M.SC.

STEEL STRUCTURES

LEC. #7

PLASTIC ANALYSIS AND

DESIGN

DR. QASIM SHAUKAT KHAN

1
 CONNECTIONS

• Connections are the devices used to join elements

of a structure together at a point such that forces
can be transferred between them safely.
• Connection design is more critical than the design
of members.
• The failure of connection usually means collapse
of a greater part or whole of the structure.
• In general, relatively more factor of safety is
provided in the design of connections.

2
• The rigid connection should provide
sufficient strength and ductility.
• The ductility is very useful for redistribution
of stresses and dissipation of extra energy in
case of earthquakes, etc.
• According to AISC J1.1, where the gravity
axis of intersecting axially loaded members
do not intersect at one point, the effects of
eccentricity must be considered.
3
 TYPES OF CONNECTIONS

Based On Means Of Connection

A. Welded connections
B. Riveted connections
C. Bolted connections

4
 BASED ON FORCES TO BE
TRANSFERRED

A. Truss connections
B. Simple / shear connections
C. Moment connections
– i) Fully restrained (FR) connections
– ii) Partially restrained (Semi-rigid) connections
D. Splices (Provided within the member; lap and butt joints)
E. Brackets (To connect different members; torque)
F. Bearing joints

5
 BUILDING / FRAME / BEAM
CONNECTIONS

• All frame connections have to transfer 100% shear

force from beam to other members. The moment
transferred depends on the rotational restraint at the
joint. The rotational characteristics of the connection
are experimentally measured by running the tests and
plotting moment rotation for each type of connection.

• Fully Restrained / FR / Moment Connections

• Partially Restrained / PR Connections
a. Simple or shear or flexible connections
b. Semi-rigid connections
6
 MOMENT CONNECTIONS (FR)

• Moment connections are also referred to as rigid,

continuous frame or FR connections.
• Knee joints are the typical example.
• They are assumed to be sufficiently rigid keeping
the original angles between members practically
unchanged after application of loads.
• Greater than 90 percent moment may be
transferred with respect to ideally rigid connection
besides the full transfer of shear and other forces.
7
 MOMENT CONNECTIONS (FR)
• These connections are particularly useful when
continuity between the members of the building
frame is required to provide more flexural
resistance and to reduce lateral deflection due to
wind loads. Both the flanges and web of the
member are to be connected for this type of
connection.
• This type of connection must have sufficient strength
and stiffness to keep the angle between the adjoining
members unchanged.
• For analysis, it is assumed that this type of connection
provides no relative rotation between the adjoining
members. 8
 PARTIALLY RESTRAINED
CONNECTIONS
• Type PR connections have rigidity less than 90 percent
compared with ideally rigid connections.
• Although the relative rotation between the joining
members is not freely allowed, the original angles
between members may change within certain limits.
• They transfer some percentage of moment less than 90
percent and full shear between the members.
• PR members should have sufficient strength, stiffness
and deformation capacity at the strength limit states.
• PR connections may be further classified into simple
and semi-rigid connections. 9
 SHEAR CONNECTIONS

• Simple or shear connections have less than 20

percent rigidity. For e.g. connections of beams,
girders and trusses. These connections are allowed
to be designed for the reaction shears only.
• They are considerably flexible and the beams
become simply supported due to the possibility of
the large available rotation.
• Moment may not be transferred in larger
magnitudes with the requirement that the shear
force is fully transferred.
10
• In these connections, primarily the web is to be
connected because most of the shear stresses are
concentrated in it.
• Connections of beams, girders, or trusses shall
be designed as flexible joints to resist only the
reaction shears except otherwise required.
• A simple connection should possess the rotation
capacity equal to that determined during the
analysis of the structure considering the a true
simply support.
11
 SEMI-RIGID CONNECTIONS

• Semi-rigid connections provide rigidity in-

between fully restrained and simple connections.
• Approximately 20 to 90 percent moment
compared with ideal rigid joint may be transferred.
• End moments may develop in the beams and the
maximum beam moment may be significantly
reduced.
• Usually no advantage is taken of this reduction
and beams are designed as simply supported
because of various reasons.
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• One of the reasons is the difficulty of structural
frame analysis for varying degrees of restraints at
the joints and unpredicted rotations.
• Further, LRFD Specification states that a
connection can only be considered as semi-rigid if
proper evidence is presented to prove that it is
capable of providing a certain end restraint.
• These are the commonly used types of
connections in practice because their performance
is exceptionally well under cyclic loads and
earthquake loadings.
13
 BEARING JOINTS

• There shall be sufficient connectors to hold all

parts of the section securely in place when
columns rest on bearing plates.
• All compression joints shall be designed to
provide resistance against uplift and tension
developed during the uplift load combination.

14
 MOMENT CONNECTIONS

Rigid Frame Knees

• These are a type of fully restrained (FR) or
moment connection.
• In the design of rigid frames the safe
transmission of load at the junction of beam and
column is of great importance.
• When members join with their webs lying in
the plane of the frame, the junction is
frequently referred to as a knee joint (Figure 1).
15
 

a) Square Knee Without Stiffener b) Square Knee With Stiffener

Figure 1a: Square Knee Joints.

16
 This type of joint may resist
large negative moments and
reducing the size of the beam
and column.

Figure 1b: Square Knee With a Bracket.

17
 Figure 2: Straight
Haunched Knee.

Straight Haunched Knee is a modification of the square knee

with a bracket. The beam and column sections are discontinued
short of the connection. The haunch consists of a separate plate 18

reinforced by perpendicular stiffeners

Curved Haunched knee is similar to a straight haunched knee
with the difference of having a curved inner profile. For
haunched knees, variable moment of inertia has to be
considered with the knees for both beams and column to
perform analysis.

Figure 3: Curved Haunched Knee.

19
1. The end moment between the beam and the
column must be transferred.
2. The beam end shear must safely go to the
column.
3. The shear at the top of the column should be
transferred into the beam.
4. The joint must deform in a manner consistent with
the analysis by which moments and shears are
determined.
5. If a plastic hinge associated with the failure
mechanism is expected to form at or near the
knee, adequate rotation capacity must be built
into the connections. 20
• Square knees have the greatest plastic rotation
capacity but this flexibility increases the service load
deflections as they deform elastically the most under
the loads.
• Curved knees are the most stiff but have the least
rotation capacity.
• Since straight tapered knees provide reasonable
stiffness along with adequate rotation capacity, in
addition to the fact that they are cheaper than curved
haunches to fabricate, the straight haunched knees are
more commonly used.
21
 SHEAR TRANSFER IN SQUARE KNEES
• In the design of a rigid frame having square knees, two
rolled sections may come together at right angles.
• The moments, shears and axial forces (M, V and
H) acting on the boundaries of the square knee
region, as shown in Figure 4(a), may be determined
by either elastic or plastic analysis.
• The forces carried by the flanges must be
transmitted by shear into the web, as shown in
Figure 4(b).

22
 Tb
A B
M H
db
D C V From tension in top
Cb
flange of beam
H T
M
b
V A B
From
WEB compression in
D C right flange of
Tc column

From tension From

in left flange compression in
Cc of column bottom flange of
Tc dc beam

(a) (b)

Figure 4: Forces acting on web of a Square knee

23
 Assuming all bending moment to be carried by
the flanges, and approximating the distance
between flange centroids as 0.95 db, the flange
force is:

Mu
Tu = Tb =
0.95 db
The nominal shear strength of the web across the
edge AB is:

Vn = Vab = y tw dc
where Yield shear strength y = 0.6 Fy
and  = 0.9
24
 = Tu,

Mu
 (0.6 Fy) tw dc = 0.95d
b
1.95M
u
Required tw without diagonal stiffener =
Fy db dc
1.95M
u
= Fy Abc

where Abc = the planner area within the knee

= d b d c.
25
 DIAGONAL STIFFENERS

• In a rigid frame knee, the required web thickness

usually exceeds that provided by a W-section and
reinforcement is required.
• A doubler plate is sometimes used to thicken the web
region, which is not a general practical solution
because of the difficulty of making the attachment to
the column web.
• Usually, a pair of diagonal stiffeners is the best
solution, as shown in Figure 5.

26
 C ST COS 
A B

Cst


D C

Figure 5: Web of a Square Knee Connection with a Stiffener.

27
• Stiffener resistive compressive force
= Cst
= Ast c Fcr
• Applied shear on the web
= Tu (Figure 4b)
• When diagonal stiffeners are used, the
horizontal component Cstcos of the
stiffener force participates in resisting the
shear with the web.

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 Fx = 0 
TU = VAB + CST COS 
Mu
=  (0.60 Fy ) tw dc + A st cFcr cos 
0.95 d b
 Mu 
  0.60 Fy t w d c 
1
Ast, req = 
c Fcr cos 0.95 d b 
where  = 0.90 for any yield limit state
like in shear
c = 0.85 for compression
elements
Fcr = compression limit state stress 29
 EXAMPLE 8.6

Design the square knee connection given in

Figure 6 to join a W690 x 140 girder to a
W360 x 110 column. The factored moment Mu
to be carried through the joint is 510 kN-m.
Use A36 steel and E70 electrodes with SMAW
(Shielded metal arc welding).
30
 A
510 KN-M
W690  140
D 67 kN

C 285 kN db = 684 mm
B (tw)b = 12.4 mm
tf = 18.9 mm
bf = 254 mm

W360  110
dc = 360 mm
(tw)c = 11.4 mm
tf = 19.9 mm
bf = 256 mm
67 kN
510 kN-m
285 kN

Figure 6 Square Knee of Example 8.6.

31
 SOLUTION

1. Check the web without diagonal stiffener:

1.95 M
u
Required t w =
Fy Abc (d b d c )
1.95510106
=
250684360

= 16.15 mm
Actual tw = 12.4 mm for W690  140
< 16.15 mm

 A diagonal stiffener is required. 32

2. Stiffener size:
db 684
tan  = =
dc 360

  = 62.24 and cos  = 0.466

Assuming Fcr  0.95Fy,
1  510106 
(Ast)req =   0.90.60 25012.4360
0.85 2380.466 0.95 684 

= 1933 mm2
(half area on one side = 967 mm2)

33
 USING TST
12 mm ; bst = 81 mm
=
say 85 mm
= 85
12
= 7.08 < r = 15.8 OK

Size of stiffener:2 PL s 12 x 85 on both sides of the web of column

3. Strength of the stiffener acting as a column:

Overall width of stiffener = b = 2 bst + tw

= 2  85 + 12.4 = 182.4 mm
34
 T ST B 3
r = 12 =
1
b = 0.289 b
t st b 12
= 52.65 mm
KL d c cos 360 0.466
r
= r
= 52.65
 15

 c Fcr  201.88 MPa

This means that Fcr is approximately equal to the

assumed value of Fcr.

35
4. DETERMINE THE FILLET WELD SIZE ALONG LENGTH
AB. THE WELD MUST TRANSMIT THE FACTORED
FLANGE FORCE INTO THE BEAM WEB. THE MAXIMUM
DESIGN FLANGE FORCE THAT CAN BE DEVELOPED IS
T FY AF. (WEB DIMENSIONS)

Flange force = t Fy Aw = 0.90  250  19.9 

256/1000 = 1146.24 kN
The design strength of fillet welds along both
sides of web is:
 Rnw = 2(0.75  0.707  tw  0.6  495/1000)
= 0.315 tw kN/mm
36
Available length for weld = db – 2 tf
= 684 – 2  18.9 = 646.2 mm

 0.315 tw (646.2) = 1146.24 (Flange force)

tw = 6 mm

Use 6 mm thick E70 fillet weld along length

AB (both sides of girder web)
37
5.DETERMINE FILLET WELD SIZE ALONG LENGTH
BC. THE CONNECTION OF THE COLUMN WEB TO THE
BEAM FLANGE MUST CARRY THE FORCE RESULTING
FROM FLEXURE AND AXIAL LOAD, COMBINED WITH
THE SHEAR ACTING SIMULTANEOUSLY ON THE
WELD. (FLANGE DIMENSIONS)

The forces transferred through this weld may

conservatively be estimated as follows:

Tensile component = t Fy tf
= 0.9  250  12.4/1000 = 2.79 kN/mm
38
 Vu 67
SHEAR COMPONENT = d c  2t f
= 360 219.9

= 0.21 kN/mm
Resultant loading = 2.792  0.212 = 2.80 kN/mm
2.80
Required tw = 0.315
 9 mm

Use 9 mm thick E70 fillet weld along length BC on

both sides of girder web 39
6.WELD REQUIRED along diagonal stiffeners is
designed next. This weld must develop the
required stiffener strength.

 Cs =  Fy Ast
= 0.9  250  2  12  80/1000 = 432 kN
432 360 0.466
Required t w = = 1 mm
4 0.750.7070.6 0.495
say 6 mm
Use 6mm thick E70 fillet weld along diagonal
stiffener on both sides of girder web
40
7. DETERMINE THE REQUIRED LENGTH
OF THE STIFFENER CD:

The design strength based on local web yielding from

the inside column flange at C is:

Pbf =  (5 k + tfb) Fyc twc

= 1.0(5  37 + 18.9)  250  11.4/1000 = 581.12 kN

Flange force as calculated earlier = 1146.24 kN

The force is greater than capacity of the web alone and

diagonal stiffener is already resisting other forces.
Hence, vertical stiffener is required at C.
41
8. STIFFENER ALONG CD:
1146.24  581.12 1
Required Ast = 
 Fy 2

= 1256 mm2 per plate

b fb  twb 254 12.4
Width available = =
2 2

= 120.8 mm say 110 mm

1256
Required t st =  12 mm
110
110
 = 12 = 9.17 < p = 10.8 OK
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 D 2T F
Length of stiffener = 2
 325 mm

Use 2 PL s – 12  110  325, tapered from full

width at C to zero at D

43