Designing simple shear connections

Transcript

Designing simple shear connections in ILX Connection.

The simple shear group

Simple shear connections carry a beam's end reaction into a column or a girder. To start one, open the project menu and select New connection. The Simple shear group has four cards: Plate, Angle, Seated and Tee.

Plate types

Select Plate, and a Plate type row appears. Single plate is the familiar shear tab. Double plate puts a plate on each face of the beam web, with the bolts in double shear. End plate is welded to the beam end and bolted to the support. Skewed bent plate connects a skewed beam to a girder web.

Joint and configuration

Next, choose the joint type. In this example, the beam frames into a girder web. Then pick the configuration. A shear tab is welded to the girder and bolted to the beam. Each card has a small picture of the choice, and a card that cannot be built on your joint is greyed out.

Members and loads

On the Members step, type the beam and the girder: a W18x35 beam into a W24x68 girder. On the Loads step, enter the service reactions: 8 kips dead and 22 kips live. Leave auto-design off for now, and select Create.

A cope to clear the girder

The editor opens with the inputs on the left, and the drawings and checks on the right. Right away, the status says the connection is not feasible. The beam's top flange runs into the girder flange. ILX works out the cope you need and offers it as a suggested fix. Select Apply, and the top cope appears in the Beam copes section and in the drawing.

Bolts, plate and welds

Now the connection is adequate. The Bolts section sets the bolt size, the grade and the number of bolt rows. Plate and geometry sets the plate thickness and the edge distances. Welds sets the fillet weld to the support. Every change re-runs the whole design in about a second.

Reading the governing check

The status bar names the governing check, the strength check closest to its limit. Here it is plate block shear, at 84 percent of its capacity. All checks lists every limit state, with its clause, the demand, the capacity and the ratio. Select a row to see its calculation, step by step.

Fixing a failing check

Now the live reaction grows to 30 kips. The status turns red: the connection is not adequate. Select the Failed filter to list just the failing checks. Plate shear rupture and plate block shear are just over their capacity, and each check tells you how to fix it: a longer plate. So add a bolt row. Change the bolt rows from four to five, and the connection is adequate again.

Double plate

For a heavier reaction, use a double plate, with one plate on each face of the web. ILX designs it with the eccentric method and draws both plates, the gap between them and the welds.

End plate and skewed bent plate

The other plate types work the same way. A shear end plate is welded to the beam and bolted to the support. A skewed bent plate takes a beam that frames in at an angle.

Angles

The Angle card covers single and double angles. A double angle has an angle on each face of the beam web, bolted or welded on either side. A single angle sits on one face only, which helps when you can reach just one side.

Seated and tee

A seated connection carries the beam on a seat angle, with a top angle to hold it in place. A shear tee uses a WT, with the flange on the support and the stem on the beam web.

Summary

Every type follows the same steps. Pick the joint and the configuration, enter the members and the reactions, set the details, and let the checks guide you. Then create the calculation report and the drawing sheet.

The user manual covers every option. Try it at ilxconnection.com. ILX Studio, LLC is not affiliated with AISC.