Impact load on composite deck

[ARK5987]

Dear all,
I have a project in which I have to check the composite deck for impact load. The situation is, a room is going to be used for weightlifting. The lifters are going to drop the weight on the deck which will have mat on it. The weight is going to be around 250-300 lbs. The beams under the deck are W16X26 and spaced at 5ft o.c. Deck is 5 in thick. I am not worried about the beams. But I want to check the concrete deck for impact loads and crushing of concrete. Can anybody throw some light on this topic.

 

[CELinOttawa]

Call the deck manufacturer; VicWest, Comflor, etc have always been very accommodating. They want to support their product in order to encourage use. I find a phone call stating something along the lines of "I really don't want to see this whole project go flying forms/flat slab/etc" is very motivating for them...

 

[manstrom]

There will probably be a rubber mat under the free weights. I doubt that crushing of the concrete will be an issue. I bet the iron weight would crack before the concrete fell apart.

And that load may be closer to 500# if your meat heads are dropping deadlifts from waist high.

 

[FootNMouth]

SDI Composite Deck Design Handbook has examples for concentrated loads and also for forklifts. Due to the dynamic and repetitive nature of forklifts, SDI released an addendum in 2010 which recommends not using the deck as positive moment reinforcement. I would say that olympic weight-lifting would fall under the same category (dynamic and repetitive). Also, 300# seems low even for the static loading. Typical barbells will place the weight about 3' apart with a max static load of around 600#. You can expect deadlifts in the 600# range to be dropped from a height of 2'. On snatches you could have 300# being dropped from 7'.

Most olympic weight rooms will have wood platforms from which the movements are done and at the very least 3/4" rubber horse mats.