ACADEMIA Letters

Considering the Moment Effect on the Bolts’ Circular

Distribution in the End-plate Connection
Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf, Florida Institute for Built Environment Resilience,
M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Construction Management, College of design
construction and planning, University of Florida

Abstract
In steel structures, the use of moment connections is widespread. Moment connections can
strongly influence the construction cost [5], which made engineers and researchers pay a great
deal of attention to the design and construction of these connections. These efforts have re-
sulted in a great variety of connection types that can be designed and executed safely [6].
However, with the increased complexity of architectural designs nowadays, many structural
designs face difficulties in the design of connections which have no clear reference in the de-
sign manuals. This paper covers one of these cases by introducing a practical way to consider
the moment effect on the bolts’ circular distribution in the End-plate connection, an area that
was not covered in the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) design manual [1].

Problem Statement
A Moment connection is designed to safely transfer bending forces, shear forces, and normal
forces [3]. The design strength of moment connections is defined in relation to the design
strength of the connected members [4]. The design strength of moment connections can be
partial-strength (where the moment capacity of the connections is less than the capacity of the
connected members), or full- strength (where the moment capacity of the connections is equal

Academia Letters, September 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf, eng.amer_hamad@live.com

Citation: Abukhalaf, A.H.I. (2021). Considering the Moment Effect on the Bolts’ Circular Distribution in the
End-plate Connection. Academia Letters, Article 3473. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3473.

1
to or large than the capacity of the connected members) [6]. There are many different kinds
of moment connections, such as Full-depth end-plate, Extended end-plate, Stiffened extended
end-plate, Haunched beam, Beam splice, Column splice, and Base-plate [3].
The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) design manual covers the design
for most of the moment connections [1]. However, every once in a while, we, as structural
designers, face a case that was not covered in the AISC design manual. For example, the AISC
design manual explains how to calculate the thickness for the end plate connection of the HSS
rounded hollow sections, similar to the one in Figure 1, only when it is subjected to a tensile
axial force [1]; however, in reality, most of these connections carry a considerable moment
value that should not be neglected. The leading design software in the market nowadays, such
as RAM Connection V8i from Bentley, also does not cover this particular area, and it neglects
the moment values in such connections no matter how high the moment value is [7].

Since there is no clear reference on how to consider the effect of the moment value on
the bolts’ circular distribution in the End-plate connections, many designers are left with no
option but to neglect it in the calculation, which in some cases can be catastrophic. This paper
introduces an easy and practical way to convert the moment value into an equivalent tensile
force which has a clear design method in the AISC hollow sections Design Guide #24 [2].

Academia Letters, September 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf, eng.amer_hamad@live.com

Citation: Abukhalaf, A.H.I. (2021). Considering the Moment Effect on the Bolts’ Circular Distribution in the
End-plate Connection. Academia Letters, Article 3473. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3473.

2
Methodology
We aim in this paper to find a reasonable way to consider the moment value in the bolted
End-plate connection for the rounded hollow sections, such as the HSS steel section. Let’s
take the end-plate connection in Figure 2 for example with 12 bolts distributed symmetrically
around the center, which is a common case for this type of connection. The code only shows
how to deal with the tensile axial force in the end-plate connection [1], so we want to convert
the moment into equivalent axial force which has a clear design procedure in the AISC hollow
sections Design Guide #24 [2].

If there is a moment value equals to MT in the rounded hollow section HSS, that same
moment will be transferred to the connection, and the bolts will resist this value. However,
each bolt will be subjected to a different axial value based on its distance from the centerline
of the hollow section (see Figure 3). Accordingly, the farthest couple of bolts (Position-D)
will be carrying the largest portion of MT, and the one on the neutral axis of the hollow section
will be carrying a zero moment value (see Figure 4).

Academia Letters, September 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf, eng.amer_hamad@live.com

Citation: Abukhalaf, A.H.I. (2021). Considering the Moment Effect on the Bolts’ Circular Distribution in the
End-plate Connection. Academia Letters, Article 3473. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3473.

3
 Equation (1)

Based on the geometry of the end-plate (see Figure 5), we can write equation (1) with
reference to dB as in Table 1. Now after we find the values for (dD, dC), equation (1) can be
written as in equation (1-1). The next step will be writing the forces with reference to FB as
in Table 2, then equation (1-1) can be written as in equation (1-2).
And from that value, we can find the value for FD, which is the highest value among the
three positions as it is the farthest from the neutral axis of the hollow section, making it the
controlling tensile force that will determine the bolt size of the connection:
Assuming that all bolts are being subjected to the same force at this point, and that force
will be the highest value FD, and if we multiply it with N, the number of bolts, it will be
reasonable to consider the hollow section to be subjected to an axial force AT with a value of
(N x FD). In this way, the moment value can be converted to an axial force that has a clear

Academia Letters, September 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf, eng.amer_hamad@live.com

Citation: Abukhalaf, A.H.I. (2021). Considering the Moment Effect on the Bolts’ Circular Distribution in the
End-plate Connection. Academia Letters, Article 3473. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3473.

4
 Table 1

Academia Letters, September 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf, eng.amer_hamad@live.com

Citation: Abukhalaf, A.H.I. (2021). Considering the Moment Effect on the Bolts’ Circular Distribution in the
End-plate Connection. Academia Letters, Article 3473. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3473.

5
 Equation (1-1)

Table 2

Equation (1-2)

Academia Letters, September 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf, eng.amer_hamad@live.com

Citation: Abukhalaf, A.H.I. (2021). Considering the Moment Effect on the Bolts’ Circular Distribution in the
End-plate Connection. Academia Letters, Article 3473. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3473.

6
 Equation (2)

design procedure in the AISC hollow sections Design Guide #24 [2].

Equation (3)

Discussion
Sometimes the connections can have axial forces in addition to the moment, and to take the
combined effect of the two different stresses; first, the moment should be converted to a tensile
axial force using equation (3). And second, the newly converted tensile axial force is added to
the original axial force in the member, taking into consideration the sign of the axial force; the
tension takes a positive sign and the compression takes a negative one. Moreover, if there is a
moment in the two axes, the moment value that should be used in equation (3) is the resultant
value.
What makes this equation even more convenient is that we only need to use the dD, which
is the easiest bolt distance to be measured, where dD is the largest distance between any two
bolts in the End-plate connection (see Figure 5). And even though the previous calculations
were based on a 12-bolts end-plate, but it works on any number of bolts as long as these bolts
are symmetrically distributed around the center of the hollow section and around the center
of the End-plate connection.
Some might argue that end-plates designed using equation (3) are overdesigned because
we take the bolt that is subjected to the highest level of stress and we generalize that on the
rest of the bolts. However, it is not practical to use different bolt sizes or different bolt grades

Academia Letters, September 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf, eng.amer_hamad@live.com

Citation: Abukhalaf, A.H.I. (2021). Considering the Moment Effect on the Bolts’ Circular Distribution in the
End-plate Connection. Academia Letters, Article 3473. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3473.

7
within the same end-plate connection. And that can be very risky as there is no guarantee
that the steel erection crew on the construction site will not confuse one bolt with another,
jeopardizing the safety of the connection as well as the entire moment frame.

Declaration of interests:
This paper received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial,
or not-for-profit sectors. The author also declares that he has no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in
this paper.

References
[1] American Institute of Steel Construction, Manual of Steel Construction, 14th Edition.
Chicago: AISC, 2011. Retrieved from https://www.aisc.org/publications/steel-construction-
manual-resources/

[2] Design Guide 24: Hollow Structural Section Connections. Chicago: AISC, 2011. Re-
trieved from https://www.aisc.org/Design-Guide-24-Hollow-Structural-Section-Connections

[3] Moment resisting connections. (2021, September, 2). SteelConstruction.info. Accessed

from https://www.steelconstruction.info/Moment_resisting_connections

[4] Design Checks for Moment Connections. (2021, September 2). RISA. Accessed from
https://risa.com/risahelp/risaconnection/Content/Design%20Checks/Moment%20Connection%20Checks.
htm

[5] Design of Fully Restrained Moment Connections per AISC 2011LRFD 3rd Edition.
(2021, September 2). Jose Miguel Albaine. Accessed from https://www.pdhonline.com/
courses/s154/s154content.pdf

[6] Moment Connections: Development of the component method. (2021, September 2). Ac-
cessed from https://people.fsv.cvut.cz/ wald/CESTRUCO/Texts_of_lessons/06-GB_Moment_Connections.
pdf

[7] Did You Know? RAM Connection Moment Connections. (2021, September 2). Accessed
from https://communities.bentley.com/other/old_site_member_blogs/bentley_employees/

Academia Letters, September 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf, eng.amer_hamad@live.com

Citation: Abukhalaf, A.H.I. (2021). Considering the Moment Effect on the Bolts’ Circular Distribution in the
End-plate Connection. Academia Letters, Article 3473. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3473.

8
 b/beth_suminski_blog/posts/did-you-know-ram-connection-moment-connections

Bio Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf is a researcher at the Florida Institute for Built Environment
Resilience (FIBER). Amer is a civil engineer and a structural designer by practice, and he
got his master’s degree in executive management from Ashland University in Ohio, and he
double majored in project management, and operation & logistics. Currently, Amer is pur-
suing a Ph.D. degree from the Design, Construction, and Planning College at University
of Florida. Contact Information (Amer.abukhalaf@ufl.edu)

Academia Letters, September 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf, eng.amer_hamad@live.com

Citation: Abukhalaf, A.H.I. (2021). Considering the Moment Effect on the Bolts’ Circular Distribution in the
End-plate Connection. Academia Letters, Article 3473. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3473.