School of Engineering

Design of Beam – Column Moment

Connections

Prof Dennis Lam

University of Bradford, UK
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Types of Beam – Column Moment Connections

• Bolted connections
• Welded connections
– Site welding
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Factors Influencing the Use of Site Welding

Disadvantages:
• Access and welding position may be restricted owing to lack of
manipulation and hoisting facilities on site. Manual manipulation of
small sub-assemblies may still be possible alongside the main
structure but this work can be done in the works, in any case.
• With thick walled sections the cooling rate of welds will be high. This
can be offset by using preheat but with particularly heavy sections
the cost of heating can be excessive. Thin sections (e.g. as in hollow
section structures) present no difficulty in this respect and are more
readily welded on site.
• In adverse climates e.g. frost or high wind, localized shelter and
preheat are essential and yet may be difficult to provide.
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Factors Influencing the Use of Site Welding

Disadvantages (cont’d):
• Misalignment or bad fit-up may waste considerable time. Temporary
devices and attachments are sometimes used to pull components into
correct alignment. Welding distortion may further aggravate the problem.
Normal site facilities are inadequate for dealing with major distortion
problems.
• Subsequent adjustment or dismantling is difficult with wholly-welded
construction.
• Inspection and testing is often inconvenient on site and remedial work
comes at an inopportune time, possibly affecting general progress.
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Factors Influencing the Use of Site Welding

Advantages:
• Occasionally, it is physically impossible to develop the required
strength in a bolted joint.
• Bolted joints reduce the effective cross-sectional areas in tie
members, tension flanges, etc.
• Numbers of bolt require for the joints may not be possible due to
access and clearance.

• Site welding may prove economical where there is a sufficient

quantity of repetitive work to justify a transfer of special plant and
equipment to site.
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b b

c tw b−c
m= − − 0 .8 r emin = n = emin , ≤ 1.25m
2 2 2
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Equivalent T-stubs, Leff for Bolt Row

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Moment Capacity, Mp

Leff × t
2 fy
Mp = ×
4 γ M0
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Web Tension in Beam or Column

Ft = Lt × tw × fy / γM0
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Design Assumptions
• Beam end plate is at least as strong as the
column flange
• For extended end plate connection, the
two top rows can be taken as acting
together as a group with the combined
potential resistance shared equally
between rows 1 & 2.
• Each lower row is then based on a T-stub
length of vertical pitch ‘p’
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Design Assumptions (cont’d)

• They are checked to ensure to be within
the triangular limit.
• For flash end plate connection, the top
row is taken to act in isolation (pattern i or
ii).
• Each lower row is then based on a T-stub
length of vertical pitch ‘p’
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Extended end plate connection

Leff = 4m +1.25e+ p
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Flash end plate connection

Leff = 4m +1.25e
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Design Example