I think you're going to need to provide more detail. I'm a little confused by what you're trying to do. Generally platforms are legged with 2x or 4x, and cross braced underneath for stability. I imagine you're thinking of columns in wall construction in homes. where 2,3,4... 2x4 studs are nailed together face to face.
Aaron, sorry, I was a little cryptic wasn't I? The 16' tall columns I'm building will have limited-to-no-bracing in the middle sections. And only light bracing at the bottom. At least one
face, the
downstage side of the rectangle, will have no cross-bracing along it's length. To make this happen safely, the column must be strong enough to support the load, live, dead, and in-between, with a comfortable
safety factor. Built-up columns have several advantages over solid timbers. Properly configured, constructed, and implemented, they approach timber strength - can actually surpass timber strength, depending on the wood grade. However, it's the deflection along the weak axis that concerns me. I'm a pipeline engineer, not a structural engineer, and the thing I can't get past is that in my
line of work everything is tested before we give it the thumbs up. With structural I'm, frankly, working with averages: formulas with variables, NDS fact sheets, experiential opinion, and industry bulletins. I don't mind overkill so long as I know the minimum I'm "overkilling." I should also say that when I design my columns, I design them UNBRACED. Design-wise they have to "stand on their own" without bracing. Then, in actual construction, I can add such bracing as I desire, knowing that it's all additional
safety stuff, but not a part of the original math.
OK, so the "hog-troughing" I've referred to, which is often used in scene-craft, must be born of experience and logic, right? Two pieces of lumber, one for x-axis strength and one for y-axis strength. You're right Aaron, in that for the example above, the "wall" becomes the trough! I'm looking to do the same but using 1x or 2x studs in place of the "wall." I guess I could make my own modified
hog-trough out of built-up pieces and treat the opposing pieces as separate supports, but I suspect that the strength of the whole is greater than the strength of the individual members, I just don't think there is any empirical data I can use to determine
how much stronger. SO... I guess I was hoping someone had experience with this; someone had made one of these up and what they thought of it in the end.