Table 2.2.

Anchor Rod Materials

Tensile Nominal Tensile Nominal Shear Stress Nominal Shear Stress Maximum
Material Strength Stress[a] (X type)[a, b] (N type)[a, c] Diameter
ASTM Fu (ksi) Fnt = 0.75Fu (ksi) Fnv = 0.50Fu (ksi) Fnv = 0.40Fu (ksi) (in.)
Gr 36[d] 58 43.5 29.0 23.2 4
F1554

Gr 55 75 56.3 37.5 30.0 4

Gr 105 125 93.8 62.5 50.0 3
120 90.0 60.0 48.0 1
A449 105 78.8 52.5 42.0 1½
90 67.5 45.0 36.0 3
A36 58 43.5 29.0 23.2 4
A307 Gr C[e] 58 43.5 29.0 23.2 4
A354 150 112 75.0 60.0 2½
Gr BD 140 105 70.0 56.0 4
[a]
Nominal stress on unthreaded body for cut threads (based on major thread diameter for rolled threads)
[b]
Threads excluded from shear plane
[c]
Threads included in the shear plane
[d]
Preferred material specification
[e]
See F1554 Gr 36

of a crane building, the use of a seat or stool at the column be subject to tensile stress, should meet the requirements of
base may be more economical, if it eliminates the need for Section M2.2. Generally, round-bottom grooves within the
large complete-joint-penetration (CJP) groove welds to limits specified are acceptable, but sharp notches must be
heavy plates that require special material specifications. repaired. Anchor rod hole sizes and grouting are covered in
Most column base plates are designed as square, to match Sections 2.6 and 2.10 of this Design Guide.
the foundation shape and more readily accommodate square Finishing requirements for column bases that bear on steel
anchor rod patterns. Exceptions to this include moment- plates are covered in Section M2.8 of the AISC Specification
resisting bases and columns that are adjacent to walls. as follows:
Many structural engineers have established minimum
“Steel bearing plates 2 in. (50 mm) or less in thickness are
thicknesses for base plates for typical gravity columns. For
permitted without milling, provided a satisfactory contact
posts and light HSS columns, the minimum plate thickness
bearing is obtained. Steel bearing plates over 2 in. (50 mm)
is typically 2 in., and for other structural columns a plate
but not over 4 in. (100 mm) in thickness are permitted to
thickness of w in. is commonly accepted as the minimum
be straightened by pressing or, if presses are not available,
thickness specified.
by milling for bearing surfaces … to obtain a satisfactory
contact bearing. Steel bearing plates over 4 in. (100 mm) in
2.3 Base Plate Fabrication and Finishing thickness shall be milled for bearing surfaces ….”
Typically, base plates are thermally cut to size. Anchor rod Two exceptions are noted: the bottom surface need not be
and grout holes may be either drilled or thermally cut. Sec- milled when the base plate is to be grouted, and the top
tion M2.2 of the AISC Specification lists requirements for surface need not be milled when CJP groove welds are used
thermal cutting as follows: to connect the column to the base plate.
“…thermally cut free edges that will be subject to calculated AISC Specification Section M4.4 defines a satisfactory
static tensile stress shall be free of round-bottom gouges bearing surface as follows:
greater than x-in. (5 mm) deep and sharp V-shaped notch- “Lack of contact bearing not exceeding a gap of z in.
es. Gouges deeper than x in. (5 mm) and notches shall be (2 mm) regardless of the type of splice used … is permitted. If
removed by grinding and repaired by welding.” the gap exceeds z in. (2 mm), but is less than ¼ in. (6 mm),
Because free edges of the base plate are not subject to tensile and if an engineering investigation shows that sufficient
stress, these requirements are not mandatory for the perimeter contact area does not exist, the gap shall be packed out with
edges; however, they provide a workmanship guide that can non-tapered steel shims. Shims need not be other than mild
be used as acceptance criteria. Anchor rod holes, which may steel, regardless of the grade of the main material.”

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 2.5 Anchor Rod Material ASTM F1554 Grade 55 anchor rods can be ordered with
a supplementary requirement, S1, which limits the carbon
As shown previously in Table 2.2, the preferred specification
equivalent content to a maximum of 45%, to provide weld-
for anchor rods is ASTM F1554, with Grade 36 being the
ability when needed. Adding this supplement is helpful
most common strength level used. The availability of other
should welding become required for fixes in the field. Grade
grades should be confirmed prior to specification.
36 is typically weldable without supplement.
ASTM F1554 Grade 55 anchor rods are used when there
There are also two supplemental provisions available for
are large tension forces due to moment connections or uplift
Grades 55 and 105 regarding Charpy V-Notch (CVN) tough-
from overturning. ASTM F1554 Grade 105 is a special high
ness. These provide for CVN testing of 15 ft-lbs at either
strength rod grade and generally should be used only when
40 °F (S4) or at −20 °F (S5). Note however that anchor rods
it is not possible to develop the required strength using larger
typically have sufficient fracture toughness without these
Grade 36 or Grade 55 rods. supplemental specifications. Additional fracture toughness
Unless otherwise specified, anchor rods will be supplied is expensive and generally does not make much difference
with Unified Coarse (UNC) Threads with a Class 2A tol- in the time to failure for anchor rods subjected to fatigue
erance, as permitted in ASTM F1554. While ASTM F1554 loading. Although fracture toughness may correspond to a
permits standard hex nuts, all nuts for anchor rods, especially greater crack length at the time of failure (because cracks
those used in base plates with large oversize holes, should be grow at an exponential rate) 95% of the fatigue life of the
furnished as heavy hex nuts, preferably ASTM A563 Grade anchor rod is consumed when the crack size is less than a
A or DH for Grade 105. few millimeters. This is also the reason why it is not cost ef-
ASTM F1554 anchor rods are required to be color coded fective to perform ultrasonic testing or other nondestructive
to allow easy identification in the field. The color codes are tests on anchor rods to look for fatigue cracks. There is only
as follows: a small window between the time cracks are large enough to
Grade 36…………………………..Blue detect and small enough to not cause fracture. Thus, it gen-
Grade 55…………………………. Yellow erally is more cost effective to design additional redundancy
Grade 105…………………………Red into the anchor rods rather than specifying supplemental
CVN properties.
In practice, Grade 36 is considered the default grade and
Galvanized anchor rods are often used when the column-
often is not color coded.
base-plate assembly is exposed and subject to corrosion. Ei-
The ASTM Specification for F1554 allows anchor rods to
ther the hot-dip galvanizing process (ASTM A153) or the
be supplied either straight (threaded with nut for anchorage),
mechanical galvanizing process (ASTM B695) is allowed
hooked or headed. Rods up to approximately 1-in. diameter
in ASTM F1554; however, all threaded components of the
are sometimes supplied with heads hot-forged similar to a
fastener assembly must be galvanized by the same process.
structural bolt. Thereafter, it is more common that the rods
Mixing of rods galvanized by one process and nuts by an-
will be threaded and nutted.
other may result in an unworkable assembly. It is recom-
Hooked-type anchor rods have been extensively used in
mended that galvanized anchor rods and nuts be purchased
the past. However, hooked rods have a very limited pullout
from the same supplier and shipped preassembled. Because
strength compared to that of headed rods or threaded rods
this is not an ASTM requirement, this should be specified on
with a nut for anchorage. Therefore, current recommended
the contract documents.
practice is to use headed rods or threaded rods with a nut
Note also that galvanizing increases friction between the
for anchorage.
nut and the rod and even though the nuts are over tapped,
The addition of plate washers or other similar devices
special lubrication may be required.
does not increase the pullout strength of the anchor rod, ASTM A449, A36 and A307 Specifications are listed in
and can create construction problems by interfering with re- Table 2.2 for comparison purposes, because some suppliers
inforcing steel placement or concrete consolidation under the are more familiar with these Specifications. Note that ASTM
plate. Thus, it is recommended that the anchorage device be F1554 grades match up closely with many aspects of these
limited to either a heavy hex nut or a head on the rod. As an older material specifications. Note also that these older ma-
exception, the addition of plate washers may be of use when terial specifications contain almost none of the anchor-rod
high strength anchor rods are used, or when concrete blowout specific requirements found in ASTM F1554.
could occur (see Section 3.2.2 of this Guide). In these cases, Drilled-in epoxy-type anchor rods are discussed in several
calculations should be made to determine if an increase places in the Design Guide. This category of anchor rod does
in the bearing area is necessary. Additionally, it should be not include wedge-type mechanical anchors, which are not
confirmed that the plate size specified will work with the recommended for anchor rods because they must be tensioned
reinforcing steel and concrete placement requirements. to securely lock in the wedge device. Column movement dur-
ing erection can cause wedge-type anchor rods to loosen.

AISC DESIGN GUIDE 1, 2ND EDITION / BASE PLATE AND ANCHOR ROD DESIGN / 5

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 Table 2.3. Recommended Sizes for Anchor Rod Holes in Base Plates
Anchor Rod Hole Min. Washer Min. Washer
Diameter, in. Diameter, in. Dimension, in. Thickness, in.
w 1c 2 4
d 1b 22 c
1 1m 3 a
14 2z 3 2
12 2c 32 2
1w 2w 4 s
2 34 5 w
22 3w 52 d
Notes: 1. Circular or square washers meeting the size shown are acceptable.
2. Adequate clearance must be provided for the washer size selected.
3. See discussion in Section 2.6 regarding the use of alternate 1z-in. hole size
for w-in.-diameter anchor rods, with plates less than 14-in. thick.

2.6 Anchor Rod Holes and Washers the table. This potential fabrication savings must be weighed
against possible problems with placement of anchor rods out
The most common field problem is anchor rod placements
of tolerance.
that either do not fit within the anchor rod hole pattern or
For anchor rods designed to resist moment or axial ten-
do not allow the column to be properly positioned. Because
sion, the hole and washer sizes recommended in Table 2.3
OSHA requires any modification of anchor rods to be ap-
should be used. The added setting tolerance is especially im-
proved by the Engineer of Record, it is important to provide
portant when the full or near-full strength of the rod in ten-
as large a hole as possible to accommodate setting toler-
sion is needed for design purposes, because almost any field
ances. The AISC-recommended hole sizes for anchor rods
fix in this case will be very difficult.
are given in Table 2.3.
Additional recommendations regarding washers and an-
These hole sizes originated in the first edition of Design
chor rod holes are as follows:
Guide 1, based on field problems in achieving the column
• Washers should not be welded to the base plate, except
setting tolerances required for the previous somewhat
when the anchor rods are designed to resist shear at the
smaller recommended sizes. They were later included in the
column base (see Section 3.5).
AISC Steel Construction Manual (AISC, 2005d).
• ASTM F436 washers are not used on anchor rods be-
The washer diameters shown in Table 2.3 are sized to
cause they generally are of insufficient size.
cover the entire hole when the anchor rod is located at the
• Washers for anchor rods are not, and do not need to be,
edge of the hole. Plate washers are usually custom fabricat-
hardened.
ed by thermal cutting the shape and holes from plate or bar
stock. The washer may be either a plain circular washer or a
2.7 Anchor Rod Sizing and Layout
rectangular plate washer as long as the thickness is adequate
to prevent pulling through the hole. The plate washer thick- Use w-in.-diameter ASTM F1554 Grade 36 rod material
nesses shown in the table are similar to the recommendation in whenever possible. Where more strength is required, consid-
AISC Design Guide 7, that the washer thickness be approxi- er increasing rod diameter up to about 2 in. in ASTM F1554
mately 3 the anchor rod diameter. The same thickness is ad- Grade 36 material before switching to a higher-strength ma-
equate for all grades of ASTM F1554, since the pull-through terial grade.
criterion requires appropriate stiffness as well as strength. Anchor rod details should always specify ample threaded
For anchor rods for columns designed for axial compres- length. Whenever possible, threaded lengths should be spec-
sion only, the designer may consider using a smaller hole ified at least 3-in. greater than required, to allow for varia-
diameter of 1z in. with w-in.-diameter rods and base plates tions in setting elevation.
less than 14-in. thick, as allowed in Footnote 3 in Table 2.3. Anchor rod layouts should, where possible, use a symmet-
This will allow the holes to be punched up to this plate rical pattern in both directions and as few different layouts
thickness, and the use of ASTM F844 (USS Standard) wash- as possible. Thus, the typical layout should have four anchor
ers in lieu of the custom washers of dimensions shown in rods in a square pattern.

6 / BASE PLATE AND ANCHOR ROD DESIGN / AISC DESIGN GUIDE 1, 2ND EDITION

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