W6x15 I beam load calculation needed

Woody65 · Oct 27, 2019

I can’t seem to find a load calculation chart for a w6x15 steel I beam at a 20’ span. The load would be distributed ( tractor, atv, utv, etc). Beam will be supported on both ends. Specs are as follows: area-4.43, d-5.99, bf-5.99, tf-.26, tw-.23, lxx-29.1, lyy-9.32 Thanks

KennyG · Oct 27, 2019

For some reason, that beam wasn't in my book of tables, but the weight capacity (evenly distributed, simply supported at the ends) is W = 8fS/l where f is the fiber stress limit (20,000 psi is a good estimate), l is the length of the beam in inches (240 in your case) and S is the section modulus in Inches cubed. After poking around I found a value for S for this wide flange beam of 9.7 in**3. Plugging this in, I get about 6500 lbs. Remember, this is really evenly distributed. Unless you have a good floor solidly distributing the load, I would back off. The point load capacity would only be half the distributed load capacity.

You should double check all this, but I think it makes sense.