×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Elevator Divider Beams, etc.

Elevator Divider Beams, etc.

Elevator Divider Beams, etc.

(OP)
Hello all,

Are there diagrams out there that show how elevators are supported and everything involved in designing for elevators? What are divider beams for? Information of that sort would be very handy. I've never really touched on elevators before, so I would really appreciate all help.

Thanks

Clansman

If a builder has built a house for a man and has not made his work sound, and the house which he has built has fallen down and so caused the death of the householder, that builder shall be put to death." Code of Hammurabi, c.2040 B.C.

RE: Elevator Divider Beams, etc.

Elevators fall into two categories - traction and hydraulic piston.

The traction elevators rely on tension cables hanging down from a mechancial room/deck above.  Hyrdraulic elevators (usually limited to about 5 stories +/-) are raised by a telescoping piston underneath that extends through the elevator pit into the ground below.  The piston is supported by cross channels on top of the pit slab.  

Both types of elevators require vertical guide rails that extend up on two or three sides of the elevator shaft and latch onto the cab as it moves up and down the shaft.  These guide rails have horizontal and longitudinal forces applied to them - supplied by the elevator manufacturer.

The guide rails need to be laterally supported at each floor level - thus the divider beams between cabs.

RE: Elevator Divider Beams, etc.

Divider beams are to support the side rails. For very high floor to floor, there may be a level of intermediate divider beams depending on how far the rails can span. Best to get the load and dimensional info from the particular elevator vendor.

There are two types of elevators:  hydraulic and traction.

Shafts may be made constructed of masonry or shaftwall.
 

RE: Elevator Divider Beams, etc.

There's not that many elevator manufacturers.  Kone and Otis come to mind.  Call their local representative.  Their websites are very poor.  Each one has unique, very specific requirements that you'll need to accomodate.

RE: Elevator Divider Beams, etc.

You can use the divider beams to attach the elevator guide rails to as well as the rails for the counterweight.

The rails and the backing also need to meet service level load and deflection criteria as specified by the manufacturer. I design the divider beams to be very stiff laterally so there aren't any service issues.

In seismic regions we usually obtain the seismic Fp loads from the elevator manufacturer, and if they exceed the rail capacity and deflection limits we provide a HSS section as backing. The Fp force is applied in 2 directions and for a) The elevator cab and b) the counterweight. I use the divider beams to drag load back into the diaphragm (can be large at times for freight elevators).

 

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources