How Much Weight Can My Angle Bracket Rails Safely Hold?

[k2ace]

I'm trying to make some simple rails for a makeshift server rack. I already have some aluminum angle (6063-T52) that has 2" legs and .125" thick. I have been trying to figure out how much weight could be safely held and can't find anything that makes sense. The weight load is fairly evenly distributed but from the from 15" deep. The weight will only sit on the outer 1.5"on the angle (the image incorrectly shows 3/4"). The angle is mounted at two points 17.25 inches between against 0.5" vertical rails. Is there some simple way to determine how much weight this might safely hold?

 

[FEAnalyst]

Classical beam bending formulas assume that load is distributed over the whole width of cross-section so they won’t work here. But I solved this for you using FEA. Simulation results indicate that the angles should be able to hold up to about 6 kg.

 

[k2ace]

Classical beam bending formulas assume that load is distributed over the whole width of cross-section so they won’t work here. But I solved this for you using FEA. Simulation results indicate that the angles should be able to hold up to about 6 kg.

Thanks, I really appreciate the response. Is this sort of thing typically liner in respect to material thickness, if the thickness is increased by X percent would it increase the weight capacity by at least X percent?

 

[FEAnalyst]

In case of twice as thick angle the stresses are about 4 times lower.