Bearing Pressure Formula:
Definition: This calculator determines the actual bearing pressure based on plate thickness, limiting size, and steel yield stress.
Purpose: It helps structural engineers and designers verify that bearing plates can safely support applied loads.
The calculator uses the formula:
Where:
Explanation: The formula relates plate thickness to the maximum bearing pressure the plate can sustain before yielding.
Details: Proper bearing pressure calculation ensures structural safety, prevents plate deformation, and verifies design adequacy.
Tips: Enter plate thickness in meters, limiting size in meters, steel yield stress in Pascals (default 250 MPa), and tolerance percentage (default ±5%).
Q1: What is limiting size?
A: Limiting size is the larger value between 0.5(N -0.95d) and 0.5(B -0.80b), where N is plate length, B is plate width, d is column depth, and b is flange width.
Q2: Why include a tolerance percentage?
A: Tolerance accounts for material variations, manufacturing tolerances, and safety margins in practical applications.
Q3: What's a typical yield stress for structural steel?
A: Common structural steel has yield stress around 250 MPa (250,000,000 Pa), but this varies by grade.
Q4: How do I determine minimum plate thickness?
A: Plate thickness is typically determined by structural requirements and load calculations.
Q5: What units should I use?
A: Use consistent SI units: meters for dimensions and Pascals for stress/pressure.