The stability in the down-aisle direction of high rise storage racks is usually provided by the beam-to-column and base-plate connections. In order to evaluate the effect of the beam-to-column connections, a complex test rig has been designed and developed at the University of Sydney to test rack sub-assemblages which are the lower levels of high rise rack systems. The rig is designed to apply up to 500 kN vertical load via gravity load simulators. Pins at the top and bottom of the uprights under test remove the effect of the base-plates on the lateral stability. To apply horizontal loads, a down-aisle controlled displacement is introduced at the top of the frame and a load cell is used to measured the force required to obtain this displacement. The corresponding vertical loads are then applied via 2 hydraulic actuators mounted in the gravity load simulators. The rig allows both the loading and unloading in the post-ultimate range to be followed. The paper describes the development of this test rig, and preliminary testing performed using the test rig. The ability of the rig to follow the unloading curve is demonstrated.
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