 7, and in the load combinations, it is added to the dead load. I'd wait to hear from some folks more familiar with this type of design, however, to see what "standard practice" is.