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Did you ever ask yourself what exactly following the ANSI norm means for your mesh deck? Well, today is the day when we break it down to you.
The American National Standards Institute, in short ANSI, is promoting to create guidelines that are universally accepted in numerous industries. Their goal is to create uniformity when it comes to goods and processes within industries. In easy words, it means that a shoe size 38 in Germany has the same measurements as the 38 in Russia and is not a 38.5 instead. Following ANSI standards helps to be internationally compatible and thus encourages international trade.
There is a specific standard from ANSI which is called MH26.2-2017. This standard has the purpose to provide a guideline for the design, testing, production and the use of a welded-wire mesh rack decking.
It provides details of materials, dimensions and how they are defined. Additionally, it specifies manufacturing tolerances which need to be followed.
The most important point of this norm is the procedure of testing. The test is a so called two-line load test where the produced mesh deck´s capacity is evaluated through the determinants deflection and stress (See figure 1).
The deflection limit is defined by the depth of the mesh deck divided by 165. The stress safety factor is one half of the structural collapse value. Hence meaning: if a mesh deck with 1100 mm depth has a planned uniformly distributed load (UDL) of 1000 kg, the maximum deflection should not exceed 1100/165 = 6,66 mm. If it does, the mesh deck is not passing the test and thus does not comply with the ANSI norm.
Moreover, the mesh deck which complies with the ANSI norm has safety factor 2. This means the collapse load is the double of the UDL. In our example, the UDL is 1000 kg, meaning that the collapse load is 2000 kg.
The norm also states the required equipment for the line load test. It is stated how two line-loads are applied to a decking surface at the 1st and 3rd quarter points as seen in figure 1. Additionally, all measurements regarding the width of the steel bars or tubes and the weights are predefined. Hence, the two line-load tests are done in the same way for all companies who follow ANSI MH26.2-2017.
To sum up, following ANSI norms ensures openness, as customers who buy the mesh decks know exactly how the mesh decks are tested. Furthermore, it provides a consensus within the industry. In simple words it means that if you buy a mesh deck which is tested according to ANSI MH26.2-2017, you know exactly how the quality of the mesh deck is tested, and what you can expect from it.
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