subject: Flat Floors: Yes, Allow me to Point out It For You, "It's Amazing!" [print this page] Flat Floors: Yes, Allow me to Point out It For You, "It's Amazing!"
Ever since the middle of the 1970's, operators of warehouses have been able to grasp the importance of storage configurations with a higher density so that you can optimize their material storage, maximize the ease and efficiency of dealing with operations, as well as to reduce land investments. In the modern area of the sophisticated lift truck, namely the wire guided, defined traffic, high rack, or thin aisle environments, conventional types of floor construction have proven inadequate in making floors that are flat enough to support these operations. The strip and pour technique, among other types of specialized construction methods are normally utilized in creating floors which provide, alongside powerful, low cost and the guarantee of a safe operating atmosphere. These are the key benefits of installing the right floor flatness.
In comparison to conventional concrete slab flatness, Super Flat floors are constructed with far tighter tolerances. A specialized system referred to as the F minimum or 'Fmin' system is employed to gauge the grade of Super Flat floors. The Fmin system functions by defining the optimum variation in a floor profile or surface of a specific lift truck. This optimization greatly improves the performance of lift truck operations, where without having these optimizations, an increase in costs of maintainance and various problems can arise.
The strip pour process requires the pouring of the concrete in narrow strips using a specialized type of formwork, that allows for highly accurate longitudinal in addition to transverse tolerances. The employment of floor graphs in construction, along with the use of high quality materials indicates how fine these floors can be. The main difference over a 25' length between an FF30/Fl20 high quality random traffic floor, and an Fmin80 Super Flat floor is discernible.
To compare, the FF30/FL20 measure of floor is a flat random traffic floor of the moderate tolerance, while the FF110/FL117 floor displays flatness usual for a Super Flat floor. The system of tolerance definition known as the Fmin measures and requires that any defects in the excess of maximum tolerable variations should be corrected, unlike that of the FF/FL tolerance system. The corrections are achieved by a simple grinding.
Even though the tolerance definition for each particular environment differs, there are particular requirements noted below which gives a rough approximation of the Fmin tolerance requirements for almost any floor based on the maximum rate of change per foot of travel in the longitudinal direction. The data differs per lift truck model, and specifications should hence be purchased from the producer.
The few suggestions here are strongly recommended for the building and structure owners along with their own particular representatives within the design and standards of super flat floors.
The floor tolerance must be measured every day using a highly sensitive measuring device known as the 'Profilograph'. If not measured every day, particular defects in construction may be unnecessarily compounded. The quality of the floor will thus remain unidentified when it is not measured.
One need to make sure that embedded continuous steel is positioned in such a way in order to not restrict the guide wire. It should be talked about nevertheless, that steel fibers have shown to show no interference with guide wire signals.
Careful consideration has to be undertaken within the design of longitudinal drying stresses as well as applied loading since transverse cracking may bring about Super Flat floors. A carefully considered design looking forward to these minute possibilities will reduce the potential risk of cracked widths.
For wire guided floors, and defined wheel path traffic environments, Fmin tolerances apply. For all those which undergo random traffic, the FF/FL tolerance system is observed. A note: the FF/FL tolerance system fails to see the complicated relationship of transverse and longitudinal movements of wire guided apparatus, specifically pertaining to a fixed wheel path environment.
Super Flat tolerances are incompatible with dry-shake surface hardeners, and the usage of that will not help with the achievement of a Super Flat floor.
