Can thin walled galvanized tubing (or electrical conduit?) be used as a structural member?

[BLSPAM]

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

 

[KootK]

I'd think that it could be used structurally. You'll need to know the material, gauge, and dimension. From there, it's probably working with the cold formed code to assess capacity.

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.

 

[JStephen]

If it hasn't been painted, are there any markings visible on the material anywhere? That would be the easiest way to check what it is.
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.

 

[ajh1]

Properly selected thin gauge tubing is certainly a viable option, although I think you'll find unless you've specifically ordered a particular yield that it will be fairly low yield stuff, Fy = 33 ksi or so. ASTM A1076 is a typical specification for such in the structural world. The AISI cold-formed specification does have some specific provisions for round tube stock.

 

[wikidcool]

Years ago, I used to engineer those light gauge metal carports. The tubing we used was a 50ksi tubing intended for use as structural steel. Without telling us, our client (the building manufacturer) decided to use sprinkler pipe instead to save a buck (because hey, metal's metal, right?). When they eventually got popped for it and I looked into if it could be used on an existing structure or not, the determination was that the material did not meet the requirements for structural use. I think it had something to do with elongation requirements, but I don't remember the specifics since it was like 15 years ago.

We ended up dumping that client shortly afterward due to this and a few other unethical things that came up along the way.