Behavior of an Adjustable Bolted Steel Plate Connection during Field Installation
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Volume 144, Issue 3
Abstract
This paper presents a bolted steel plate connection to join steel members at a range of angles with the capability of adjusting in situ to accommodate additional angles or tolerances through cold bending. The connection features plates that are prebent (cold bent via a press brake) to defined angles, and then further cold bent during field installation (by bolt tightening) until turn-of-nut criteria are met. This approach uses a small number of unique components to facilitate prefabrication and rapid erection. Geometric studies were performed to select connection parameters for greatest adaptability to manufacturing and erection tolerances and versatility of member dimensions. A total of 13 scenarios were tested under field installation conditions to investigate the effect of the (1) bolt-tightening procedure, (2) amount and direction of field bending, and (3) plate angle on surface strains. Strains were measured using digital image correlation—an optical technique that captures full-field data. This paper presents a novel approach for bolted steel connections, measures the impact of field installation on surface strains, and makes implementation and design recommendations.
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Acknowledgments
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CMMI-1351272. The support of program managers Drs. Kishor Mehta and Y. Grace Hsuan is gratefully acknowledged. The authors are grateful to the University of Notre Dame Equipment Restoration and Renewal Program, which funded the purchase of the DIC system. The authors are also grateful to Builders Iron Works, Inc., for fabricating and press braking the samples at a reduced cost, as well as Alro Steel for providing the steel at a reduced cost.
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Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 144 • Issue 3 • March 2018
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 29, 2016
Accepted: Aug 11, 2017
Published online: Dec 28, 2017
Published in print: Mar 1, 2018
Discussion open until: May 28, 2018
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