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The Beam to Beam End-plate connection is used to design Apex type connections. A typical screen layout is shown below.
The inputs for the Apex type connection are controlled by the input area of the connection property grid. For a stand-alone connection, the forces and geometry are controlled fully by the connection property grid, whereas for a linked connection (linked to a Masterframe model) the section sizes, forces and geometry will be read from the Masterframe model.
The general layout of the General area of the property grid is shown below.
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Apex Joint Type - select whether the display and design is for the left or right rafter
Title - Input the title for the connection currently being viewed
Load Case Title - The title for the current viewed load case
The general layout of the Forces section of the property grid is shown below.
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Moment - the moment in the joint in the current loadcase
Shear - The vertical shear force in the joint in the current loadcase
Axial - the axial force in the connection in the current loadcase.
Haunch End Moment - The factored end moments at the position of the end of the haunch in the current loadcase
Print Case - sets the current load case to print or excludes it from printing
The forces input are the forces to be considered for the current loadcase. For connection design, which is based on the ultimate limit state, the input forces will be factored. To look at a different set of ultimate loads, further loadcases can be added by click on the .png){kind=small}
icon. When designing a linked connection, the forces input will be carried out automatically, based on the analysis results of the Masterframe model.
The beam properties area allows the beam section type, section size and rafter slope to be input for a stand-alone joint design. Where a haunch is present, the haunch properties can also be defined. The general Beam Properties area is shown below.
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The section properties of the beam can be selected by expanding the Beam Section area. This produces additional inputs, the additional inputs are as shown below.
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For the Steel Grade, Section Type and Section rows, this will activate a drop down indicator, which can be selected to expand the drop down to allow the required property to be selected. The cell depth, which represents the depth of a cellular or castellated beam section, is amended by inputting the required depth value in the right hand column of the Cell Depth row.
The beam slope input controls the pitch or slope of the rather. The input value is in degrees. The default value is zero, which gives a horizontal beam.
The section type and size from which a haunch is made can be taken to be that for the beam, or, alternatively, the haunch can be cut from a different section. To use the same section as the beam, the Haunch Section as Beam drop down should be set to "Yes". For a haunch cut from a difference section, setting the Haunch Section as Beam drop down to "No" will display an additional Haunch drop down which can be expanded to allow the set-up of the haunch section grade, type and section size. This area works the same as the Beam Section area.
Note: The haunch depth is the depth of the connected section at the joint. Thus the haunch depth input is the depth from the top side of the top flange of the beam to the underside of the haunch.
User defined steel section can be added from the Section Type drop down option, by selecting the "BuiltUp & ASB" option. This will display additional rows. To input the dimensions of a user-defined section, select the Built-UP option and input the required dimensions in the addition rows.
The Bolt Details and Horizontal centres areas controls the set up of the bolt grade, diameter and bolt hole size, along with the bolt horizontal centres for the bolt columns. It is also possible to define differing bolt horizontal centres for bolts in the extended part of the end plate.
The basic layout of the Bolt Details and Horz C/C area is shown below.
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Bolt Details - the bolt grade and bolt diameter
Cross c/c - controls the centres of the inner and outer bolts in each bolt row
Extended EP Bolts - the current setting for the bolts in the extended end plate
The Bolt properties such as bolt grade, bolt diameter and type can be set by expanding the bolt details area. This is done by clicking on the arrow to the left of the Bolt Details row. The expanded bolt details area is shown below.
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Bolt Grade - the grade of bolts can be selected by expanding the Bolt Grade row. This will reveal a drop down from which the required bolt grade can be selected
Bolt Diameter - the bolt diameters are selected from the drop down. All bolts in a connection must be the same diameter.
Hole diameter - diameter of the bolt holes. The diameters are selected from the drop down
Slip factor - select the required slip resistance factor for bolt
Where the end plate extends beyond the top or bottom flanges of the connection, the bolts can be arranged such that rows of bolts occur outside beyond the top or bottom flange. This can be useful for increasing the lever arm of the bolts and so increasing the potential moment resistance of the connection. See the Bolt Rows section for details on setting the bolt row positions. Where bolts occur in the extended end plate, it is possible to determine different numbers of bolt in the row and different bolts spacings to apply to the bolts in the extended end plate using the Extended EP Bolts row. Selecting the Extended EP Bolts row provides the following options.
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As per main bolts - the number of bolts per row and horizontal centres are defined as per the main bolts (See Bolt Cross Inner and Bolt Cross Outer rows)
Top & Bottom Row Special Bolt c/c - set the number and centres of the top and bottom bolts in the extended end plate. Uses the same centres and bolt numbers for both top and bottom bolts
Top row only Special Bolt c/c - set the number and centres of the top bolts in the extended end plate only
Bottom Row Only Special Bolt c/c - set the number and centres of the bottom bolts in the extended end plate only
The number of rows of bolts in a connection is defined in the Bolt Rows input area. In any moment connection, due to the underlying component model from the SCI Green Books, the minimum number of bolts rows is two, with one bolt row in the connection zone and 1 row of bolts in the tension zone. Within the Masterseries Connection module, this requires a moment connection to have 1 row of upper bolts and 1 row of lower bolts. By default, the software will have 'place holders' for 4 rows of upper bolts and 4 rows of lower bolts, with a single bolt row added in each of the upper and lower bolts.
The default layout of the Bolt Rows area is shown below.
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Each of the Upper and Lower Bolt rows are expandable. Within each area, the bolt row spacing and properties of any bolt row horizontal stiffener as well as the stiffener type can be defined. The expanded bolt rows are is shown below.
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Each bolt row controls the bolt setting within that row. This gives options to control the bolt centres. bolt row stiffeners and their associated welds. A typical layout of an expanded bolt row is shown below.
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Bolt row - the number of the bolt row. The bolt row detail also indicates the bolt spacing
C/C - input for the bolt row centres to control the bolt row spacing
Stiffener Thick - the thickness of the any bolt row stiffeners. A thickness of zero means there will not be a stiffener associated with that bolt row
Weld size - specifies the weld size for the bolt row stiffener. A zero weld thickness gives a default weld size.
Where bolts are located outside of the section depth in the extended end plate, it is not possible to include a bolt row stiffener. Thus for bolts in the extended end plate, the inputs for the bolt row stiffener are ignored.
The End Plate area controls the dimensional parameters of the end plate, including the end plate thickness, plate width and the top and bottom projections of the end plate. The grade of the end plate can also be defined.
The layout of the default End Plate area is shown below.
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Dimensions - displays the current end plate thickness. The default end plate thickness is 20mm
Projection - displays the current end plate top and bottom projections. The default projections are 20mm
Plate Grade - displays the current steel grade for the end plate. The default is controlled by the default library settings.
Both the Dimensions and Projection areas are expandable, to allow additional inputs. The expanded Dimensions area is shown below.
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Thickness - the end plate thickness can be manually entered by selecting the Thickness row and typing in the required value.
Width - a user input width dimension can be entered by selecting the width input and typing in the required dimension. A value of zero gives a default width based on the connected parts dimensions
The expanded Projection area is shown below.
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The top and/or bottom projection can be entered manually by clicking on the relevant input area and entering the required dimension. The default value is 20mm. The software will permit a projection dimension down to a value of zero, with the end plate being flush with the top and/or bottom of the rafter.
Note: it is not permitted within the software to stop the end plate below the top of the upper flange (or above the underside of the bottom flange). To do so would induce stress concentrations within the flange, welds and endplates, stresses which are not checked as part of the SCI Green Book design.
The steel grade of the end plate can be selected by clicking on the Plate Grade row and selecting the required grade from the drop down. The available grades are determined by the selected input grades in the Masterseries Customization area. Additional steel grades can be input for use in both Masterframe and the steel design modules. For details, refer to the Masterframe manual.
The Weld area provides options to control the weld size and type for the connection flanges, web and haunch. The layout of the default area is shown below. The default sizing for welds is based on dimensional rules, determined by the thickness of the elements connected.
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Each row can be expanded to display additional inputs. The additional rows displayed are controlled by the Weld settings in the Design Options area - see the Options Menu section for more details on the available options.
With Partial Penetration butt welds selected in the Weld Type, the expanded options are as shown below.
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If the weld type has been set to Deep penetration fillet welds, then the displayed options are
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To set a weld as a full penetration butt weld, use the drop down and set to "Yes". This will close the fillet weld options for the particular weld selected. The label for the weld in the graphics pane will also change to indicate a full penetration butt weld for the appropriate weld.
To input the weld size and/or the depth of any partial penetration preparation/deep fillet penetration, input the required values in the input areas.
The web stiffeners area provides options to control the dimensions of the bolt row stiffeners, the relative position of the final stiffener below the last upper bolt row (or above the last row of bottom bolts). This area also provides control over the rafter stiffener located at the end of the haunch.
The default layout of the Web Stiffeners area is shown below.
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Length - the length of the bolt row gusset stiffeners
Stiffener Top - the vertical position of the bolt row stiffener relative to the final row of "top" bolts
Depth - the width of the stiffener as measured perpendicular to the rafter flange
Stiffener bottom - the vertical position of the bolt row stiffener relative to the final row of "bottom" bolts
Rafter Stiffener - notes the current size of the rafter web stiffener at the haunch end
The Rafter Stiffener row can be expanded by clicking on the arrow at the left hand side of the row. The expanded area is shown below.
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Rafter thickness - the thickness of the rafter web stiffener
Stiffener Weld - the weld size for the rafter web stiffener
Where an extended end plate has been defined, additional vertical gusset stiffeners can be specified to enhance the capacity of the extended end plate. The default Exterior End Plate Gusset Stiffener area is shown below.
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Thickness Top - the thickness of the top gusset
Thickness Bottom - the thickness of the bottom gusset
Weld Size top - the weld size for the top gusset
Weld Size Bottom - the weld size for the bottom gusset
Inner Length - the horizontal projection of the gusset stiffener at the connection to the beam flange (inside edge)
Outer Length - the horizontal length of the top edge