Post in concrete slab

[sloccc]

I have a 6" concrete floor slab in a commercial building and I want to drill a 5" deep hole and put in a handrail post. I don't know if this is possible and how to analyze this connection and I can't find it in the ACI manual.

 

[jike]

First question you need to answer is: does the slab have enough flexural capacity to resist the overturning moment. If the slab has enough capacity, then how can it be connected to the slab to resist the moment.

I would think that you want to drill thru the slab and connect it with a plate bolted to the bottom of the slab. I assume you have metal deck and sometimes this is difficult with narrow ribs to develop the bolts. Use as large of plate as you need.

If all of the above fails, you may need to provide a small structural member spanning between beams to attach the post to.

 

[sloccc]

I thought that embedding the post into the concrete would be enough to connect it to the slab.

Also the post is 3in from edge of slab and I don't know if that is sufficient I can't find the info in any building codes or manuals.

 

[hokie66]

You should not expect to find information of this sort in building codes, etc. Engineering is not all formulas and numbers, it is art as well.

A socketed handrail connection can work, depending on the ability of the concrete to resist the moment. But 3" from a slab edge sounds too close. A bolted end plate connection would be more common, with the bolts in tension set back from the edge far enough not to fail the slab.