AISC_PART 9_14th Ed._Nov.

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9–16 DESIGN OF CONNECTING ELEMENTS OTHER SPECIFICATION REQUIREMENTS AND DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS 9–17

the available strength of the connection. This is because less than 25% of the contact surface Web Reinforcement of Coped Beams
is lost, which is not enough to affect the performance of the joint. When the strength of a coped beam is inadequate, either a different beam with a thicker web
A filler is furnished to occupy spaces which will be present because of dimensional sep- can be selected to eliminate the need for reinforcement, or reinforcement can be provided to
arations between elements of a connection across which load transfer occurs. Examples increase the strength. In spite of the increase in material cost, the former solution may be the
where fillers might be used are beams framing off center on a column and raised beams. most economical option due to the appreciable labor cost associated with adding stiffeners
For the effect of fillers and shims on available joint strength, see AISC Specification and/or doubler plates. When the latter solution is required, some typical reinforcing details
Sections J3.8 and J5.2. are illustrated in Figure 9-10.
The doubler plate illustrated in Figure 9-10(a) and the longitudinal stiffener illustrated
Copes, Blocks and Cuts in Figure 9-10b are used with rolled sections where h/tw ≤ 60. When a doubler plate is
When structural members frame together, a minimum clearance of 1⁄ 2 in. should be provided, used, the required doubler-plate thickness, td req, is determined by substituting the quantity
when possible. In cases where material removal is necessary to provide such a clearance, (tw + td req ) for tw in the available strength calculations for flexural yielding and local web
material may be removed by coping, blocking or cutting as illustrated in Figure 9-7. buckling. To prevent local crippling of the beam web, the doubler plate must be extended
Material removal is costly and should be avoided when possible. In some cases, it may be at least a distance dc (depth of cope) beyond the cope as illustrated in Figure 9-10(a). When
possible to do so by setting the elevations of the tops of infill beams a sufficient distance longitudinal stiffening is used, the stiffening elements must be proportioned to meet the
below the tops of girders to clear the girder fillet radius. Alternatively, a connection such as width-to-thickness ratios specified in AISC Specification Table B4.1b. The stiffened cross
that illustrated in Figure 9-8 could be used. section must then be checked for flexural yielding, but web local buckling need not be
When material removal is necessary, coping is usually the most economical method to
remove material. The recommended practices for coping are illustrated in Figure 9-9. The
potential notch left by the first cut will occur in waste material and subsequently be removed
by the second cut. All re-entrant corners must be shaped notch-free per AWS D1.1/D1.1M
(AWS, 2010) to a radius. An approximate minimum radius to which this corner must be
shaped is 1⁄ 2 in. Copes, blocks and cuts can significantly reduce the available strengths of
members and may require web reinforcement; it may be more economical to use a heavier
member than to provide such reinforcement.

(a) Coping Required (b) Coping Eliminated

Fig. 9-8. Eliminating coping requirements.

(a) Cope (b) Blocks (c) Cut

Fig. 9-7. Copes, blocks and cuts. Fig. 9-9. Recommended coping practices.

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AISC_PART 9_14th Ed._Nov. 19, 2012 19/11/12 6:22 PM Page 18

9–18 DESIGN OF CONNECTING ELEMENTS DESIGN TABLE DISCUSSION 9–19

checked. To prevent local crippling of the beam web, the longitudinal stiffening must be DESIGN TABLE DISCUSSION
extended a distance dc beyond the cope as illustrated in Figure 9-10(b).
The combination of longitudinal and transverse stiffeners shown in Figure 9-10(c) may Table 9-1. Reduction in Area for Hole
be required for thin-web plate girders, where h/tw > 60. When longitudinal and transverse Area reduction for standard, oversized, short-slotted and long-slotted holes in material thick-
stiffening is used, the stiffening elements must be proportioned to meet the width-to-thick- nesses from 3/ 16 in. to 1 in. are given in Table 9-1. For material thicknesses not listed, the
ness ratios specified in AISC Specification Table B4.1b. The stiffened cross section must tabular value for 1-in. thickness can be multiplied by the actual thickness. The table is based
then be checked for flexural yielding, but web local buckling need not be checked. To pre- on a net area using a width that is 1/16 in. greater than the actual hole width.
vent local crippling of the beam web, longitudinal stiffeners must be extended a distance c/3
beyond the cope, as illustrated in Figure 9-10(c). Table 9-2. Elastic Section Modulus for Coped W-Shapes
Values are given for the gross and net elastic section modulus for coped W-shapes, as illus-
trated in the table header.

Tables 9-3. Block Shear Rupture

The terms in AISC Specification Equation J4-5 are tabulated in Tables 9-3a, 9-3b and 9-3c.
The indicated values are given per inch of material thickness. Note that when the stress dis-
tribution is nonuniform, the tension component from Table 9-3a must be reduced by a factor
of 0.5 to account for Ubs.

Table 9-4. Beam Bearing Constants

At beam ends and at any location on beams or columns where concentrated loads occur, the
available strength for web local yielding and web local crippling, φRn or Rn /Ω, at concen-
trated loads is determined per AISC Specification Sections J10.2 and J10.3. Values of Rn are
given for a bearing length, lb = 31/4 in. The web local yielding (Equations J10-2 and J10-3)
and web local crippling (Equations J10-4, J10-5a and J10-5b) equations can be simplified
(a) Doubler plate (b) Longitudinal stiffener using the bearing length, lb, and the constants R1 through R6 as follows.
R1 = 2.5kFyw t w (9-39)
R2 = Fyw t w (9-40)

EFyw t f
R3 = 0 . 40 t w2 (9-41)
tw
1.5
⎛ 3⎞ ⎛ t ⎞ EFyw t f
R4 = 0 . 40 t w2 ⎜ ⎟ ⎜ w ⎟ (9-42)
⎝ d⎠ ⎝ tf ⎠ tw

⎛ ⎛ t ⎞ ⎞ EFyw t f
1.5
R5 = 0 . 40 t w2 ⎜ 1 − 0 . 2 ⎜ w ⎟ ⎟ (9-43)
⎜⎝ ⎝ t f ⎠ ⎟⎠ tw
(c) Combination longitudinal and
1.5
transverse stiffeners ⎛ 4⎞ ⎛ t ⎞ EFyw t f
R6 = 0 . 40 t w2 ⎜ ⎟ ⎜ w ⎟ (9-44)
⎝ d⎠ ⎝ tf ⎠ tw
Fig. 9-10. Web reinforcement of coped beams.

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