Our first query for this month looks at beam deflection and whether exceeding span 200 will cause overloading problems. Our second question is asks about the colour of beams and should they always be in a contrasting colour to the uprights.
Loaded beam deflection
Q. We have a number of loaded beams on a customer’s site that have been identified with a deflection that exceeds span/200. Should these beams be considered as overloaded, and if so, could you advise on the correct plan of action, a timescale we should look to work to should there be a requirement for offload.
A. SEMA manufacturers will normally supply pallet racking beams on the basis of the worst case of two different limits. The first being a beam deflection limit of Span/200, (however, some other codes may use a different limit e.g. the RMI code in the USA for instance (Span/180). The original contact between your customer and supplier should confirm the basis of supply. The second limit is a factor of safety against collapse under full working load. Both of these factors have to be fulfilled and it is dangerous to assume that excess deflection will still have an adequate factor of safety. This might not be the case!
You should also ensure that the beams in question are supplied by the original equipment manufacturer. Nowadays there are a number of “lookalike” products available in the market place. These products are very difficult, and in some cases impossible, to differentiate from the original product. Unfortunately there is no guarantee that they will behave in the same way as the original equipment when used either alone or in conjunction with original equipment and may deflect differently. Equipment supplied from different manufacturers may result in problems when mixed.
Assuming that the equipment is “original”, supplied according to SEMA rules and that the load data is correct, then recommendations on beam deflection are given on pages 19 and 20 (clauses 7.5, 7.6 and 7.7) of the SEMA Code of practice for the use of static pallet racking, this is available as a free download from www.sema.org.uk
Users should also take care with the method of measurement of deflection and ensure that measurements are from a straight datum; a common error is to measure the distance from the beam to the floor and then calculate the beam deflection from these measurements – unfortunately this will include discrepancies on the floor as well as the actual beam deflection.
Beaming in on Colour
Q. We have just had extra racking installed in our warehouse. The uprights are painted dark blue as are all the beams. Is this ok as everywhere else on site and all other warehouses I have visited the beams are a different colour to the uprights. Is there a recommendation regarding this?
A. Manufacturers tend to paint their beams bright red, orange or yellow in order to make them stand out against the background and make life easier and possibly safer for fork lift truck drivers who are trying to accurately place pallets on the beams in sometimes not very good lighting conditions. There are no formal rules on the colours of beams however should you for instance paint your beams in a colour that blends into the background and subsequently have an accident which was identified as down to poor placement of a pallet someone might ask the question as to why such re-painting took place. Some very major companies have their racking painted in house colours with no evidence of problems however it probably necessary to keep a closer eye on lighting levels and other issues that might cause visibility problems. There are of course other colours that are ‘high visibility’ other than the conventional red, orange and yellow however you would need to consider the background and the lighting in the particular situation.
SEMA is delighted to be working with WLN on the storage Q and A Column, on the WLN website is a list of previously published columns. SEMA Users Club members also have access to a comprehensive range of additional storage related questions and answers.
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