Machine bearing on second story

[lcd123]

I need to install 3 machines in a second story manufacturing facility. Each machine weighs approx 6400lbs and is a static load (ie. no pounding). They are to be in a 16' x 14' footprint. Each machine is supported by three leveling feet 4" dia. The floor is rated at 2.6 psi. When calculating the bearing stress of the machines on the floor it is 177psi for each leveling foot.

Is the floor rating based on an overall area of the facility? Or is it based on a localized stress point (ie. my leveling feet)? Do I need to know the location of building beems? Is this bearing excessive for manufacturing machines? Is the rating unusually low?

Thanks

 

[boo1]

Common building design uses a allowable stress to calculate the average psf loading. Commonly bearing plates are utilized to distribute small loading such as yours. Higher loadings dictate design investigations to determine beam locations or additional support requiremnents.

 

[dlew]

lcd123,

It seems each leg has a load of 2,200#.
You should verify that the existing floor is capable to support these concentrated loads. If possible, locate the legs on or very close to the existing beams.

If no additional load is placed on the area occupied by the machines, the average load on that area is approximately 85 psf (3*6400#/(16'*14')) that is less than the floor rating of 2.6 psi (375 psf).

The bearing under the legs is relatively low. The rating of the floor (375 psf) seems ok for an industrial facility.

AEF