Can thin walled galvanized tubing (or electrical conduit?) be used as a structural member?
Can thin walled galvanized tubing (or electrical conduit?) be used as a structural member?
(OP)
Can thin walled galvanized tubing be used as a structural member? A client of mine purchased a used greenhouse that was originally a temporary structure. He would like to use it as a permanent structure and the thus it needs to conform to the IBC 2015. The tubing used appears to be a 1 1/4" dia 16 ga thin walled galvanized section or possibly electrical conduit (I have not seen in in person only through pictures so far). How can we be determine the tube type and material properties? (what would we ask the testing agency?) If it is electrical conduit, can it be used as a structural member? What other issues should we be aware of before taking on this endeavor?
Thank You!
Bill
Thank You!
Bill






RE: Can thin walled galvanized tubing (or electrical conduit?) be used as a structural member?
I like to debate structural engineering theory -- a lot. If I challenge you on something, know that I'm doing so because I respect your opinion enough to either change it or adopt it.
RE: Can thin walled galvanized tubing (or electrical conduit?) be used as a structural member?
You could spend a lot of time analyzing, but if you can find one definitive issue that prevents it from meeting standards, you don't need to analyze the other 99% of it.
RE: Can thin walled galvanized tubing (or electrical conduit?) be used as a structural member?
RE: Can thin walled galvanized tubing (or electrical conduit?) be used as a structural member?
We ended up dumping that client shortly afterward due to this and a few other unethical things that came up along the way.