Bearing plates distribute the force of a bearing wall or column and are used to support the weight of a building. Carrier plates are placed under carrier structures and have additional screw or bolt holes. They can also have additional features such as sliding surfaces.
In most cases, a bearing plate is a specially designed metal plate used to distribute the force of a bearing wall or column over a larger area. It can also refer to a plate used to cover, conceal or protect a bearing system within machinery, but this definition is much less common. A carrier plate is typically placed under a carrier structure, although other configurations are also available. These plates typically have additional screw or bolt holes to provide additional options when attaching the supporting structure.
A supporting structure supports the weight of the building above. Not all parts of a building are resistant. In a standard house, most of the weight is on one or two internal structures as well as the four external corners; very large or very small homes may have more or less, but five to six total load points is very common. To preserve the life of these structures and prevent the building from settling or sagging, bearing plates are placed underneath them to redistribute the weight.
A base carrier plate is a metal plate that is typically less than an inch (3 cm) thick, but is quite wide and long. The actual size of the plate depends mainly on what type of structure it is designed to fit. In any case, the actual plate has a much larger area than the object on top of it.
Bearing plates are generally used under walls and columns during the construction of a building. This type of plate requires more surface area as the building grows in height. The plates near the bottom of the building are larger than the plates near the top. This helps distribute the weight of the structure more evenly, keeping the building stable.
It is not uncommon for a carrier plate to have additional features to enhance its usefulness. Most plates have a variety of holes and fixing points to ensure that the supporting structure is securely fastened and the plate is properly bonded to a surface. This is especially common with a bearing bracket. These brackets connect to a load surface and an inclined surface, transferring vertical force to horizontal force or vice versa.
A common modification of a standard carrier plate is the sliding carrier plate. These are connected to a surface, but not to an overlying structure. These plates have a smooth top surface which allows the object sitting on them to move as it expands and contracts. Redistributes weight and prevents damage to the system due to high friction.
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