Wide Flange Beam Connections to HSS Columns

[davidfi]

I am curious how other engineers connect wide-flanged beams to HSS columns for a simple shear bolted connection? Our office policy has always been to slot the column and install a through plate connection, but I know this is expensive. I talked to one fabricator and he said slotting the column and installing a through plate connection costs 3x the cost of a single plate connection to the face of an HSS. It looks like I can get a single plate connection to calc out per AISC; I just do not want to specify something that is not typically done.

Thanks!

 

[jayrod12]

It is done all the time. In fact a through plate should be avoided at all costs unless absolutely necessary. Most fabricators will tell you they'd rather have you up the wall thickness than spec a through plate.

The other option is a single angle welded to the column face.

 

[MacGruber22]

A few times I have "tested out" a WT section to a square HSS to avoid the wall capacity problems - I got no complaints, but I can't speak to its general fabricator friendliness if proposed in large quantity. They were small jobs with no connection designer other than the EOR (us).

Much like doubler plates and transverse stiffener plates in column/beam joints, I suspect at typical load levels upping the HSS weight is more economical as jayrod mentioned. I do my best to try to provide column sections that avoid these sorts of limit states and tabulate those requiring (unavoidably) stiffeners, etc. on my typical schematic connection details. I believe that AISC recommends this practice for EOR's.



"It is imperative Cunth doesn't get his hands on those codes."

 

[thaidavid40]

The only time we use through-plates is to transfer axial loads through the columns.
Dave

Thaidavid