ASCE rail

[MotorCity]

When you have a lateral load on a crane girder, the load path travels from the wheel, to the rail, to the girder, agreed?

That being said, I have never seen or heard of anyone checking the lateral capacity of the rail as is commonly done for the crane girder. It seems prudent that one should check this, but of the few engineers I have asked, they all neglect this check. Somehow, the load "magically" finds its way into the girder.

To satisfy my own curiosity, I would like to run the numbers. My guess is that because the rails appear to have a relatively thin web compared to the top and bottom flange thickness, the governing limit state will be some sort of web failure or distortion.

To that end, I cannot find properties for ASCE rails about the weak axis. Any ideas?

 

[dik]

Check thread: thread602-299925

Dik

 

[Sawbux]

The rails are pretty stout, with the webs increasing in thickness with increased weight and capacity. They are typically clipped to the girder with J bolts at short intervals (5' o.c.) so it is not likely that lateral stiffness would be of concern.

If you are in need of Y-Y properties, they can be calculated from the dimensions given in the AISC manual or other source. Just assume the properties of the rectangles and ignoring the rounded edges and fillets should be close enough.