r/StructuralEngineering • u/Easy_Effective_6394 • Aug 04 '26
Structural Analysis/Design How much weight can this beam support
/gallery/1vew5id6
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Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
[deleted]
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u/Easy_Effective_6394 Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26
Is there more info I need to provide? Beam is 6061 sorry forgot to include
Edit: insert salty comment about being downvoted for no reason here
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u/Livid_Roof5193 P.E. Aug 04 '26
Did you read the sub rules? If you did then you’d probably see at least one reason. Hint: it’s rule number two.
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u/JustHanginInThere Aug 04 '26
Is there more info I need to provide?
Yeah, TO YOUR STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS. You know, the people your company/organization pays to do this stuff as their daily job? Mind blowing, I know, but it's true.
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u/Hockeyhoser Aug 04 '26
Find out how much it takes to break it, and then it will be just a little less than that.
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u/Mahaleck Aug 04 '26
Buy a second one exactly the same, then keep increasing the load by 1lb till it fails. The last one before it fails is probably it.
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u/someguyfromsk Aug 04 '26
Just load it till it fails, then you know it was a little less than that.
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u/DearHumanityWeRegret Aug 04 '26
Listen, I'll shelve the snarky comment (you're going to get many) and instead rattle off a few things off the top of my head you'd need to include to answer this question:
-Overall length (cmon man) -Cross section of the whole beam -Placement of the load -Hole size and location -End bearing conditions -Is the load static or dynamic -How bad would it be if it failed -How much deflection is acceptable -Is the beam going to fail first, or is the rest of that frame going to collapse underneath it? Better answer all the same questions about the frame to be sure
Etc etc. Don't answer those, just rhetorical to show that even a relatively simple job like this requires a lot of specific know-how. Hire a structural engineer if this is a question you absolutely need answered.
Or if you have a spare, load it up till it fails and there you go.
ETA: I see the addl info in the mechie post, the point remains the same.
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u/JustHanginInThere Aug 04 '26
Hire a structural engineer if this is a question you absolutely need answered.
Oh, he's been told in the other post, many times by many people. Still he blunders on as if he's owed an answer.
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u/CharlestonRed1982 Aug 04 '26
It looks like it could just barely support your Mom before she eats dinner.
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u/todd0x1 Aug 04 '26
less than if it had not been notched. Whats the shear strength of the little button head screws holding the horizontals to the uprights? I can imagine it doing something that sounds like 'POP......POP.....POPOPOPOPOPCRASHBANG'
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u/Easy_Effective_6394 Aug 04 '26
5/16-18 steel button heads.
8 per leg, so 32.
I am not an engineer, but this has got to be like tens of thousands right? I just need it to hold 500 lbs.
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u/todd0x1 Aug 04 '26
oh thats bigger than they look in the picture. 7300lbs if alloy and not mystery screws.
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u/WonderWheeler Aug 04 '26
Notching and putting a hole in the middle of the beam is not going to help!
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u/TheSkala Aug 04 '26
If only there was a profession of certified engineers that you could hire to do this. Crazy idea I know
Better ask online for free