The Impact of End Plate Thickness on Moment Connection Capacity:

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1- End plate thickness is critical for transferring bending moments between beams
and columns. The right thickness ensures higher load capacity, minimizes bolt
prying action, and enhances structural reliability.

2- Underestimating it can lead to connection failures and instability. Small design

Thin plates gives you a bigger bolts, the thick plates gives you a smaller bolts. Vertical
stiffeners above beam gives another mode and performance.

Generally, even the end plate and bolts have a large capacity. The design of column web
and web panel zone perhaps control the design and connection capacity.

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 How Stiffeners and Doublers Impact Welded-Moment Connection Capacity:
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1- Stiffeners prevent local buckling and improve force distribution.
2- Doublers reinforce the web to handle higher shear and bending forces.
3- Together, they increase strength, stability, and compliance with design
requirements.

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How Stiffeners and Doublers Impact Bolted-Moment Connection Capacity
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- Stiffeners prevent local buckling and improve force distribution,
- Doublers reinforce the web to handle higher shear and bending forces.
- Together, they increase strength, stability, and compliance with design
requirements.

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K-Stiffeners vs. N-Stiffeners: Key Differences
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K-Stiffeners:
1- Handle vertical and lateral loads, 2- Provide better stability, 3- Used in bridges
and seismic structures.

N-Stiffeners:
1- Best for vertical load transfer, 2- Easier to fabricate and install, 3- Used in plate
girders and crane beams.

Which to Choose?
K-Stiffeners: When lateral stability matters
N-Stiffeners: For simple, cost-effective shear reinforcement

What's your preference in design?

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Mastering Steel Connections: Pinned, Roller, or Rigid?
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Understanding the difference between these connection types is key to designing

The Impact of Stiffeners and Wideners on Steel Connection Capacity:

1- Stiffeners: Reinforce webs and flanges to prevent local buckling and shear
failure, ensuring better load distribution under high demands.
2- Wideners: Increase the effective connection width, reducing stress
concentrations and improving overall performance.

Share your thoughts on how these enhancements can drive better performance
and resilience in your projects.

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Welded connection vs Bolted Connection:
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Understanding the difference between welded and bolted connections in terms of
stiffness and rotational deformation is crucial for structural integrity and
performance.

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Eccentricity Effect in Shear Tab Connections:
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By positioning bolts closer to the line of action of the applied forces, eccentricity is
reduced, stress concentrations are minimized, and load distribution is improved.
What are your thoughts on optimizing bolt patterns for shear tab connections?

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Prying Action in T-Stub Connection: Even though the applied force is 100 kN in all
three cases, the sum of the bolt forces differs and does not equal the applied force
due to the effects of prying action.

Prying Action: refers to the additional forces that occur in bolted connections when
an external load causes the connected members to separate or "pry apart." This
separation leads to uneven load distribution among the bolts in the connection,
typically resulting in higher forces acting on bolts that are closer to the point of
load application.

Properly accounting for prying action is essential for effective and reliable bolted
joint design.

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Types of Steel Columns Splice: 1) End Plate Splice vs 2) Bolted Splice with Plates

Both end plate splices and bolted splices with plates can be used effectively, depending
on the specific location and structural requirements. The choice should consider the
magnitude of moment, shear, and axial force at the splice point to ensure proper
application.

In locations with higher moments and forces, bolted splices with plates are often
preferred for their strength and alignment flexibility. They also integrate better with
architectural designs. For less demanding areas, end plate splices can be more efficient
and straightforward to construct.

The decision should balance structural performance, ease of installation, and project-
specific needs.

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In this post, I provide some tips related to modeling connections of bolt slotted holes
type in Idea Statica. First, this type of connection is designed to allow beams to expand,
which reduces the thermal loads on the structure. When modeling, it is important to
leave one bolt in its normal state without a slot. If all bolts are given a slot, the program
will not analyze the connection, even if the model type is set to N, Vy, Vz. This is a
problem some users face, as the program considers the connection unstable.
Additionally, no loads should be applied in the direction of the slot.
I have attached an image showing how to calculate the length of the slot based on the
AISC code, Chapter J, according to the diameter of the bolt used in the connection.

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Anchoring bracket with slotted plate in IDEA StatiCa

IDEA StatiCa is particularly powerful for the design and analysis of steel connections. It
allows engineers to model and check a wide range of steel connections, including
complex joints that are difficult to assess using traditional methods. The software
supports various connection types such as moment connections, shear connections,
base plates, and splices, and adheres to international design codes. IDEA StatiCa's
advanced analysis capabilities enable precise evaluation of stress distribution,
deformation, and overall safety, making it an essential tool in modern structural
engineering.

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Structural Connection Design Analysis and Validation in Façade Systems Using IDEA
StatiCa .

In the critical design phase, such as the fixation of a long aluminum fin tube (200x50x2),
ensuring structural integrity is paramount—especially when working with a tight 16 mm
gap between glass panels, where our fixation plate must pass through.
To validate the connection design, we developed two models using IDEA StatiCa. These
models allowed us to thoroughly check key components, including the base plate, fin
plate, long horizontal plate, weld thickness, and bolt connections. We specifically
focused on connections between the plate and mullion, the aluminum fins and plate,
and the splice joint, ensuring the plate's bearing capacity between bolts and the
mullion/tube profile met all necessary standards.

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𝗔𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗻. 𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿?

➡ Anchoring is often calculated with the assumption of a rigid base plate. A solid, thick
plate must be better, right?

But it doesn't have to. Let's look at the anchorage of an IPE360 column loaded with a
compressive force of 250 kN and a bending moment of 102 kN. Anchors are M27 8.8.

The solution with a 40 mm plate is OK; the anchors are at 95% utilization. If we try the
same with a 25 mm plate, we get almost the exact utilization of anchors. How is it
possible?

The flexible plate will enable the second row of anchors to help the most stressed
anchors. The edge anchors are even stressed less than in the first case.

𝗦𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲. In this case, the price of the
connection will drop to 74% (with the assumption the prices of steel plates 2€/kg, bolts
5€/kg, and welds 40€/kg).

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𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗮 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝟵𝟬% 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗮𝗱?

Our development team is working on a new set of standard connections that can be
configured in just a few clicks thanks to full parameterization. This will make the design
process much easier, especially for junior engineers.

For a connection between two CHS profiles, we compared the load-bearing capacity of
four different variants. All of them have the same end plate (12 mm thick) and six M24
8.8 bolts. The only difference? Stiffeners.

𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀:
A well-reinforced joint can carry 90% more load than a standard solution.
A slight change in bolt placement (moving them closer to the stiffeners) increased
the capacity by 𝟭𝟱%.

We didn’t analyze the cost aspect this time, but stiffeners have a significant impact on
joint performance.

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