American Institute of Steel Construction

Live Webinar: High Strength Bolts - April 14, 2011

AISC Live Webinar: High Strength Bolts Date: April 14, 2011 Additional Questions and Answers from the Presentation No. Question Anchor rods can effectively be pretensioned against steel-it takes a little bit of concrete creep/shrinkage to relieve all the pretension - from AISC design guide #1. Can we then rely on pretensioning against concrete? Answer We are not quite sure we understand the question. Pretensioning anchor rods is outside of the scope of AISC and RCSC Specifications. It can be done, but the RCSC pretensioning methods do not apply. The EOR will have to determine installation requirements that will achieve their desired pretension and account for any items that may contribute to relaxation of the rod elongation (loss of pretension). A couple examples of those items are concrete creep and debonding of the rod from concrete. There are anchor rods with strengths equivalent to A325. F1554 Gr. 105 is close, A449 and A193 Gr. B7 also have similar ultimate tensile strengths to A325. See AISC Specification Section A3.4 for approved rod Specifications and 13th Edition AISC Steel Construction Manual Table 2-5 for a summary of ultimate tensile strengths. It depends on the application. A good summary is provided at the following link: http://www.larrymuir.building.officelive.com/Loose.aspx.

Is there an A325 Anchor rod(bolt)?

Do we have to be concerned of nuts turning loose after being pretensioned due to fatigue or repeated use? Can double nuts be a substitue for pretensioning? All nuts are to be snug tightened- this something I want to suggest to reduce cost and speed up the process. How many threads need to be engaged to develop the tension capacity of the bolt?

No.

See FAQ 6.11.3: http://www.aisc.org/dynamicmain.aspx?id=2100. There are not any AISC or RCSC requirements similar to this. However the bolt must be short enough to allow full engagement of the nut and tolerance for tightening. Structural bolts typically have a constant thread length that is independent of bolt length. It seems like this requirement may be aimed at providing sufficient thread length so the nut won't hit the thread run-out. This can be accomplished by good detailing practices without requiring a specific # of threads within the grip. Bolt length selection tables are published (see Engineering Journal article by Carter on this subject).

Our spec requires 3 threads in the grip of the connection. How important is this requirement in the performance of the connection?

There's always a solution in steel.

American Institute of Steel Construction

Live Webinar: High Strength Bolts - April 14, 2011

Additional Questions and Answers from the Presentation No. Question Answer

Tighening method is based on that specified in the contract documents. Per Section 4 of the RCSC Specification, the EOR shall specify the type of joint as In order to tighten A325 regular connections, should we snug tightened, pretensioned or slip-critical. RCSC Specification Section 8 use turn of nut method or is snug tight good enough? contains the installation requirements. Snug tight is not an appropriate substitution for joints specified to be pretensioned or slip critical. No. Pretensioning requirements in AISC and RCSC Specifications are not guarantees that nuts will not loosen. Typically preventing nut loosening is a In order to guarantee nuts do not get loose, do we have consideration separate from pretensioning and based on anticipated loading to use turn of nut method? and type of service. See FAQ 6.5.1: http://www.aisc.org/dynamicmain.aspx?id=2100. Eccentricity is always considered. However, testing has indicated that for certain configurations, the AISC design procedures account for the eccentric When do you consider eccentricty in a simple shear effects without explicitly adressing them in the design. Eccentricity is discussed connection? for each connection type discussed in AISC Steel Construction Manual Part 10. 13th Edition AISC Steel Construction Manual Table 2-5 lists Fu for the fasteners approved for use with the AISC Specification. SAE grades are not approved for use with the AISC Specification, so we are not familiar with a Is there source for Fu of all bolts including SAE, etc.? source with relevant design information. Maybe the Industrial Fasteners Institute would have an appropriate reference. See also FAQ 6.2.5: http://www.aisc.org/dynamicmain.aspx?id=2100. High strength steel bolts above a certain critical strength level are susceptible to cracking as a result of hydrogen embrittlement. This susceptibility applies to ASTM A490 bolts. There is only one protective coating approved for use by the A490 Specification, and it is a Zinc/Aluminum compound. Cadmium plating of A490 bolts is not permitted.

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Can you comment on enbrittlement of A490 bolts when they are cadmium plated?

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Engineering judgment is all we can invoke here because I am not aware of any physical testing. So, treat each direction as a separate load case and be How do you consider block shear for connections loaded conservative in assessing the results. The Seismic Design Manual collector in two directions? SRSS? connection design example illustrates on such way to tackle this problem. There is another method shown in the IBC Design Examples for the SCBF system.

There's always a solution in steel.

American Institute of Steel Construction

Live Webinar: High Strength Bolts - April 14, 2011

Additional Questions and Answers from the Presentation No. Answer Yes, bolt preloads in excess of the specified target value (70% of the bolt ultimate strength) are acceptable. As the bolt yields with the application of Re. pretensioning, as long as not we're not breaking the more and more applied deformation (twist, if you like) we find that even on the bolt, exceeding the specified pretention value is verge of failure, the strength of the bolt will still be above the specified acceptable? What if the pretension turns out to be less minimum value of 70% UTS. There are many physical tests that support this than 70%? observation. In response to the second part of the question, if the pretension is less than 70%, then the installation is not acceptable. Dr. Kulak stated that friction force is independent of friction area, so why is ovs hole SC value less than standard hole SC capacity? I hope that what I said was that the friction force is independent of the area of the contact surfaces. Yes, connections with oversize (ovs) holes and with standard holes have different values. This is intended to recognize that the consequences of slip in these two cases obviously will be different. I know that this phenomenon has been reported, although I hope that it hasnt occurred very often! The main thing to know is that this is not a safety issue. The topic is a lengthy one, however, and I suggest that you look at the AISC Frequently Asked Questions and also see what the Engineering Journal says. I believe that there is at least one paper in EJ written on the topic. You can also find MSC articles on the subject here: www.aisc.org/bookstore/itemRedirector.aspx?id=14854 and www.aisc.org/bookstore/itemRedirector.aspx?id=14858 The most illustrative case (for those designing buildings) is to require the condition of no slip permitted at ultimate when the designer sees that ponding, or something similar, can take place as the loads come on. Generally speaking however, the joints in a building structure do not have to be designed as slip-critical. An example of a serviceability limit state requirement is for the joints in a bridge structure. Clearly, we cannot allow slip under the design loads because in this case slip (or even polishing under repetitive loads) can result in fatigue cracks. Question

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Can you discuss the issue of bolt banging? We've had some structures evacuated when slip occurs because the slip sounds like a gun shot.

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When would you use the values for slip-critical connections as a strength limit state vs. a serviceability limit state?

There's always a solution in steel.

American Institute of Steel Construction

Live Webinar: High Strength Bolts - April 14, 2011

Additional Questions and Answers from the Presentation No. Question Answer If the assembly has been properly calibrated, then by definition the spline shears off at the intended pretension. Using something like the SkidmoreWilhelm hydraulic calibrator, a representative sample of the fasteners to be used (same geometry and friction conditions as will be used in the real structure) is tested to ensure that the proper pretension is attained at the time that the twist-off of the spline takes place. If any of the field conditions change, e.g., the bolt length changes from, say, 4 in. to 6 in., then a new calibration is required. This somewhat lengthy answer is really the reverse of your question: there is proper pretension when the tip shears off.

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For TC bolts, how can you "calibrate" when the spline will twist off the bolt? Or should it really say "check" to make sure there is proper tension in the bolt when the spline shears off?

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Readers of this assembly of questions can look at the figure in the original handout. This is the proverbial good question. Either there was enough On the diagram on page 51(slide 101), how were the TC clearance on the backside of the connection to be able to use the powered bolts installed with the spline pointing into the web of the wrench (the likely case) or a few bolts were installed manually. For the bolt column? sizes illustrated, a manual installation is not a problem. The connection shown looks to me like a laboratory test specimen and perhaps that is reflected in your question. Neither of these approximations is very good! A little later on in the presentation (look at slide 32) we noted that, based mainly on physical tests, Isn't shear stress in a circular section calculated as the relationship for the shear strength (at ultimate) as a function of ultimate 4V/3A (instead of V/A)? tensile strength of the bolt is (see eqn. below). As an LRFD expression, just throw in a resistance factor. If you want it in ASD, it can be worked out as required.

0.62 u bolt

There's always a solution in steel.