Steel Wise

CHE RON BRACING V

IN LOW-RISE BUILDINGS
Roberta Marstellar, Keith Mueller, Jason Ericksen and Christopher Hewitt

Estimating member sizes for

chevron bracing in low-rise
steel-framed construction is
easier than ever with this
handy design aid.

Schematic of typical chevron brace configu-

rations. The details circled are highlighted in
later figures in this article.

C
hevron braces are a com- tored brace forces (tensile and compres- square HSS. Rectangular HSS are not
mon configuration for sive). The bolts and welds indicated included. This minimum length allows
providing lateral-load re- are for the connection of the brace to the welds to be designed with a shear
sistance in steel-framed the gusset plate. A 3” center-to-center lag coefficient U = 1 in the HSS.2 A
buildings. This handy bolt spacing and a 11/2” edge distance smaller weld length may be acceptable,
chart will help you quickly estimate the were assumed in the connection de- provided the effects of shear lag are
brace size and connection material re- sign. Suggested details for the various considered.
quired for a given force in chevron connections involved in chevron brac- Thanks to Victor Shneur, P.E., of
bracing designed to resist lateral forces ing are also included for each of the Lejeune Steel Company in Minneapo-
due to gravity, wind and low-seismic bracing types: HSS, W-shapes, WT- lis, MN, for laying the groundwork for
loads.1 These rules of thumb don’t shapes and double angles. this feature.
cover all situations, but they will pro- The connection(s) of the gusset plate Roberta (Bobbi) Marstellar is Director,
vide a reasonable starting point for the to the beam and/or column are not ad- Steel Solutions Center, Keith Mueller is Se-
preliminary brace and connection de- dressed in the table. Also, drift control nior Engineer, Steel Solutions Center, and
sign or cost estimating. issues must be considered separately. Jason Ericksen is Solutions Center Advisor.
Estimated brace sizes, gusset plate The minimum length of the welds Christopher Hewitt is Staff Engineer–
thicknesses, and required number of for the connection of the HSS to the Structures in AISC’s Engineering and Re-
bolts or size and length of the welds are gusset is 1.3 times the diameter of the search department. Email the Steel Solu-
tabulated for a practical range of unfac- round HSS or 1.3 times the side of the tions Center at [email protected], or visit
them at the AISC web site, www.aisc.org.

`Modern Steel Construction • April 2002

 Chevron Bracing in Low-Rise Buildings
Unfactored Loads
30 50 75 100 150 200
(Kips)
Gusset Plate PL PL PL PL PL PL
ASTM A36 3/8" 3/8" 1/2" 1/2" 3/4" 3/4"

Double Angles 2L5x5x5/16 2L6x6x3/8 2L6x6x3/8 2L6x6x1/2 2L8x8x1/2 2L8x8x1/2

ASTM A36 (21 lb/ft) (30 lb/ft) (30 lb/ft) (39 lb/ft) (53 lb/ft) (53 lb/ft)
Double Angles

3/4" Bolts / row

3 4 6 6 6 8
ASTM A325
Bolts

7/8" Bolts / row

3 4 4 6 5 6
ASTM A325
No. of Rows 1 1 1 1 2 2

HSS HSS HSS HSS HSS HSS

Round HSS
5.000x0.375 6.000x0.312 6.000x0.500 6.875x0.500 8.625x0.500 9.625x0.500
ASTM A500, Gr. B
(18.5 lb/ft) (19.0 lb/ft) (29.4 lb/ft) (34.1 lb/ft) (43.4 lb/ft) (48.8 lb/ft)

Square HSS HSS5x5x1/4 HSS6x6x1/4 HSS6x6x1/4 HSS7x7x1/4 HSS8x8x5/16 HSS8x8x3/8

HSS

ASTM A500, Gr. B (16 lb/ft) (19 lb/ft) (19 lb/ft) (22 lb/ft) (32 lb/ft) (38 lb/ft)

"a" (in)
3/16 3/16 1/4 1/4 5/16 5/16
Weld

[See Details]
"b" (in) ** 9 (Round) 12 (Round) 13 (Round)
7 8 8
[See Details] 10 (Square) 11 (Square) 11 (Square)

W-Shape
W6x20 W8x28 W8x31 W8x35 W8x48 W10x49
ASTM A992

Web Plates (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2)

ASTM A36 PL 3/8" PL 3/8" PL 3/8" PL 3/8" PL 3/8" PL 3/8"
W-Shape

Web

3/4" or 7/8" 4 - Gusset 4 - Gusset 4 - Gusset 4 - Gusset 4 - Gusset 4 - Gusset

ASTM A325 Bolts 4 - Web 4 - Web 4 - Web 4 - Web 4 - Web 4 - Web
Angles
4 L4x4x5/16 4 L4x4x5/16 4 L4x4x5/16 4 L4x4x5/16 4 L4x4x5/16 4 L4x4x5/16
Flange

ASTM A36
3/4" or 7/8" 4 - Gusset 4 - Gusset 4 - Gusset 4 - Gusset 6 - Gusset 8 - Gusset
ASTM A325 Bolts 8 - Flange 8 - Flange 8 - Flange 8 - Flange 12 - Flange 16 - Flange

WT-Shape
(Flange Connection)

WT6x13 WT6x25 WT6x43.5 WT7x45 WT8x38.5 WT13.5x73

ASTM A992
WT-Shape

3/4" Bolts
4 4 4 6 6 8
Bolts

ASTM A325
7/8" Bolts
4 4 4 6 6 8
ASTM A325
** Weld lengths are based on 1.3H , where H is the outside diameter of a round HSS or leg dimension of a square HSS.

REFERENCES
1. Low-seismic loads are those for ap- such applications are designed to 2. Kulak, Geoffrey L., and J. J. Roger
plications in which the seismic re- meet the requirements in the AISC Cheng, 2000, “Gusset Plate Connec-
sponse modification factor R is Load and Resistance Factor Design tion to Round HSS Tension Mem-
taken equal to or less than 3. Struc- (LRFD) Specification with no special bers.” Engineering Journal Vol. 37
tural elements and connections in seismic detailing. No. 4 (Fourth Quarter): 133-139.
Turn page for typical details

April 2002 • Modern Steel Construction

Steel Wise

SUGGESTED DETAILS FOR CHEVRON BRACING

`Modern Steel Construction • April 2002

SUGGESTED DETAILS FOR CHEVRON BRACING

April 2002 • Modern Steel Construction