3D - CONNECTION DESIGN

The stability of a structure soley depends on connections. About 90% of structures fail
due to shear resulting mainly at joints. Simple design procedure has been furnished.

Design Procedure
a) Member end forces (as in Staad output):

Beam L/C Node Fx Fy Fz Mx My Mz

b) Connection forces:
Fxt = Fx + Q + Mz / D + My / B + Mx /√(D2 + B2 + D * B * Sin 4/4 * Cos 4/4)
Fyt = Fy + Fz

c) Bolts design:
Capacity of the bolts in tension = Fxt / (Ft * Nr) ≤ 1.0
Capacity of the bolts in shear = Fyt / (Fs * Nt) ≤ 1.0

d) Combined capacity:
Fxt / (Ft * Nr) + (Fyt + Fz) / (Fs * Nt) ≤ 1.0

e) Thickness of the connection plate ≥ bolt diameter.

Notations
D – Depth of the section, B – Breadth of the section, Fx – Linear shear (Axial force) in x-
axis, Fy – Longitudinal shear in y-axis, Fz – Lateral shear in z-axis, Q – Prying force, Fxt –
Total axial force, Fyt – Total shear force, Mx – Torsion along y-axis, My – Bending moment
along z-axis, Mz – Bending moment along x-axis, Ft – Bolt capacity in tension, Fs – Bolt
capacity in shear, Nr – Number of bolt rows, Nt – Total number of bolts.

About the author

Mahaveer Janapala is a Structural Engineer and Interface Manager in an EPC Company.
Licensed to http://www.ghmc.gov.in. He is a postgraduate in Structural Engineering and
a graduate in Civil Engineering from Osmania University (www.osmania.ac.in). He has a
post graduation in Biblical Counseling from ‘CARE’ Counseling Institute
(http://carecounseling.mahalife.com/) affiliated to ‘TOPIC’ (www.topic.us). He was born
(1977), brought up, educated, working and residing in Hyderabad, India.

1 06-July-09