Old Roof Purlin Material
Old Roof Purlin Material
(OP)
I am looking at the load capacity of roof purlins on a pre-engineered metal building. The building was constructed in the early 70's. The metal building company no longer exists and the city and owner do not have drawings. What I need to know is what was the predominate steel material used. Does anyone have any idea where I can find this info?






RE: Old Roof Purlin Material
Good luck
RE: Old Roof Purlin Material
you can check FEMA 273 for prevailing material properties during that time; however, this is still an assumption. I personally would tend towards material testing.
RE: Old Roof Purlin Material
One of my favorites is to find an older engineer and ask him. These guys are wealth of information and always love to help.
Last but not least, look on the internet. You will be surprised on how much you will find.
Good luck.
RE: Old Roof Purlin Material
Of course you can also field measure the purlins and calculate the section properties.
I worked on two older metal buildings a 1965 Star Building and a 1973 Butler Building. First of all, I did know who the manufacturer was, so that did help. But, the engineering departments at both manufacturers were also very helpful. They were using 50 ksi steel for all cold rolled members and some built up members. They also used some 36 ksi for columns.
RE: Old Roof Purlin Material
RE: Old Roof Purlin Material