Joint Design (Plate+Screw+Gasket+Insert)

[BurlyGuy]

Hi folks,

My first time here posting so please ask for anything that I might have left out.

Background:
I've been trying to design a floor located, water-tight, flush mounted, equipment access panel out of steel. We need to enlarge the size of the "legacy" access panel. The access panel assembly must withstand a 25psi lateral, distributed load. The assembly consists of four components:

Cover plate (0.25" 50ksi steel)
Gasket (50 Duro Type A)
Deck Insert (built-up "ring" also 50ksi steel)
Fasteners (UNC 5/8"-11 2A)

Problem:
I plan on using equations from Roark to get the cover plate edge moment but I'm uncertain about how much fixity there is along the plate edge. The cover plate, gasket and insert form a lap joint that is neither fixed nor pinned. I've heard of a "prying load" used in AISC but I'm not sure if it's applicable to this design.

Also, any design help on bolt spacing, number of bolts, minimum distance from plate edge, etc... would also be great so that I can document the criteria I'm using.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[JJPellin]

This mechanical seal forum doesn't get much trafic any more. You would probably get more responsed in the Mechanical Engineering Other Topics forum. Those guy love this kind of stuff.