See the SDI Specifications and Commentary for steel roof decks, which can be found in about any deck catalog. There is a table of recommended maximum spans for construction and maintenance loads for different deck types and span conditions.
Span limitations are primarily driven by insurance rather than explicit engineering, although the two are related. Companies like FM Global limit deck spans beyond which they will not insure roofing (Link). I know that Canam's deck catalog has FM Global's span limitation reproduced in tabular form. To my knowledge, AISC enforces no limits on deck span.
I like to debate structural engineering theory -- a lot. If I challenge you on something, know that I'm doing so because I respect your opinion enough to either change it or adopt it.
Certainly, AISC references SDI regarding the engineering evaluation of deck capacity.
I like to debate structural engineering theory -- a lot. If I challenge you on something, know that I'm doing so because I respect your opinion enough to either change it or adopt it.
Maximum spans are driven by 3 things (that I am aware of):
1) Insurance underwriter limitations such as FM Global, Swiss-Re, etc
2) UL requirements for fire ratings
3) Deck capacities for deflections limitations
It is my experience that deck spans have little to do with floor vibrations. It is generally related to how light the floor is, how long the joist spans are and the dampening characteristics.
