OBJECTIVE: Verify the strength and relative deflection of the railing under test, through the application of a static load using No. 3 double-acting pneumatic jacks, positioned over a railing length of 1.00 m.
REFERENCE STANDARD: UNI 11678
EQUIPMENT USED:
- No. 3 linear displacement transducers with feeler pin for strain/deformation reading
- No. 1 MAE multichannel data acquisition system, model A5000M s/n M043807
- No. 1 FIMET pressure gauge s/n 633-10-V
- No. 3 pneumatic jacks
STATIC TEST METHODOLOGY:
The three jacks are positioned at an effective handrail height H on an external reaction system and connected to a single circuit so that the load applied to one jack is equal to that applied to all jacks; the system is equipped with a manual precision regulator to apply pressure in steps, while the deflections/deformations were recorded by three sensors positioned on an independent structure.
- In the pre-loading cycle: application of a force equal to 30% of the service load.
- In the 1st SLS (Serviceability Limit State) cycle: application of the service load (200 daN/m).
- In the 2nd cycle: application of a load equal to 1.25 times SLS (Serviceability Limit State) (250 daN/m).
- In the 3rd ULS (Ultimate Limit State) cycle: application of a load equal to 1.5 times SLS (300 daN/m).
- POST-FAILURE cycle: application of a force equal to 30% of the service load.
In terms of operation, the maximum applied load corresponds to 69.41 kg/m for the pre-loading cycle; for the first cycle, the railing was loaded up to a maximum load of 200.70 kg/m, for the second cycle, the railing was loaded up to a maximum load of 252.00 kg/m, and for the third cycle, the railing was loaded up to a maximum load of 301.80 kg/m.
