Strength of Connection with Buried Discontinuity

A research program was conducted to investigate the behavior of buried, midplane laminar discontinuities (laminations) subjected to through thickness tension loads. The study showed that under certain conditions a simple plastic analysis can be used as a tool for calculating a lower limit of the ultimate load of connections containing large buried discontinuities. This assumes that the material is free of abnormal concentrations of nonmetallic inclusions and that the discontinuity is large and continuous compared with the region to which the through thickness loads are applied. For connections containing small buried discontinuities, tearing at lower loads must also be considered. Equations are given that can be used to make a rational approximation of the strength of beam-to-column connections.