Aluminum Canopy

[kylelo]

Client wants me to design an aluminum canopy that extends 35 inches outward from the sides of a flat boring looking house with solid canopy surface above and below (meaning no truss support can be seen outside it). My initial option is to screw angle bar to the concrete beam and extend it with rectangular bar and then wrap it with aluminum cladding (thickness can't be more than 10 inches). Is there a more stable way to do this that someone has tried? And what would be maximum wind load for this. Can the bolts to the concrete beam hold from the strong torque and moment caused by the wind (there is no existing plates or bolts because this is an add on).

 

[Ron]

kyelo...go to the following website and look at their various canopies, including "hanging" canopies

http://www.dittdeck.com

You can do these as "flat" roof deck sections or as "shed" roofs. A small triangular truss can be used, even in relatively high wind areas.

I've designed these in areas having up to 140 mph wind speeds.

There are other companies that do similar, so you can check them as well (Peachtree Aluminum, White Aluminum, E.L. Burns, etc.)...I'm just more familiar with Dittmer as I've done quite a few of their designs.

 

[kylelo]

My question was, how stable are these if they would be connected to a concrete beam by drilling holes at the sides and putting bolts into it? If it is steel beam, it is relatively easy as you can just use welding.

 

[Ron]

Well...first of all you can't weld aluminum to steel, so you would still be using a bolted connection. Bolted connections are fine, just make sure you consider the combinations of load on the bolts (in particular, shear and tension acting at same time). Use appropriate safety factors for any anchorage you decide to use...for instance, when using anchors in concrete, typical FS = 4.0.