Technical Papers
Apr 21, 2023

Weld Effective Lengths for Axially Loaded Transverse Plate-to-CHS Connections

Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 149, Issue 7

Abstract

Large-scale experimental tests were conducted to evaluate the strength of partial joint penetration (PJP) groove welds in axially loaded transverse plate-to-circular hollow section (CHS) X-connections. Six connections, comprising 12 joints, were designed to investigate the influence of branch-to-chord width ratio and chord slenderness on weld strength. Nonuniform strain distributions were observed in the branches adjacent to the joints, indicating that the welds were only partially effective. Results from the experimental tests were used to evaluate design guidance for PJP welds in the American steel design standard, AISC 360-16, and a weld effective length equation is proposed for axially loaded plate-to-CHS connections.

Get full access to this article

View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.

Data Availability Statement

Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Acknowledgments

Financial support for this project has been provided by the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The authors are grateful for the provision of materials by Atlas Tube Inc., Harrow, Canada, and fabrication by Marid Industries Ltd., Halifax, Canada.

References

AISC. 2010. Specification for structural steel buildings. ANSI/AISC 360-10. Chicago: AISC.
AISC. 2016. Specification for structural steel buildings. ANSI/AISC 360-16. Chicago: AISC.
AISC. 2022. Specification for structural steel buildings. Public review draft dated January 7, 2022. ANSI/AISC 360-22. Chicago: AISC.
ASCE. 2022. Minimum design loads and associated criteria for buildings and other structures. Reston, VA: ASCE.
ASTM. 2013. Standard specification for carbon structural steel. ASTM A36/A36M-08. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2017. Standard specification for cold-formed welded and seamless carbon steel structural tubing in rounds and shapes. ASTM A500-03a. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2020. Standard test methods and definitions for mechanical testing of steel products. ASTM A370-20. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
AWS (American Welding Society). 2020. Structural welding code—Steel. AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2015. Miami: AWS.
Callele, L. J., R. G. Driver, and G. Y. Grondin. 2009. “Design and behavior of multi-orientation fillet weld connections.” AISC Eng. J. 46 (4): 257–272.
CSA (Canadian Standards Association). 2011. Guidelines for the development of limit states design standards. CSA S408-11. Toronto: CSA.
CSA (Canadian Standards Association). 2018. General requirements for rolled or welded structural quality steel/Structural quality steel. CSA G40.20-13/G40.21-13 (R2018). Toronto: CSA.
CSA (Canadian Standards Association). 2019. Canadian highway bridge design code. CSA S6:19. Toronto: CSA.
Davies, G., and J. A. Packer. 1982. “Predicting the strength of branch plate—RHS connections for punching shear.” Can. J. Civ. Eng. 9 (3): 458–467. https://doi.org/10.1139/l82-055.
Ellingwood, B., T. V. Galambos, J. G. MacGregor, and C. A. Cornell. 1980. Development of a probability based load criterion for American national standard A58, Special Publication 577. Gaithersburg, MD: National Bureau of Standards.
Frater, G. S., and J. A. Packer. 1992a. “Weldment design for RHS truss connections I: Applications.” J. Struct. Eng. 118 (10): 2784–2803. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9445(1992)118:10(2784).
Frater, G. S., and J. A. Packer. 1992b. “Weldment design for RHS truss connections II: Experimentation.” J. Struct. Eng. 118 (10): 2804–2820. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9445(1992)118:10(2804).
Galambos, T. V., and M. K. Ravindra. 1978. “Properties of steel for use in LRFD.” J. Struct. Div. 104 (9): 1459–1468. https://doi.org/10.1061/JSDEAG.0004988.
IIW (International Institute of Welding). 1989. Design recommendations for hollow section joints—Predominantly statically loaded. IIW Doc. XV-701-89. Paris: IIW.
IIW (International Institute of Welding). 2012. Design recommendations for hollow section joints—Predominantly statically loaded. IIW Doc. XV-1402-12. Paris: IIW.
ISO. 2013. Static design procedure for welded hollow section joints—Recommendations. ISO 14346:2013 (E). Geneva: ISO.
Kennedy, D. J. L., and M. Gad Aly. 1980. “Limit states design of steel structures—Performance factors.” Can. J. Civ. Eng. 7 (1): 45–77. https://doi.org/10.1139/l80-005.
Lesik, D. F., and D. J. Kennedy. 1990. “Ultimate strength of fillet welded connections loaded in plane.” Can. J. Civ. Eng. 17 (1): 55–67. https://doi.org/10.1139/l90-008.
Lind, N. C. 1971. “Consistent partial safety factors.” J. Struct. Div. 97 (6): 1651–1669. https://doi.org/10.1061/JSDEAG.0002924.
Lu, L. H., G. D. de Winkel, Y. Yu, and J. Wardenier. 1994. “Deformation limit for the ultimate strength of hollow section joints.” In Proc., 6th Int. Symp. on Tubular Structures, 341–347. Melbourne, Australia: A.A. Balkema.
McFadden, M. R., and J. A. Packer. 2014. “Effective weld properties for hollow structural section T-connections under branch in-plane bending.” Eng. J. 51 (4): 247–266.
Olsen, K. 2016. “What your fabricator wishes you knew about HSS connections.” Mod. Steel Constr. 41–42.
Packer, J. A., and C. E. Cassidy. 1995. “Effective weld length for HSS T, Y, and X connections.” J. Struct. Eng. 121 (10): 1402–1408. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9445(1995)121:10(1402).
Ravindra, M. K., and T. V. Galambos. 1978. “Load and resistance factor design for steel.” J. Struct. Div. 104 (9): 1337–1353. https://doi.org/10.1061/JSDEAG.0004981.
Schmidt, B. J., and F. M. Bartlett. 2002. “Review of resistance factor for steel: Resistance distributions and resistance factor calibration.” Can. J. Civ. Eng. 29 (1): 109–118. https://doi.org/10.1139/l01-082.
Tousignant, K., and J. A. Packer. 2015. “Weld effective lengths for rectangular HSS overlapped K-connections.” Eng. J. 52 (4): 259–282.
Tousignant, K., and J. A. Packer. 2017. “Fillet weld effective lengths in CHS X-connections I: Experiments.” J. Constr. Steel Res. 138 (Nov): 420–431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2017.08.005.
Tousignant, K., and J. A. Packer. 2018. “Fillet weld effective lengths in CHS X-connections. II: Finite element modelling, parametric study and design.” J. Constr. Steel Res. 141 (Feb): 77–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2017.11.002.
Tousignant, K., and J. A. Packer. 2019. “Weld effective lengths for round HSS cross-connections under branch axial loading.” Eng. J. 56 (3): 173–186.
van der Vegte, G. J., and Y. Makino. 2010. “Further research on chord length and boundary conditions of CHS T- and X-joints.” Adv. Steel Constr. 6 (3): 879–890.
Voth, A. P. 2010. “Branch plate-to-circular hollow structural section connections.” Ph.D. thesis, Dept. of Civil and Mineral Engineering, Univ. of Toronto.
Voth, A. P., and J. A. Packer. 2012. “Branch plate-to-circular hollow structural section connections. I: Experimental investigation and finite-element modeling.” J. Struct. Eng. 138 (8): 995–1006. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ST.1943-541X.0000505.
Yang, Z., and K. Tousignant. 2022. “Experimental tests on fillet and PJP welds in CHS moment T-connections.” J. Constr. Steel Res. 196 (Sep): 107405. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2022.107405.

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Journal of Structural Engineering
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 149Issue 7July 2023

History

Received: Aug 26, 2022
Accepted: Feb 8, 2023
Published online: Apr 21, 2023
Published in print: Jul 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Sep 21, 2023

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

ASCE Technical Topics:

Authors

Affiliations

Benjamin R. W. Newcomb, S.M.ASCE https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2138-5697
Ph.D. Candidate, Dept. of Civil and Resource Engineering, Dalhousie Univ., 1360 Barrington St., Halifax, NS, Canada B3H 4R2. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2138-5697
Kyle Tousignant, Ph.D., A.M.ASCE [email protected]
P.Eng.
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil and Resource Engineering, Dalhousie Univ., 1360 Barrington St., Halifax, NS, Canada B3H 4R2 (corresponding author). Email: [email protected]

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Download citation

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

View Options

Get Access

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Article
$35.00
Add to cart

Get Access

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Article
$35.00
Add to cart

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

Share

Share

Copy the content Link

Share with email

Email a colleague

Share