BOLTED CONNECTION

STRUCTURAL DESIGN – 2
CE 524

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• TYPES OF BOLTS
• Unfinished Bolt
• Also called ordinary or common bolts
• Classified as A307 bolts
• Made from carbon steels with stress-strain characteristics very similar to those of A36
steel
• High Strength Bolts
• Made from medium carbon heat-treated steel and from alloy steel and have tensile
strengths two or more times those of ordinary bolts.
• Basic types are; A325 bolts (made from a heat-treated medium carbon steel) and
A490 bolts (heat-treated, made from an alloy steel)
• Used for all types of structures

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• STRUCTURAL BOLTS
• A307 – Low carbon steel
• Not commonly used
• Only used for secondary members
• A325 – High Strength medium carbon steel
• Most common ones used in building construction
• A490 – High Strength heat treated steel
• Costs more than A325 but are stronger so fewer bolts may be necessary

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• AVAILABILITY
• A325 and A490 bolts are available in diameters ranging from ½” to 1 ½”
• ¾”, 7/8” and 1” are most common sizes
• High strength bolts are available in incremental lengths up to 8”

• BOLT GROUPS
• Group A:
• A325, A325M, F1852, A354 Grade BC and A449
• Group B:
• ASTM A490, A490M, F2280 and A354 Grade BD

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• TYPE OF HIGH STRENGTH BOLTED JOINTS
• SNUG TIGHT
• Situation where all the plies of a connection are in firm contact with each other.
• Permitted for all situations in which pretensioned and slip critical bolts are not required.
• PRETENSIONED JOINTS
• Joints that are brought to very high tensile stresses equal to approximately 70% of their
minimum tensile stresses.
• Required for connections subjected to appreciable load reversals where nearly full or full
design loads are applied to them in one direction (typical for seismic loadings).
• Required for joints subject to fatigue loads where there is no reversal of the load
direction
• SLIP-CRITICAL JOINTS
• Required for situations involving shear or combined shear and tension.
• Not required for members involving only tension
• Used for joints with oversized holes and for joints with slotted holes where the load is
applied approximately normal (within 80 to 100 degrees) to the long direction of the slot.

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• SIZES OF BOLT HOLES
• STANDARD SIZE BOLT HOLES (STD)
• 1/16” larger in diameter than the bolts
• OVERSIZED HOLES (OVS)
• May be used in all plies of connections as long as the applied loads does not exceed
the permissible slip resistance.
• Not to be used in bearing – type connections
• SHORT – SLOTTED HOLES (SSL)
• May be used regardless of the direction of the applied load for slip-critical connections.
• For bearing type connections, the slots must be perpendicular to the direction of
loading.
• LONG – SLOTTED HOLES (LSL)
• May be used in only one of the connected parts of slip – critical or bearing – type
connections at any one faying surface.
• For slip – critical joint, holes may be used in any direction
• For bearing – type connections the load must be normal (between 80 and 100 degrees)
to the axes of the slotted holes.

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• FORCES IN BOLT ASSEMBLY
• Shear within the bolt
• Bearing between the bolt
and plate
• Friction between the faying
surfaces of connected
elements

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• FAILURE MECHANISMS

• Tension Failure

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• FAILURE MECHANISMS
• Connection
related Failure

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• MAIN CATEGORIES OF BOLT CONNECTIONS
• Bearing – type connection
• The load is transferred between members by bearing on the bolts

• Slip – critical connections

• The load is transferred between members by friction in the joint

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• BEARING TYPE CONNECTION
• Failure
• Failure of the bolt
• Failure of the plate
• Bolt tear out
• Similar to fracture / block shear
• Bolt hole ovalization
• Similar to yielding

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• SPACING AND EDGE DISTANCES OF BOLTS
• Pitch
• Center to center distance of bolts in a direction
parallel to the axis of the member
• Gage
• Center to center distance of bolt lines
perpendicular to the axis of the member
• Edge Distance
• Distance from the center of the bolt to the
adjacent edge of a member
• Distance Between Bolts
• The shortest distance between fasteners on the
same or different gage lines

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• MINIMUM SPACINGS
• Minimum center to center distance for standard, oversized, or slotted holes should
not be less than 2 2/3 diameters (with three diameters being preferred)

• No additional bearing strength is obtained when spacing greater than 3d are used.

• MINIMUM EDGE DISTANCES

• Punching of holes too close to the edges may cause the steel opposite the
hole to bulge out or even crack.
• Danger of tearing of plates at the ends of member.
• Usual practice for a minimum distance from the edge of the plates equal to
about 1.5 to 2.0 times the fastener diameter.
• The minimum edge distance form the center of an oversized hole or a
slotted hole to the edge of a connected part must equal the minimum
distance required for a standard hole plus an increment 𝐶2

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• MAXIMUM SPACING AND EDGE DISTANCES
• The purpose of such requirement is to reduce the chances of moisture getting
between the parts.
• When fasteners are too far from the edges of parts being connected, the edges may
sometimes separate, thus permitting the entrance of moisture.
• The AISC maximum permissible edge distance is 12 times the thickness of the
connected part, but not more than 6” or 150 mm.
• The AISC Specifications states that the maximum spacing of bolts center to center for
painted members, or for unpainted members not subject to corrosion is 24 times the
thickness of the thinner plate not to exceed 12” or 305 mm (longitudinal spacing).
• For unpainted members consisting of weathering steel subject to atmospheric
corrosion, the maximum is 14 times the thickness of the thinner plate not to exceed 7”
or 180 mm (longitudinal spacing).

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• BEARING TYPE CONNECTION
• Bearing capacity of a bolt (standard, oversized or short – slotted)
• for deformation ≤ 0.25“
𝑅𝑛 = 1.2𝑙𝑐 𝑡𝐹𝑢 ≤ 2.4𝑑𝑡𝐹𝑢
• for deformation > 0.25“
𝑅𝑛 = 1.5𝑙𝑐 𝑡𝐹𝑢 ≤ 3.0𝑑𝑡𝐹𝑢
• where:
• ∅ = 0.75
• Ω = 2.00
• 𝑙𝑐 - clear distance between the edge of the hole and
- the edge of the plate
- the edge of the adjacent hole
• 𝑡 – plate thickness
• 𝑑 – nominal bolt diameter
• 𝐹𝑢 - tensile stress of the plate
ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT
 BOLTED CONNECTION
• BEARING TYPE CONNECTION
• Bearing capacity of a bolt (long – slotted)
𝑅𝑛 = 1.0𝑙𝑐 𝑡𝐹𝑢 ≤ 2.0𝑑𝑡𝐹𝑢
• where:
• ∅ = 0.75
• Ω = 2.00
• 𝑙𝑐 - clear distance between the edge of the hole and
- the edge of the plate
- the edge of the adjacent hole
• 𝑡 – plate thickness
• 𝑑 – nominal bolt diameter
• 𝐹𝑢 - tensile stress of the plate

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• BEARING TYPE CONNECTION
• Shear capacity of a bolt
𝑅𝑛 = 𝐹𝑛𝑣 𝐴𝑏
• where:
• ∅ = 0.75 (𝐿𝑅𝐹𝐷)
• Ω = 2.00 (𝐴𝑆𝐷)
• 𝐹𝑛𝑣 - nominal bolt shear stress
• 𝐴𝑏 - unthreaded area of bolt

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• BEARING TYPE CONNECTION
• Shear strength of a bolt
• To indicate whether or not threads
are included in the shear plane:
• Group A-N – Threads included
• Group A-X – Threads excluded

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• BEARING TYPE CONNECTION
• Shearing Strength of a Bolt
• Dependent on the connection

• Single Shear

• Double Shear

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• DESIGN PROCEDURE
• Determine the design load
• Determine the shear capacity of one bolt
• Divide to obtain the number of bolts
• Layout connection according to prescribed requirements
• Check bolt bearing capacity
• Iterate if necessary

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• Example 1:
• Determine the design strength ∅𝑃𝑛
𝑃
and the allowable Ω𝑛 for the bearing
– type connection shown. The steel
is A36 𝐹𝑦 = 36 𝑘𝑠𝑖 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐹𝑢 = 58 𝑘𝑠𝑖 ,
the bolts are 7/8” A325, the holes are
standard sizes and the threads are
excluded from the shear plane.
Assume that deformations at bolt
holes are a design consideration.

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• Example 2:
• How many ¾” A325 bolts in standard size holes with threads excluded from
the shear plane are required for the bearing – type connection shown. Use
𝐹𝑢 = 58 𝑘𝑠𝑖 and assume edge distances to be 2” and the distance center
to center of holes to be 3”. Assume that deformation at bolt holes is a
design consideration. 𝑃𝑢 = 345 𝑘𝑖𝑝𝑠 (𝐿𝑅𝐹𝐷), 𝑃𝑎 = 230 𝑘𝑖𝑝𝑠 (𝐴𝑆𝐷).

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• Example 3:
• At a certain section in a cover plated beam, the external
factored shears are 𝑉𝑢 = 275 𝑘𝑖𝑝𝑠 and 𝑉𝑎 = 190 𝑘𝑖𝑝𝑠.
Determine the spacing required for 7/8” A325 bolts used in
a bearing – type connection. Assume that the bolt threads
are excluded from the shear plane, the edge distance is
3.5”, 𝐹𝑦 = 50 𝑘𝑠𝑖 and 𝐹𝑢 = 65 𝑘𝑠𝑖. Deformation at bolt holes
is a design consideration

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• SLIP – CRITICAL CONNECTION
• Rely on friction between the faying surfaces to safety resist load

• WHEN TO USE SLIP CRITICAL CONNECTION

• Joints that are subject to fatigue load
• Joints that utilize oversized or slotted holes
• Any other joints in which slip at the faying surfaces would be detrimental to
the performance of the structure

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• SLIP – CRITICAL CONNECTION
• Recall from Physics: 𝐹𝑠 = 𝜇𝑠 𝐹𝑛

• To achieve this
• Get the bolts “snug tight”
• Use a prescribed method to achieve the required torque

• Methods to reach required minimum pretension:

• The turn-of-the-nut method
• Installation using a calibrated wrench
• Using twist-off tensioned-controlled bolts
• Using direct tension indicators
ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT
 BOLTED CONNECTION
• SLIP – CRITICAL CONNECTION
• The turn-of-the-nut method:
• The bolts are brought to snug-tight condition and
then, with an impact wrench, a 1/3 to one full turn is
given, depending on their length and the slope of
the surfaces under their heads and nuts.
• Matchmarks are placed on each nut, bolt and steel
surface in a straight line
• The part not turned by the wrench is prevented from
turning
• The bolt is tightened until the marks lined up

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• SLIP – CRITICAL CONNECTION
• Calibrated wrenches:
• Pretensioning uses an impact wrench to tighten
the bolt to a specified tension
• The wrench must be calibrated daily and
hardened washers must be used.
• A Skidmore – Wilhelm calibration device is used
to calibrate the impact wrench

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• SLIP – CRITICAL CONNECTION
• Twist – off control bolts (F1852 bolts)
• A special wrench with two coaxial chucks is
used
• Inner chucks engages the splined end
• Outer chuck engages the nut.
• The two chucks turn opposite to one another
• Shearing off the end at a specified tension

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• SLIP – CRITICAL CONNECTION
• Direct tension indicators (DTIs):
• These washers have protrusions that must bear
against the unturned element
• As the bolt is tightened the clamping force
flattens the protrusions
• The gap is measured with a feeler gage
• When the gap reaches the specified size the bolt
is properly pretensioned

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• SLIP – CRITICAL CONNECTION
• Direct tension indicators (DTIs):
• Before and After:

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• SLIP – CRITICAL CONNECTION
• Capacity of a Bolt
𝑅𝑛 = 𝜇𝐷𝑢 ℎ𝑓 𝑇𝑏 𝑛𝑠
where:
• 𝜇 – mean slip coefficient (coefficient of static friction)
• 𝜇 = 0.30 Class A surface (clean mill scale)
• 𝜇 = 0.50 Class B surface (blast-cleaned steel)
• 𝐷𝑢 - ratio of the mean installed pretension to the specified minimum pretension
• 𝐷𝑢 = 1.13
• ℎ𝑓 - factor for fillers
• ℎ𝑓 = 1.00 bolts have been added to distribute loads in the filler
• ℎ𝑓 = 1.00 bolts have not been added to distribute loads in the filler with
one filler between connected parts
• ℎ𝑓 = 0.85 bolts have not been added to distribute loads in the filler with
two or more fillers between connected parts
ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT
 BOLTED CONNECTION
• SLIP – CRITICAL CONNECTION
• Filler Plate

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• SLIP – CRITICAL CONNECTION

• Capacity of a Bolt
• 𝑇𝑏 - minimum specified bolt pretension (roughly equal to 70% of the minimum
tensile strength of the bolt
• 𝑛𝑠 - number of slip planes (basically same as the shear plane)
• For standard size and short – slotted holes perpendicular to the direction of the
load
• ∅ = 1.00 (𝐿𝑅𝐹𝐷) Ω = 1.50 (𝐴𝑆𝐷)
• For oversized and short – slotted holes parallel to the direction of the load
• ∅ = 0.85 (𝐿𝑅𝐹𝐷) Ω = 1.76 (𝐴𝑆𝐷)
• For long – slotted holes
• ∅ = 0.70 (𝐿𝑅𝐹𝐷) Ω = 2.14 (𝐴𝑆𝐷)

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• SLIP – CRITICAL CONNECTION
• Or use a table

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT

 BOLTED CONNECTION
• Example 1:
• For the lap joint shown, the axial service loads are 𝑃𝐷 = 27.5 𝑘𝑖𝑝𝑠 and 𝑃𝐿 = 40 𝑘𝑖𝑝𝑠.
Determine the number of 1” A325 slip – critical bolts in (a) standard – size holes,
(b) long slotted holes in the direction of the load needed for the limit state of slip
if the faying surface is Class A. The edge distance is 1.75” and the center to
center spacing of the bolts is 3”. 𝐹𝑦 = 50 𝑘𝑠𝑖 and 𝐹𝑢 = 65 𝑘𝑠𝑖.

ENGR. CHRISTOPHER S. PALADIO ASCOT