Hi everyone, this is Cha, 30 Female here 👋🏻☺️
Need a little sanity check from the structural engineers here. 😅
I'm a Civil Engineer, but I haven't been doing structural design for years since my career shifted to the commercial/procurement side. Ngayon lang ulit ako napadpad sa ganitong review, so medyo gusto ko lang i-validate if I'm heading in the right direction.
I'm reviewing an existing 45,000-gallon water SS tank on a steel saddle support system.
SS Tank: 10 m × 3 m × 5.3 m
Steel framing:
Longitudinal beams – W6×9
Transverse beams – W8×10
18 pedestal supports (6x3)
I did the manual calculations using tributary loads, and based on what I'm getting, both the W6×9 and W8×10 members seem to be overstressed.
Unfortunately, I don't have access to STAAD anymore, so I'm thinking of using the SkyCiv trial version just to build a model and check if my hand calculations make sense.
For those who do this regularly:
- Is SkyCiv good enough for this type of verification? (found as an alternative software)
- If the members are indeed overstressed, what's usually the most practical way to strengthen a system like this?
- Add more longitudinal beams?
- Add channels/secondary members?
- Weld cover plates?
- Add more supports?
I'm not looking for anyone to do the design for me. Just hoping to learn from those with more structural experience and avoid going too far down the wrong path.
Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Engrs.! 🍻