Annex A Testing of rail brackets and pallet rails

A1 Test of rail brackets

A1.1 General and purpose of the test
In most cases the bracket is a thin walled cold formed section provided with hooks or bolts
which are connected to system holes in the rack upright. Many conditions of this element
with its particular connection type cannot reliably be derived from theoretical analysis.
Therefore the rotational stiffness and the bearing capacity of the brackets have to be
determined from tests.
A1.2 Test arrangements
A1.2.1 Load on one side of bracket
The test arrangement shall be as follows:
a) A pair of short upright pieces shall be connected to a relatively very stiff testing frame at
two points with a clear distance h between these connection points where:
h length of bracket to beam connection + 2 x column face width
b) Two rail brackets shall be connected to the pair of upright pieces using the same
connection as in the original. The distance m between the outer edges of the brackets
shall be greater or equal than the above defined distance h.
c) A piece of pallet rail shall be fixed to the rail brackets using the same connection as in the
original.
d) The load shall be introduced using a knife edge bearing which shall be applied in the
middle between the rail brackets and in a distance b from the theoretical outer edge of
the pallet rail where:
b = 15 mm + bending radius at the edge of the rail
e) The rotation shall be measured by either of the following:
1) displacement transducers bearing onto a plate fixed to the bracket close to the
upright connection (gauges d1 and d2 in figure A.1)
2) an inclinometer connected to the bracket close to the upright connection

Position of load on rail:

Key
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
j
k
l
m

750 mm
e+r
load jack
measuring devices
connection to test rig structure
upright face width
upright section
length of test specimen
rail bracket
spacing of measuring devices
rail fixed to rail bracket
distance between outer edges of two brackets

Figure A.1 Arrangement for testing of bracket

A.1.2.2 Load on both sides of bracket

The test arrangement shall be as explained in A.2.1 with the following difference:
1) The load shall be simultaneously applied on both sides in the middle between the rail
brackets and in a distance b from the outer edges of the bracket.
2) The rotation of both sides of the bracket shall be measured.

A1.3 Test procedure

A1.3.1 Load on one side of bracket
See chapter A.2.4.3 of EN 15512, but read connector as bracket.
A1.3.2 Load on both sides of bracket
See chapter A.2.4.3 of EN 15512, but read connector as bracket.
A1.4 Corrections of the observations
See chapter A.2.4.4 of EN 15512, but read connector as bracket. Divide the test force by
two in case of test A.1.2.1 and by four in case of test A.1.2.2 to obtain results for one single
bracket.
A1.5 Derivation of the results and procedure to define curves
See chapter A.2.4.5 of EN 15512, but read connector as bracket.

A2 Test of pallet rails

A2.1 General and purpose of the test
In most cases pallet rails of Drive-In / Drive-Through Racks consist of thin walled open cross
sections directly fixed to the uprights or mounted on brackets which are connected to the
uprights meaning a flexible bearing. Many conditions of this structural system, e.g. local load
introduction into the rail, interaction between bracket and rail etc., cannot be reliably
determined from a theoretical analysis. Therefore the testing of the pallet rails is required in
order to evaluate their bearing capacity as well as their deformation under loading.
The tests may be carried out using a reduced system with rail sections over two spans and
applying single loads. This procedure requires the correction of the test results for the
uniformly distributed loading which is assumed in the structural analysis.
Regarding the load make-up accessory the testing may cover the general case for any
possible type or a particular case if special load make-up accessories are agreed and
explicitly defined in the contractual documents of a project.

A2.2 Test arrangements

The set up consists of a pair of rails running over two spans and supported by the relevant
brackets which are connected to rack frames. In the middle of one span the test load is
introduced either using a knife edge bearing for the general case or a particular load makeup accessory.
In the general case the knife edge bearings shall be applied in a distance b from the outer
edge of the rail where
b = 15 mm + bending radius at the edge of the rail
The load shall be applied according to table A.1 and the distribution of the single loads shall
be as defined in figure A.2. The results shall be corrected as defined in table A1.
In the case for particular load make-up accessories the blocks of the relevant type shall be
positioned such that the minimum bearing width of the tested rail is 20 mm and the most
unfavourable load position shall be taken into account, see figure A.3. The distance between
the load make-up accessories shall be 50 mm.

Span up to 1,0 m:
l

l
F

Span 1,0 m 1,5 m:

1/3 l
F

1/3 l
l

Span 1,5 m 2,5 m:

1/8 l

l
F

l
F

1/8 l
F

Figure A.2 Distribution of single test loads for general load make-up accessories

Arrangement 1 for n possible load make-up accessories per span:

distance between two load make-up accessories in mid span
F/n

F/n

Arrangement 2 for n possible load make-up accessories per span:

one load make-up accessory in mid span
F/n

0,0

Position of the relevant particular load make up accessory on the tested rail:

Figure A.3 Load arrangements in the case of particular load make-up accessories
A2.3 Test procedure
Measuring devices shall be installed in the centre of the rail such that the rotation of the rail
surface as well as the horizontal and vertical deflection can be determined. Furthermore the
vertical deflection of the brackets shall be measured.
The load shall be increased until failure in one of the brackets or in the rail can be observed.
During application of the test load the following deflections shall be recorded:
-

rotation of the rail surface

horizontal deflection of the rail surface
vertical deflection of the rail surface
vertical deflection of the brackets

A2.4 Derivation of the results

If the tests are carried out for the case of general load make-up accessories the test load
shall be corrected according to the definitions given in table A.1:

Span l

Number of
single loads

Correction factor
fl for load

Correction factor fz for

vertical deflection

Up to 1,0 m

2,00

1,60

1,0 m 1,5 m

1,35

1,30

1,5 m 2,5 m

1,00

1,00

Ft = fl x F
where
F test load (single load)
Ft theoretical uniformly distributed load
Flz = fz x Fz
Where
fz = vertical deflection of rail surface mean vertical deflection of bracket
Fz test load resulting into deflection fz
Flz theoretical uniformly distributed load resulting into fz
Table A.1 Number of single test loads and correction factors for general load makeup accessories
If tests are carried out for a particular type of load make-up accessory the ultimate load can
be directly determined from the test and the rail deflection fz is
fz = vertical deflection of rail surface mean vertical deflection of bracket