Steel Stairs With Perforated Metal Guards
Steel Stairs With Perforated Metal Guards
(OP)
I am designing exterior steel stair guardrail where the infill panels are perforated metal, as specified by the architect. The attached file shows a typical infill panel. By code, the infill for a guardrail needs to resist 50 lbs. applied to a 1' square area. Being exterior, wind load should probably also enter the conversation. Calculations are required for the shop drawing submittal. Question is, how the heck do you calculate such a thing short of a finite element analysis? In some respect, the whole thing could go into some sort of catenary suspension. How would you handle this? It's not going anywhere if it "fails", and I'm not doing finite element analysis.






RE: Steel Stairs With Perforated Metal Guards
RE: Steel Stairs With Perforated Metal Guards
I would be designing for the entire wind load (it's likely higher than the 50 lbs in 1 sq ft) as if unperforated, but only using 50% of the unperforated capacity.
The pattern shown seems fairly symmetrical so I would think that the stresses would reasonably transfer around the openings to the available metal.
RE: Steel Stairs With Perforated Metal Guards
Or is this still in the design phase? If design phase, make this element design-build and pass the buck.
RE: Steel Stairs With Perforated Metal Guards
http://www.iperf.org/perforating/knowledge-center/
RE: Steel Stairs With Perforated Metal Guards
RE: Steel Stairs With Perforated Metal Guards
RE: Steel Stairs With Perforated Metal Guards
RE: Steel Stairs With Perforated Metal Guards