Fasteners

• Fasteners: high strength bolt (bolt with hexagon head and hexagon nut),
rivets, unfinished bolts (bolt with squared head and square nut)

• Two types of high strength bolts:

ASTM A325 - Heat treated medium carbon steel, Fu = 120ksi = 825 MPa
ASTM A490 - Heat treated alloy steel, Fu = 150 ksi = 1035 MPa

• Connection with high strength bolts: 1) slip-critical 2) bearing type

• No pretension required when bolts are not subjected to direct tension and
slip resistance is not required.

• Use “snug tight” in connection subjected to reverse (cyclic) loadings may

lead to “fatigue problem”.  use slip-critical connection
• No well defined yield point of bolts  Use “Proof Load” instead of yield
stress

• Proof load = (Tensile stress area) * (Yield stress obtained from 0.2% offset
or 0.5% extension)

• AISC required slip-critical connections to be pretensioned to 70% of the

minimum tensile strength  equal to proof load for A325 and ~ 85-90% of
proof load for A490

Minimum Bolt Tension (kN) (EIT Table 10.3.1)

Bolt Diameter (mm) A 325 A 490

M16 91 114
M20 142 179
M22 176 221
M24 205 257
M27 267 334
M30 326 408
M36 475 595
Typical Bolt Connections Transfer of load in pin connections
Transfer of load in pretensioned connection
Possible modes of failure bolted connection
• Load and resistance factor design-fasteners

 Rn  Pu
Where
 =resistance factor (0.75) for fracture in tension, shear, and bearing
R n =nominal resistance of one fastener
Pu= factored load on one fastener
• Design shear strength

Shear strength of fasteners: Rn = m x Ab x u = m x Ab x (0.62Fu)

LRFD 1993 use  = 0.75 and 20% reduction in strength, thus

Rn = 0.75 x m x Ab x (0.62 x 0.8Fu)

= 0.75(0.5Fu)mAb (1)

Where m = number of shear planes (single shear or double shear)

Ab = gross-sectional area across unthreaded shank of bolt

Design shear strength – Threads in shear planes

Thread root area ~ 70 – 75% of gross area

Rn = 0.75(0.40Fu)mAb (2)
• Design tension strength

Tensile strength of fasteners: Rn = Fu x An

An = tensile stress area = 0.75 – 0.9 of Ag

Thus, Rn = Fu x (0.75Ab)

LRFD 1993 use  = 0.75

Rn = 0.75(0.75Fu)Ab (3)
• Design bearing strength

Nominal strength Rn: Rn = 2t x [Le – d/2] x u

Where u ~ 0.62Fu
Thus, Rn = 2t x [Le – d/2] x (0.62Fu)
Bearing strength related
Rn = 1.24 x Fu x d x t [Le/d -1/2] to end distance

LRFD use reduced nominal strengths based on a deformation limit state.

1. Usual condition: Le  1.5d, center-to-center spacing (s)  3d

Rn = 0.75(1.2Lc)tFu  0.75(2.4Fu)dt (4)

2. Long-slotted holes perpendicular to the line of forces, Le  1.5d, center-to-

center spacing (s)  3d

Rn = 0.75(1.0Lc)tFu  0.75(2.0Fu)dt (5)

Where Lc = distance from between hole edges or from hole edge to edge of plate
 3. When hole “ovalization” can be tolerated (exceeding 0.25”)

Rn = 0.75(1.5Lc)tFu  0.75(3.0Fu)dt (6)

Minimum Spacing of Bolts in Line of Transmitted of Force [LRFD-J3.3]

The minimum spacing of bolts in a line is preferably 3 bolt diameters and shall
not be less then 2-2/3 diameters.

P d
Spacing  
Fu t 2

Where  = 0.75
P = factored load acting on one bolt
Fu = tensile strength of plate material
t = plate thickness
d = diameter of bolt
 Slip-Critical Joints
• Slip coefficient depends on surface condition, with such items as mill scale,
oil, paint, or special surface treatments.

• Friction coefficient () varies from 0.2 to 0.6.

• Overcoming slip does not imply that a failure mode has been reached.

• In addition to the considerations of strength of fasteners in shear, bearing,

and tension, service load must be transferred without slip.

• LRFD maximum service load shear stress: [EIT10.3ซ2]

For standard hole size A325, Fv = 117 MPa

and Class A surface A490, Fv = 145 MPa

Thus, service load capacity per bolt, R = m(Fv)(Ab)

• Design slip resistance Rstr per bolt at factored service loads:

Rstr = (1.13) (Ti)(hf)m

Where m = number of slip (shear) planes

Ti = minimum fastener initial tension
 = mean slip coefficient
= 0.30 for Class A surface (normal condition)
= 0.50 for Class B surface
 = 1.0 for standard holes
= 0.85 for oversize and short-slotted holes
= 0.70 for long-slotted holes
 Eccentric Shear

• When load P is applied on a line of action that does not pass through the
center of gravity of a bolt group, there will be an eccentric loading effect.

• Two approaches: 1) Traditional elastic (vector) analysis 2) Strength analysis

Typical eccentric shear connections Combined moment and direct shear

Traditional Elastic (Vector) Analysis

Neglect friction between the plates,

M = R d1  R 2 d 2  R 3 d3  ....  Rd
The deformation in each fastener is assumed proportional to
its distance d from the assumed center of twist
R1 R 2 R 3 Rn
   ..... 
d1 d 2 d 3 dn
Using above equations:
Mdi
Ri 
id 2

Pure moment connection

It is usually convenient to work with horizonal and vertical components of R
My
Rx =
x  y
2 2

Mx
Ry =
x  y
2 2

Total force R = R 2x  R y2
P
Direct shear force R v 
N
2
Thus, R = R y  R v   R 2x Horizontal and vertical
component of R
 Ultimate Strength Analysis
Application of P causes both a translation and rotation of the fastener group.
The translation and rotation can be reduced to a pure rotation about
"Instantaneous Center of Rotation".

F  0; R sin  Psin  0
H i i

F  0; R cos   Pcos   0
v i i

M  0; R d  P(e  x cos   y
i i 0 0 sin )  0
When R i is proportional to the deformation or
when  is equal to 0 or 90 degree,  = .
Then, M  0; R i di  P(e  r0 )  0
Instantaneous of Rotation
where r0 is a distance from IC to CG.
Solve above equations using iterative calculation
For a bearing type connection, deformation of each fastener is proportional to its
distance from IC.
R i  R ult (1  e 10  )0.55
Where R ult  u A b  0.7Fu A b
e = 2.718
 = deformation
The  maximum at failure was experimentally found to be 0.34 in.
di
i   max
dmax
Becuase a uniform clamping action for slip-critical connection, it is preferable to
consider R i as constant for all fasteners (say maximum acceptable shear stress Fv)
for this type of connection.
 Moment on Single Line of Fasteners
Assuming R is the force in the outermost fastener, using similar triangles
the load per inch at the extreme fiber may be determined:
R n 
Extreme fiber value =  
p  n 1
1  np   R   n  Rn2
T=      
2  2   p   n  1  4(n  1)
 2 
M  T  np 
3 
6M  n  1 
Solving above equations, n=  
Rp  n 
 6M  Moment of Single Line of Fasteners
Approximation becomes, n=  
 Rp 
Example
Determine the required number of 7/8-in.-diameter A325 bolts for one vertical
Line in the bracket shown. Assume it to be a bearing type connection with
threads included in shear plane (A325-N). Given Fu for A36 = 58 ksi.

a) Pu = 1.2(7)+1.6(41) = 74 kips
b) Design strength of a fastener in a bearing-type connection
Shear : Rn = (0.4Fu)mAb
= 0.75(0.4x120)2(0.6013) = 43.3 kips (Control)
Bearing: Rn = (2.4Fu)dt
= 0.75(2.4x58)(0.875)0.5 = 45.7 kips
c) Number of bolts required:

6Mu 6(74  6)
n   3.9 Try 4 fasteners
Rn (p) 43.3(4)

d) Direct shear component: Rus = Pu/N = 74/4 = 18.5 kips

Pu ey 74(6)6
Moment component, Rux  2   33.3 kips 
 x   y 2 2  6 
2 2 2

Then, R u  (18.5)2  (33.3)2  38.1 kips  43.3 kips

Thus, 4 fasteners are acceptable.

Combined Shear and Tension

Typical combined shear and tension connections

• Bearing type connections:

2 2
 Rut   Ruv 
    1

 t Rnt   v Rnv 
Where
Rut  factored tension load on bolt
Ruv  factored shear load on bolt
 t Rnt  (0.75) Fu (0.75 Ab )
 v Rnv  (0.75)mA b (0.50Fu) for no threads in shear planes
 (0.75)mA b (0.40Fu) for thread s within shear planes
Shear-tension strength
interaction curve
• Slip-critical connections: because slip resistance is a service load
consideration:

 V  T
     1
 Fv A b   Tb 
Where Fv  maximum nominal service load shear stress V/A b
permitted in slip - critical connection s subjected to shear only
Tb  initial tension

• Similar to bearing type connection, a straight-line interaction relationship

is used but one that is more conservative. In EIT standard, shear
resistance is reduced due to tensile forces:

Reduction factor for service load = 1-1.5(T)/(1.13TbNb)

Reduction factor for Rstr = 1-Tu/(1.13TbNb)

Where Nb = number of bolts

 Shear and Tension from Eccentric Loading –
Considering Initial Tension
Initial bearing pressure f bi is assumed to be uniform
over contact aread

f bi 
T b

bd
when T b  total pretension load.
Tensile stress at top of plate (f tb ) should not exceed f bi .
Md / 2 6 M
f tb   2
I bd
6M 6 Mp
Load on top of bolt : T  f tb bp  bp 
bd 2 d2
Assu min g top bolt is at p/2 from the top.
T can be modified :
T (d  p) 6Mp  d  p  Stresses on contact surface
Tmodified   2   of moment resisting
d d  d  connection – considering
initial tension