Composite PDF
Composite PDF
Composite PDF
MORE or Less
BY JEFF MARTIN, P.E., TIM HOLTERMANN, S.E., P.E., AND BRUCE BROTHERSEN, P.E.
CONNECTIONS INVOLVING open-web steel joist and shear tear-out, a fillet weld placed on the joist chord leg should
steel deck aren’t always intuitive. not exceed approximately 4∕3 of the chord angle thickness. Us-
The key is knowing the difference between situations where ing fillet weld thicknesses of 1∕8 in. for K-Series joists, 3∕16 in. for
more is not necessarily better and those where more is defi- LH-Series and smaller joist girders and ¼ in. for DLH-Series
nitely better. Understanding this balance, as well as recognizing and larger joist girders will prevent the weld thickness from un-
and strengthening weak points, knowing the options for stan- necessarily controlling joist component sizes.
dard fasteners and proprietary fasteners and learning how to
enhance the connections for easier field installation, can go a
Figure 1: Weld sizes.
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long way in creating the best connection solution for the joists
and deck in any given project. Here, we’ll examine some of the
more common connection options for joists and deck.
Welding
Let’s start with welding, which is one of the “more is not
always better” scenarios—especially with regard to fillet weld
thickness when welding to steel joists. Steel joists have an excel-
lent strength-to-weight ratio, and the individual components
are relatively thin. A longer, thinner weld is best for joist econ-
omy, so as not to force joist components to be thicker simply to
accept the weldment. For a weld placed at the toe of a chord
angle, as shown in Figure 1, the fillet weld thickness cannot
exceed the thickness of the chord angle. To avoid a potential
DECEMBER 2015
BEARING SEAT FORCES BEARING SEAT CONNECTION
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Figure 2.
WELDS AND BOLTS
Bearing Seat Connections in a moderate to heavy wind area could have an uplift end reac-
Bearing seat connections provide a good example of where tion in excess of that bolt capacity.
balance and simplicity are needed. Joist and joist girder bearing The joist girder uplift end reaction used to determine the
seat connections often carry forces in four different directions. connection is typically conservative if the summation of the joist
Those connections may be resisting gravity loads, a net uplift components is used. A reduced joist girder uplift end reaction
end reaction or lateral loads both perpendicular and longitudi- can be obtained from the main wind resisting system (MWRS)
nal to the seat, as illustrated in Figure 2. The bearing seat may analysis. When the loads are greater than what a standard con-
be bolted and welded to the support. nection can resist, larger-bolt diameters, higher-strength bolts
While bolts and welds may both be present, they should not or even a four-bolt pattern may need to be considered.
be considered as acting together to resist all of the forces. Joist The eccentricity induced in a bearing seat connection can
and joist girder bearing seats for bolted connections are made be significant. Ensuring that a joist bearing seat has an adequate
with slotted holes to allow fabrication and erection tolerance. bearing length and proper bearing depth, in order to allow the
Note that the slotted connection does not qualify as an AISC end web to intercept with the top chord over the support point,
slip-critical connection. The weld at the seat prevents move- is essential in reducing eccentricities. Also, the placement of the
ment in the direction of the slot and serves the role of resisting connection welds or fasteners needs to be considered for ec-
the forces required to laterally brace the supporting structure centricity. For example, when a joist or joist girder is carrying a
and transfer forces in the lateral load resisting system. Separate- lateral load from wind or seismic, reducing eccentricities should
ly, the net uplift end reaction force is acting in another direc- be considered when specifying a connection. If the load path to
tion, and the bolts are used to anchor the bearing seat, as shown transfer a lateral load from top chord is through the bearing seat,
in Figure 2. Particular attention is required for this connection significant forces due to the induced eccentricities need to be
and the bolts used at the bearing seats. The minimum of two considered and resisted. When transferring forces from joist to
¾-in. bolts, as required by Steel Joist Institute (SJI) specifica- joist, an additional plate (see Figure 3) virtually eliminates eccen-
tions, may not be adequate for the uplift end reaction of a joist tricities. In addition, this type of lateral load transfer detail can
girder. SJI suggests a practical limit of 24 kips (ASD) for two be classified as “good, better and best.” Figure 3 illustrates this
¾-in. ASTM A325 bolts, with typical bearing seat construction for joist girder seats when the loads can be very large. “Better”
(considering prying action of the seat angles). With a different is preferred over “good” because it replaces a difficult overhead
seat construction, the full tensile capacity of the bolts may be weld with a common fillet weld. “Best” is preferred over “better”
achieved—39 kips for two ¾-in. A325 bolts—but a large girder because it moves the welds closer to the center of the joist girder.
Shear Connections
If and when shear forces need to be transferred from the deck to the struc-
tural load resisting member, such as a joist girder, these connections become part
of the lateral load resisting system. There are two common methods to transfer
shear forces from the deck to the structural member: roll-over, in which forces
act perpendicular to the joist seat, or through a shear collector, which is con-
nected directly from the deck to the structural member. When roll-over forces
are specified, the bearing seats need to be stiffened to resist the forces. In some
cases, a stiffened seat can only resist 2.0 kips. These types of connections can be
very costly both in the joist seat and the deck connection to the joist, and should
only be used when the magnitude of the loads and deck connections is a good
fit. A shear collector can resist heavier loads and distribute the loads uniformly.
With shear transfers of this type, more frequent connections of lesser capacity
are better than fewer connections with greater capacity.
Care must be taken to correctly detail and place shear collection elements
that run parallel to the metal decking. As shown in Figure 6, if the shear col-
lector is not properly placed and is narrow, it may fall entirely below a top
deck flute, leaving no contact for attachment. An HSS member, for example,
is a good option that allows more contact surface than, say, a channel section.
With joist and deck connections there are situations where more is not
necessarily better and then there are those where more is definitely better.
Different scenarios may require different solutions, and often there is more
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the best one, with an emphasis on keeping it simple and practical while
meeting the needs of the project. ■