Load (Weight) to bend A-514 Plate Steel?

[DKKrunch]

I am tying to find out how much weight I can support with a piece of plate steel (A514) that is supported only on the three edges. The open span would be 30" wide 36" long and .500" thick. I need to know what the maximum amount of weight I can support with .250" or less deflection. Can anyone help? This plate will not have any support other than the three edges and I can't truss the top or bottom. Must be flat plate...

 

[berkeman]

I am tying to find out how much weight I can support with a piece of plate steel (A514) that is supported only on the three edges. The open span would be 30" wide 36" long and .500" thick. I need to know what the maximum amount of weight I can support with .250" or less deflection. Can anyone help? This plate will not have any support other than the three edges and I can't truss the top or bottom. Must be flat plate...

Welcome to the PF.

What are you supporting with this plate?

 

[DKKrunch]

I have a load of 6,000lbs. that we need to support with minimal deflection. I missed this in my explanation earlier. If we need to goto a thicker piece of plate that can happen, kind of in the early stages of design at this point.

Thank you for the Welcome.

 

[berkeman]

I have a load of 6,000lbs. that we need to support with minimal deflection. I missed this in my explanation earlier. If we need to goto a thicker piece of plate that can happen, kind of in the early stages of design at this point.

Thank you for the Welcome.

What is the load? What is the application?

 

[DKKrunch]

We are building a carrier that will support the corner of a broken semi axle. Our front axles weigh 10,800lbs total and with weight transfer they come in at about 6,000lbs to the corner. Need to support the corner user the tire so we can transport into our shop when axle is locked up.

 

[berkeman]

We are building a carrier that will support the corner of a broken semi axle. Our front axles weigh 10,800lbs total and with weight transfer they come in at about 6,000lbs to the corner. Need to support the corner user the tire so we can transport into our shop when axle is locked up.

Who is your business insurance carrier?

 

[DKKrunch]

Don't guess I follow what that has to do with load on a plate. If this is the wrong place to ask a load question I understand.

 

[berkeman]

Don't guess I follow what that has to do with load on a plate. If this is the wrong place to ask a load question I understand.

Whelp, we often get questions from folks who are trying to get help on dangerous projects that they do not have the qualifications to handle on their own. The worst are life-threat projects, like the one you are asking about. If you are not willing to share who your business has contracted with for business insurance on this very practical business project, then you probably are an amateur looking to the internet to try to bypass the usual professional qualification and responsibility requirements for conducting this kind of business design.

Thread is closed for now. If I've misread your qualifications for this project, please send me a private message (PM) with your ME and PE qualifications and your business information (including insurance carrier), and we can re-open the thread.