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Recent content by DFLewis

  1. DFLewis

    2015 vs 2010 Aluminum Design Manual

    Has anyone had a chance to compare the 2015 Aluminum Design Manual to the 2010 version? Some general notes can be found on the Aluminum Association website, but no specifics are listed. Anyone had a chance to look through it? Any new useful information/design guides? Is it worth shelling out...
  2. DFLewis

    Load Cell Creep

    Ha. Mike, I didn't realize they were so delicate. I did check a few known loads as well (< 200 lbs) and the error was still within the resolution of the scale for those items (2 lbs). So it does work relatively well despite it being so old. D. Lewis, P.E.
  3. DFLewis

    Load Cell Creep

    MintJulep... I can't see the side bumpers, but that's a good thought. It's not in the cleanest or coolest environment. dhengr... Now that you mention it, we did actually have to open the bay door (about 5 feet from the scale) to swing the equipment around with the forklift. Being it's ~95F...
  4. DFLewis

    Load Cell Creep

    There's a load cell at each corner of a 60" x 60" steel platform. Each load cell has a rocker pin suspension that self aligns and direct forces vertical onto load cell. There's a link to a PDF of the table below if interested...
  5. DFLewis

    Load Cell Creep

    We are experiencing a lot of creep with the weight readings from our floor scales and were wondering if anyone has had any experiences or knowledge on the mechanics of load cells and why creep occurs. We used a Mettler Toledo floor scale (Model 2158) that was rated load 10,000 lbf to weigh a...
  6. DFLewis

    Interior Door live load

    I was wondering if there was an interior door design criteria out there specifically pertaining to live loads. IBC and ASCE don't seem to give much guidance unless I'm just looking in the wrong areas. We have a larger steel framed door, 14'x7', ornamental, used to conceal a maintenance closet...
  7. DFLewis

    Engineering Presentation to 5 and 6 year olds

    I second Twoballcane suggestion. I mentor high schoolers in a program called First Robotics which has been very successful at getting kids geared toward science, engineering, and other tech related careers. They spend the Spring semester building robots to meet a challenge presented to them...
  8. DFLewis

    How to Calculate Wind Load on a Rectangular Antenna

    I agree with dhengr... ASCE 7-latest edition should walk you through the analytical process to determine an applied force for your structure. I find non-building structures to be easier to analyze and less "mind bending" as dhengr put it. It does take a little guidance to get through all of...
  9. DFLewis

    Pneumatic Actuator Failure Mode - Buckling?

    Anyone have any experiences with failure modes of a pneumatic actuator/cylinder? Any good resources out there that discuss failure modes or ways to predict failure? The proposed system we are reviewing uses a fairly long and narrow cylinder and my guess is that there is some point where the...
  10. DFLewis

    Glass Specifaction Question

    We work with glass and the theatrical/staging industry often. Here are some thoughts and questions that come to mind... Do you need a engineer to determine strength of glass, connection/hardware design, etc. or are you primarily concerned with appearance, finish, reflectivity for the sake of...
  11. DFLewis

    Can a single VFD control two motors of equal horse power?

    All good thoughts and suggestions. I think this answers my main questions and brings up a few good points while we are finalizing the design. Thanks all! DFLewis www.phoenix-engineer.com
  12. DFLewis

    Can a single VFD control two motors of equal horse power?

    We are working on a setup where we have two 3/4HP motors carrying/sharing similar loads (The system would be difficult to describe so for the sake of brevity imagine two cranes lifting a steel beam simultaneously from opposite ends). The original design incorporated one VFD for each motor with...
  13. DFLewis

    Cosmos Tube pull test vs actual test

    Are you using a linear or non-linear stress analysis? An initial thought that came to mind is your material is being represented as a linear approximation of the actual properties of the material. For a linear stress analysis, any stress or strain data observed past the yield strength of the...
  14. DFLewis

    Bonding a Steel Pad Eye to Concrete

    I wanted to check to see if anyone has ever heard of someone using epoxy or some other adhesive to bond a steel pad eye to concrete... or is it just a bad idea in general. Has anyone seen this done? Could it be done to within some predictable performance? What about constant tension loads...
  15. DFLewis

    SE ST wonÆt find template file?

    While on one of our client's computers, I noticed the same problem you are having. The template folder located under program files contained all the templates one would expect, but the only templates that would show up in SE ST when we created a new part/assembly were the "sync" templates... I...

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