- #1
KnowNothingMan
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I am having trouble figuring out how "heavy" to build a stand for a large aquarium. I have tried calculating "moments of inertia" and "section modulus" values, but frankly find myself lacking in the ability to work out my problem, this is quite frustrating for me. :grumpy: I like to think of myself as reasonably inteligent, but I just can't work myself through this one. Perhaps soemone or "someones" can help me here.
Here is some info about the problem...
The tank (I guess it would be reffered to as the "load") has a flat bottom measuring 96" x 48".
It weighs, fully loaded, about 5000 lbs.
The weight will be pretty evenly spread across the whole surface.
It must be supported pretty evenly across it's entire bottom surface.
I have available to me (for free) rectangular steel tubing measuring 2" x 3" with a .089" wall thickness.
I want to leave as much open space below the load as possible. Ideally, there would be legs around the periffery of the stand, a top frame with cross members, and a matching bottom frame, with completely open space under the load. I would like to have the "ends" of the stand open, and have three openings along both the "front" and "back" sides of the stand. I was thinking the top frame would consist of an outer "frame" and eight equally spaced cross members traversing the short axis of the stand, on top of this frame I would have a sheet of 1" plywood to spread the load between the rails and and spread out the forces inflicted on the glass it supports.
This top frame is the first problem I was trying to tackle, how do I determine how much (if any) deflection there will be in the top frame assuming the legs are sufficient to support the load? I want to eliminate (or at least minimize) and kind of distortion in the top frame as this could lead to failure of the tank's bottom, a very unwelcome occurance as you might imagine.
Anybody care to take a crack at this?
Input would be greatly apreciated,
-Dave
Here is some info about the problem...
The tank (I guess it would be reffered to as the "load") has a flat bottom measuring 96" x 48".
It weighs, fully loaded, about 5000 lbs.
The weight will be pretty evenly spread across the whole surface.
It must be supported pretty evenly across it's entire bottom surface.
I have available to me (for free) rectangular steel tubing measuring 2" x 3" with a .089" wall thickness.
I want to leave as much open space below the load as possible. Ideally, there would be legs around the periffery of the stand, a top frame with cross members, and a matching bottom frame, with completely open space under the load. I would like to have the "ends" of the stand open, and have three openings along both the "front" and "back" sides of the stand. I was thinking the top frame would consist of an outer "frame" and eight equally spaced cross members traversing the short axis of the stand, on top of this frame I would have a sheet of 1" plywood to spread the load between the rails and and spread out the forces inflicted on the glass it supports.
This top frame is the first problem I was trying to tackle, how do I determine how much (if any) deflection there will be in the top frame assuming the legs are sufficient to support the load? I want to eliminate (or at least minimize) and kind of distortion in the top frame as this could lead to failure of the tank's bottom, a very unwelcome occurance as you might imagine.
Anybody care to take a crack at this?
Input would be greatly apreciated,
-Dave