Loos & Co., Inc., Designing For Earthquakes

AutoCAD Details Loos & Co., Inc. has prepared AutoCAD details of some of the many possible Seismic Wire Rope/Cable Bracing configurations and details of connections to most structural elements. AutoCAD users can use these details as they are or "explode" them, so that they can be modified to adapt to varying configurations. AutoLISP Programs Loos & Co., Inc. has also prepared AutoLISP programs for AutoCAD users to insert Seismic Wire Rope/Cable Bracing information on their AutoCAD drawings. These programs prompt the user for the brace location, direction ( Transverse, Longitudinal or 4-Way ) and the locations of a brace I.D. number. This information then appears on the drawing at the points designated. Then the program prompts for the vertical brace distance, points of structure connection, attachment type, weight/ft. and brace spacing. The program then automatically calculates the brace angle, length, size, and the size of the fastener and generates a BLOCK TABLE on the drawing that shows the quantity, size, type, loads, fasteners, etc. for each brace I.D. number. Load Table Spread Sheets Loos & Co., Inc. has also prepared a spread sheet to do load calculations and bracing sizing for a variety of equipment items. There are 26 individual pages in the spread sheet. One page for each of the following different types of equipment:

NFPA-13 Sch. 40 Sprinkler Pipe

NFPA-13 Sch. 10 Sprinkler Pipe

Rigid Steel Conduit (Heavy Wall Conduit)

Intermediate Metal Conduit (IMC)

Electrical Metal Tubing (EMT)-Thinwall Conduit

Rigid Aluminum Conduit

Uninsulated Sch. 40 Steel Pipe-Water Filled

Uninsulated Sch. 80 Steel Pipe-Water Filled

Service Weight Cast Iron Soil Pipe (Bell & Spigot Type)

Extra Weight Cast Iron Soil Pipe (Bell & Spigot Type)

No-Hub Cast Iron Soil Pipe

Copper Tubing (Type L)

Copper Tubing (Type K)

Glass Pipe (Regular Schedule)

Glass Pipe (Heavy Schedule)

Sch. 40 PVC Plastic Pipe

Sch. 80 PVC Plastic Pipe

Sch. 40 Steel vapor Service Pipe (i.e., Gas)

Type L Copper Tubing Vapor Service (i.e., Gas)

Rectangular (and Flat Oval) Ducts

Round Ducts

Trapeze Supported Equipment

Insulated Steel Pipe-Water Filled

Insulated Steel pipe-Steam

Suspended Equipment

EACH PAGE shows the following for each size (pipe size, conduit size, etc.): weight per ft. and, in ten ft. increments from 10 ft. to 80 ft., the horizontal load along side the cable brace size for 30, 45 and 60 degree brace angles. The Horizontal Load Factor for earthquake bracing varies according to the geographic area, type of equipment, Building Code, etc. Changing the number for the Horizontal Load Factor at the top of a page causes the loads and braces sizes to be recalculated in the blink on an eye. The result is a load calculation/brace sizing table that has been customized for a particular project and it can be printed out for submittal. DOWNLOAD FILES ( FREE )

LOOS.ZIP ( 723 kb ) Self-extracting file of standard Loos & Co., Inc. AutoCAD details of brace assemblies and attachments - includes AutoLISP programs.
LoosPK.ZIP ( 1,411 kb ) Self-extracting file of additional AutoCAD details of a variety of suspended, trapeze supported and vibration isolated equipment.
Ltables.ZIP ( 245 kb ) Self-extracting file containing spread sheet load tables in Lotus 1-2-3 Version 4.01 & 5.01 and in Excel Version 7.0. Each version contains the same spread sheet.

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