W shape connection

[jmen68]

Hi all,

I am looking for a connection device that does not require drilling or welding. This drawing is the connection detail. It is a W12x65 flange to a W12x65 flange and the beams are perpendicular.

I have in mind some kind of clamping system preferably something that is a quick disconnect and could be reused. Anyone have any ideas or possibly had to do something similar to this? The reason for it to be quick disconnect is that the top beam will need to be used, then slid out of the way all in a matter of 30 minutes. The max loading on these will be a separation force around 35,000 lbf.

Ideally this would be an engineered product, preferably with some support behind it.

Thanks.

 

[sbisteel]

Check out LNA solutions, they have a proprietary beam clamp system and an engineering staff to back it all up.

Not sure if this is what you would consider a "quick disconnect", but I could probably get them off in 30 minutes myself.

 

[dhengr]

Jmen68:
“Separation force around 35,000 lbf.” Who is this and where and what direction does it act. With so little effort, you might have shown this on your picta-gram, along with some dimensions of the various parts. I can’t ever figure out how you guys expect meaningful answers when you leave out so much important design info. What are these bms. and why are they moved so often? What are the real loads on the bms. and where are they applied? There are some flange to flange clamping systems on the market, but I don’t have any names off the top of my head. One system has two similar cast steel clamping jaw pieces with a bolt run through them both, just outside the flange tips. The bolt is tightened to apply the clamping force. But, these are not otherwise connected to the bms. As you maneuver the loose top beams you have to be careful that you don’t drop the clamps on someone below, and that the loose beams remain stable. I would make my own clamping devices, with my dimensions here for explanation only, you design it. A bottom pl. same width as bm. flg. (12" x 1.5" x 24" long). This fits under the top flg. tip of the lower bm. 3-4" and is clamped down (up?) by two bolts (one ea. side of the web) of the upper bm. bot. flg. The drilled bolt holes in the upper bm. are 1" outside the flg. tip of the lower bm. The 24" long bottom pl. has a 1"x1"x10"long clamping bar welded to it, and 4-5" from the bolts, at the lower bm.; and on the back span it has a 1"x 1.625"x 10" long reaction bar welded to it. Near this reaction bar I would have a loose keeper bolt through the bm. flg. The bolts can be loosened a bit to allow the upper bm. to slide and then be clamped down again. If you are going to do this many times I would look at some double acting hydraulic cylinders btwn. the upper and lower (fixed) bms. to move/slide the upper bms. on the lower bms.