Recent content by joelarchip

Attached is a picture of the interior of the structure. http://files.engineering.com/getfile.aspx?folder=c84d7dc6-38ea-410b-9831-8870568722db&file=photo_(1).JPG

Ok,here is an estimate of the steel joist design based on onsite pictures and simple floor plans. I believe the members are all angle iron with flanges of maybe 3+ inches. Each member consists of two pieces of angle iron making a 't-shape'. The height of the thin part of the framing seem to be...

Thanks all, I do appreciate the help. dhengr - you are completely right that I have needed prompting to better describe the structure. In my first post, I laid out pretty clearly that I was looking for help identifying the truss and getting started with a back of the envelope calculation. In...

Very interesting discussion. I agree that it would seem unlikely to have 20 psf on top of panels, and here there is no snow. I see that I need to add the weight of the purlins to the DL. Does the self-weight of the trusses also count against the total allowable load? My first search for...

Yes, hokie you are right. There were purlins to support the tiles, i would guess 6x3 rect steel tubes at 4' perhaps?

Ah, of course. With 14' spacing, the fiber-cement tiles at 4psf would be approx 56 plf. Adding Solar with say 8 psf (including supports) would be an additional 112 plf - increasing DL to nearly 170 plf....hmmm Pitch of the roof is approx 4:8

Thanks! Ok, this is a pitched roof, no decking, just fibre-cement corrugated tiles (est 4 psf). No snow in Cambodia, but heavy rain. No ponding expected due to roof pitch. Very doubtful that this facility was built to IBC. Sorry, PSF is clear to me but how would you calc the PLF ? lets say...

No I did not, however, I can ask students from the mechanical department to do more investigation and provide more thorough dimensions. I will also ask them to look for a joist tag. Anything else that can help identify the type of Joist?

Also, the full width of the truss is 82' and the span is 65'

Hello Eng-Tip, New to the Forums. I am helping out with a social enterprise in Cambodia on a solar installation at a training school. They are trying to estimate (back of envelope) to determine the feasibility of installing the panels on the roof of some existing buildings. Before bringing in a...