Bolted beam-column connections

One of the most favorable features of steel structure is reducing the labor required on
site. This is achieved by using bolted connections. Obviously, if lots of field weld is
required, the benefit of fast installation will be reduced. Bolted connections are the most
commonly used ones in modern steel constructions. If sorted by beam-column profiles,
bolt types, connection types and the forces to be transferred, there could be hundreds
of bolted beam-column connections while only some of them are commonly used. A
properly designed bolted connection is able to transfer shear force and/or moment and
tension. To fulfill the force transfer, quite a few items need to be checked. Different
connections require different items to be checked. But some common calculations is
required for almost all bolted connections, such as bolt shear, bolt tension, connection
member bearing, tension and shear block etc. This paper will list the most commonly
used bolted beam-column connections and discuss the characteristics and usual design
procedure of these connections. Then an example will be explained more detailed and a
spreadsheet will be developed for the design of this connection. It is worth to be noted
that although the spreadsheet is developed for the particular connection, it can also be
used for other connections to check the same working circumstances or further
development could be made accordingly.