Got engineering considerations to comply to with a building project that uses concrete anchors? Depending on the application and external factors, specifying the correct anchor for concrete can hinge on the type of load that the anchor will experience once in place.

It’s not just all about weight alone; it is also about directional forces that the anchor needs to transfer to resist failure – of the anchor or the object being fastened.

To better-wade through the terminology and specify the correct anchor, Allfasteners’ own in-house engineer breaks down the most common load types in a concise way:

• Dead load – permanent load. For example, the weight of a building.
• Live load – imposed load. Example: cars driving on bridge or people standing on a balcony.
• Wind load – loading from wind.
• Snow load – weight of snow.
• Earthquake load – loading on structure from ground movement. A metric used to determine the use of seismic anchoring.
• Shear load – a force that tends to produce a sliding failure on a material along a plane that is parallel to the direction of the force. When a paper is cut with scissors, the paper fails in shear.
• Tension load – pulling load
• Combined tension/shear – a simultaneous application of both tension and shear loading an element.
• Ultimate load – absolute maximum load that a structure can bear without failing. Ultimate load may occur during an extreme event. For example, a 1 in 100-year storm.
• Service loads – loading that is experienced during operation of a structure but is not enough to break a structure. Examples: building self-weight, day to day walking of people on a stair, more frequent non-extreme storms.
• Static load – a load that does not move. For example, the weight of a roof.
• Dynamic load – a load that moves and changes with time. For example, a car driving on a bridge or an earthquake.

Enquiries about the load requirements of your project?

Allfasteners are Australia’s first choice For All Things Fixings…and advice on All Things Compliance. Get in touch with us now to help us help you with pre-sale engineering challenges.