I have a technical question regarding ASCE 7-16, Section 13.4.6. The section prohibits the use of “friction clips” for the anchorage of non-structural components in Seismic Design Category D. Several of our company’s standard cold small bore pipe support details utilize B-Line B441-22 beam clamps to attach supports to structural steel (see screenshots below for an example detail and product in question). My question for you is would you consider these beam clamps to be “friction clips” per ASCE 7-16 and thus would be prohibited in Seismic Design Category D, E, or F? Would you be able to elaborate on the logic behind the statement from the commentary?: “under no circumstances should they be relied on to resist sustained gravity loads.”
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