Date of Award

Fall 1985

Document Type

Thesis - Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Civil Engineering

First Advisor

Vinnakota, Sriramulu

Second Advisor

Heirich, Stephen M.

Third Advisor

Wenzel, Thomas H.

Abstract

In the past 10 or 15 years, the gusset plate has been utilized to an increasing extent in structural steel frameworks to connect bracing members to web and chord members in trusses, and to columns and beams in building structures. This has had particular applications in heavy industrial structures, such as those used for power plants (See Fig. 1). The axial load from the bracing member is transferred to the beam and column through the gusset plate, which is normally bolted to the bracing member and connected to the column and beam by bolts or welds (1). Web and chord members of trusses, towers and bracings in large building structures are generally achieved by using double angles back-to-back and connected to the main framing via gusset plates. Such members are typically designed as pin ended, axially loaded, compression members. As the structure is loaded and the compressive force in the member increases, the member begins to buckle, and the end conditions (the gusset plate connection) offer resistance to this tendency to buckle and therefore increase the critical load, beyond the Euler load (11,12). The end restraint offered generally lies between that of a pinned connection (zero stiffness) and a fixed connection (infinite stiffness). The beneficial effect of this restraint is generally neglected in most specifications, as the connections are assumed to be pinned. The purpose of the present study is to experimentally determine the moment-rotation characteristics of bolted, double angle steel connections. The influence of this restraint on elastic buckling of such columns will be determined approximately.

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