Anchor Bolt Design

Do yourself a favor and tell us what you do understand and how far you've been able to go with your calculations. Right now it seems that you want us to do your homework but you're trying to hide this by not telling us the details of the homework problem.

"How to determine anchor bolt size, length, type."

Size: For light loads; use little ones. For medium loads; use ones that are bigger than little ones. For heavy loads; use big 'uns. For really heavy loads; use humongous ones.

Length: Length should be longer than the wall is thick, so that they stick out of the wall enough to go through the mounting bracket(You'll probably need us to design that, too but let's stick to anchor bolts for now) Don't forget to make them long enough to get a nut on them, too. They should only stick out of the wall on one side, unless you want to mount loads on both sides of the wall.

Type: I like to use bolts with threads on one end. Threads should be on the outside of the bolt, so that the nut will stay in place. They should be on the same end as the load. Concrete is compatible with walls, but I'd use metal. "Concrete wall bolts" are rather brittle.

Or, go down to the hardware store and ask the guy in the bolt room.

Given your lack of experience with bolt design, and not knowing any of the parameters, I suggest you try drilled in, epoxy set, anchors. Hilti have published tables of allowable and ultimate loads, and the means of calculating the shear/tension combinations.

Hilti tech guides

I agree with you passington...a GA from me.

To the OP: most REPUTIBLE anchor bolt manufacturers have allowable load tables for each of their products, based on Certified Laboratory testing results. These load tables will list the Allowable Shear and Tensile (Pullout) values in Pounds-Force or Kg. I only trust USA or Euro certified and manufactured anchor bolts having had very unsatisfactory results and failures with Contractor-substituted ones "supposedly" equivalent to the Approved Shop Drawing ones. They were plain junk. I won't name the countries of origin of these crappy anchor bolts, but I bet a few of you folks can correctly guess them (not just a single country either)!

Are you really a mechanical engineer? You haven't shown any engineering knowledge at all in your question.

From OP:

I undestand that mechanical engineers doesnt deal with anchor bolt design since its civil engineers job

Don't expect from mechanical engineers to know if a brick is going to fail or not

At least in my part of the world

Actually, it is the responsibility of the Structural Engineer to select the anchor bolts, except of course if the anchor bolt is to secure a piece of HVAC equipment or a fire pump, etc. where it is then the responsibility of the ME to do the actual selection.

The ME can always confer with the SE if the HVAC or a HVAC supporting structure is large and needs to be secured or anchored in some manner that is outside the ME's experience and knowledge.

I am not going to profess specific expertise in "anchor bolts", nor whatever the detailed application really is; however, I am at least a quite interested observer of these forums and Engineering/construction issues in general. Many decades ago, I believe there however was a major fire when a veritable truckload of petrochemicals then allowed to be transported caught fire in heavy traffic inside one of the the major underground tunnels in NYC (constructed with what some now might perceive or allege as low cost and with primitive materials and methods). Somehow, in spite of temperatures that some claimed eventually reached nearly a thousand degrees F., I understand this basically bolted together tunnel, and virtually all the lives originally within, somehow emerged intact. It is probably stilll that way.

Many decades later as poor lady was simply driving at pretty much ambient ambient temperature through a new, "modern" tunnel, with a constructed cost of billions of dollars not far up the coast from this, she was unfortunately killed when an otherwise bolted/anchored heavy ceiling panel fell down on her vehicle.

You could probably read all you want (and maybe more) about the specifics of these issues, and what consternation followed, with a few keywords and a good web search (and that's maybe not a bad idea). These stark contrasts, however, really make one think. Like so many other inquiries when, who knows, safety issues could be involved and very little information is provided, I guess the safest answer might be "it depends"!

'Guest' was absolutely correct citing this recent historical event:

"Many decades later as poor lady was simply driving at pretty much ambient ambient temperature through a new, "modern" tunnel, with a constructed cost of billions of dollars not far up the coast from this, she was unfortunately killed when an otherwise bolted/anchored heavy ceiling panel fell down on her vehicle."

The science of anchor bolt design is critical in most cases and requires proper research on your own and consulting a structural engineer. In the case that 'Guest' related, the Engineer or other consultant, specified the epoxy-type set-in anchor bolts to hold up the massive concrete panels. Obviously a big mistake, selecting this type of anchor bolt as the only means (or a portion of the design) to hold up such incredible weights, as a permanent solution over time, was totally ridiculous. This mistake should've been caught by so many people up the chain, and was missed or missed on purpose, to march construction along and make more $, all at the expense of a person's life. A lot of people were sent to jail (and rightly so) for this mistake, or fraud, or whatever you want to call it. A great case in point to make sure you know what you are doing, as your design probably involves the safety of the public.

…or maybe some basically fell for the allure or perceived convenience or apparent low installed cost of some ballyhooed new, polymeric technology, without considering the relative weaknesses, non-robustness in practical application, and long-term performance peculiarities e.g. "creep" etc.? [This is a fine point, and at least for professionals it admittedly might be argued little less criminal.] Have a good weekend.

"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." John Ruskin 1819-1900

"I am mechanical engineer" and I'm a monkeys uncle!

You can't understand the basics of a anchor bolt!