On a more serious note, ‘equivalent’ uniformly distributed load implies that the actual load is not distributed uniformly on the beam or slab, but a good approximation for analysis and design purposes may be made by assuming that the total load W may be assumed to be loaded uniformly over the span L or area A at an intensity of (W/L) or (W/A).
This is frequently done in the following two situations:
- When the distributed load varies within a small percentage, say + or – of 10% from the average — a good example being storing of materials over a span at roughly the same depth; and,
- When there are more than (say) three equal concentrated loads at (nearly) equal distances over the beam or slab — a good example being a group of people of slightly varying heights standing or moving roughly at equal spacing.
