Seismic Design Requirements of the
2007 RMI Specification &
Commentary
Presented by:
Daniel Clapp Frazier Industrial Co
Engineering Chairman of the Rack Manufacturers Institute
Chairman, Specification Advisory Committee of the Rack
Manufacturers Institute
Rack Manufacturers Institute
Independent, incorporated non-profit Trade
Association formed in 1958 to advance
standards, quality, safety and general
fitness for intended use of Industrial Steel
Storage Rack Systems.
Specification for the Design, Testing and
Utilization of Industrial Steel Storage Racks
First edition in 1964
First seismic design information in 1972
Approved as an ANSI Standard in 1974
Current ANSI Standard MH 16.1-2004
Current RMI Specification April 2007
Storage Rack Description
Frames braced in the cross-aisle direction.
Shelf beams tying the frames together down-aisle.
Beam connectors on the end of the beams.
Base plates anchored to the floor with post-installed anchors.
Load Combinations
RMI Section 2.1 - ASD design method
RMI Section 2.2 - LRFD design method
Load Combinations
Introduce a Product Load (PL)
PL = Maximum Load from pallets or products
stored on the racks.
Load Combinations
Introduce a Product Load (PL)
PL = Maximum Load from pallets or products
stored on the racks.
LRFD design method
1.2DL + 1.4PL + 1.6LL + 0.5(Lr or SL or RL)
Load Combinations
Introduce a Product Load (PL)
PL = Maximum Load from pallets or products
stored on the racks.
PLapp = When checking for seismic uplift, the
portion of pallet or product load that is used to
compute the seismic base shear.
Load Combinations
Include vertical component of seismic force
ASD design method
3) (0.6 - 0.11SDS)DL + (0.6 - 0.14SDS)PLapp-EL
4) (1 + 0.11SDS)DL + (1 + 0.14SDS)PL + LL + (Lr or SL or RL) +EL
LRFD design method
5) (1.2 + 0.2SDS)DL + (0.85 + 0.2SDS)PL + 0.5LL + 1.5EL + 0.2SL
6) (0.9 0.2SDS)DL+ (0.9 0.2SDS)PLapp 1.5EL
Seismic Resistance
RMI Section 2.6
Down-aisle - Moment frames
Beam Connector as the inelastic element.
Seismic Design based on Equivalent Lateral
Force procedure.
Other methods are encouraged such as
Displacement-Based Analysis
RMI uses the current ground motion
parameters from the USGS CD
S s , S 1, Fa, F v
Site soil conditions are generally not known and
are assumed to be D
RMI Section 2.6.2
V CsIp Ws
IP is the system importance factor
IP = 1.5 for essential facilities or hazardous material
storage.
IP = 1.0 for all other rack structures.
For storage rack in areas open to the public, (e.g., in
warehouse retail stores), IP = 1.5. If a displacement based
evaluation of the rack structure is performed in either of the
two principle directions of the rack, IP may be taken as 1.0 in
that direction.
RMI Section 2.6.2
V CsIp Ws
WS is the system seismic mass
WS = 0.67 xPL RF xPL DL 0.25 xLL
PLapp = PLRF x PL
PLRF is the pallet load reduction factor
Seismic Force Direction
Cross-Aisle
Down-Aisle
PLRF
1.0
PL Average
PLMaximum
RMI Section 2.6.2
V CsIp Ws
WS is the system seismic mass
WS = 0.67 xPL RF xPL DL 0.25 xLL
PL Average
PL Maximum
PLAverage
For warehouse retail stores, open to the general public, PL Average shall be taken
as PLMaximum.
For all other types of warehousing PLAverage is the maximum total weight of
product expected on all the beam levels in any row divided by the number
of beam levels in that row.
PLMaximum
Maximum weight of product that will be placed on any one beam level in that
row.
Adjusted MCE Spectral Response Acceleration Parameters
SMS = FaSS SM1 = FvS1
Design Spectral Response Acceleration Parameters
SDS = (2/3)SMS
SD1 = (2/3)SM1
Seismic Response Coefficient
SD1
but need not
C
be more than: s
TR
but shall not be taken as less than:
SDS
Cs
R
0.044 SDS
Additionally, where S1 0.6g CS shall not be less than
Cs
0.5S1
R
Connection Rotational Capacity
RMI Section 2.6.4
Connector MAX from testing in Section 9.6 shall
be greater than:
1.5C d 1 s
D
h total
Connection Rotational Capacity
RMI Section 2.6.4
Connector MAX from testing in Section 9.6 shall
be greater than:
1.5C d 1 s
D
h total
Cd is the deflection amplification factor. From
FEMA 460 Cd =5.5
Connection Rotational Capacity
RMI Section 2.6.4
Connector MAX from testing in Section 9.6 shall
be greater than:
1.5C d 1 s
D
h total
a is the second order amplification factor from
N
FEMA 460
k c k be
L
i 1
pi
Nc Nb
h pi
k c k be
k b k ce k c k be
k c k be k b k ce
Connection Rotational Capacity
RMI Section 2.6.4
Connector MAX from testing in Section 9.6 shall
be greater than:
1.5C d 1 s
D
h total
Ds is the seismic displacement.
The displacement shall be determined using the
same structural system stiffness as used to
determine the period for the base shear
calculation.
Connection testing
Strength testing Cantilever test
RMI Section 9.4.1
Cyclical testing
RMI Section 9.6
Cyclical Test Results
Additional RMI Specification requirements
Load Application and Rack Configuration
Drawing
Capacity Plaque
Additional RMI Benefits
R-Mark
Questions
Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments:
Daniel Clapp
Frazier Industrial Co
Long Valley, NJ 07853
(908)876-3001 x 272
DClapp@[Link]