Absorption of force by beam

[Cake of Doom]

My bad! Sloppy reading. I am not used to seeing pressures expressed in pounds per square foot. Assumed psi.

Try being used to kPa and then seeing all this stuff

[jp_rukus]

Ha. No worries, we run into that a lot.

[Kelly_Bramble]

I definitely appreciate everybody's help.

Kelly, am I correct that 144,000 would be divided between the center beam and the two side channels that are attached to the table (also anchored to the floor) holding the cross members down?

With sufficient FOS applied that would a safe assumption ... I doubt that the structure will deflect uniformly therefore assume that more deflection and resultant stress towards the center.

I suppose you could estimate deflection by calculating with the load applied to the opposite surface and normal to the structure.

Again, you need FEA.

[JAlberts]

One problem withe the above cable arrangement is that it will not insure that the table will stay level. Any eccentric load (weight placed upon the table that is not exactly centered from one end of the cable connections to the other end) can cause the table to tilt unless you provide some type of braking/locking feature upon one or more of the table sheaves to lock the cable in place.