UNIT 2

BOLTED AND WELDED JOINTS

1.8 TYPES OF CONNECTIONS IN STEEL
On the Basis of Connecting Medium the connections are classified into following 4 types.
• Riveted Connections
• Bolted Connections
• Welded Connections
• Pinned Connections
Riveted Connections
Rivet is a round rod which holds two metal pieces together permanently. The head of rivet is
formed by heating the rivet rod and upsetting one end of the rod by running it into the rivet
machine. Holes are drilled in the plates to be connected at the appropriate places. For driving
the rivets, they are heated till they become red hot and are then placed in the hole. Keeping the
rivets pressed from one side, a number of blows are applied and a head at the other end is
formed. When the hot rivet so fitted cools, it shrinks and presses the plates together. These
rivets are known as hot driven rivets.

Fig 1.13 Rivet and Rivetted Connection

Bolted Connections
Bolted connection is a method to join structural components with the help of bolts. Bolted
connections are more common than other types of connections used for forming structural
joints. They’re simple to use and don’t require any extra equipment. This is owing, in part, to
the development of higher-strength fasteners, which have made it possible to create simple and
strong structural steel connections.
 Fig 1.14 Bolted Connection
Welded Connections
A welded joint is a material joining process formed by fusing two similar or dissimilar, with or
without applying pressure and filler metal. Based on the method of joint preparation, welding
can be classified into two types:
Fusion welding – in this welding process, where welding joint is obtained from the melting of
the parent metal
Non-fusion welding – In this welding process joint is produced without melting the parent
metal

Fig 1.15 Welded Connections

Pinned Connections
When two structural members are connected by means of a cylindrical-shaped pin, the
connection is called a pin connection. It transfers vertical and horizontal shear loads and cannot
resist any bending or moment (rotational) forces.
Fig 1.16 Pinned Connections
1.8.1 DESIGN OF BOLTED CONNECTIONS
[Link] Types of the Bolts
• Unfinished Bolts
• High Strength Bolts
Unfinished Bolts
• They are called as common, ordinary, rough or black bolts.
• These bolts are forged from low carbon rolled steel circular rods.
• The bolts are available from 5mm to 36mm in diameter and designated as M5 to M36.
• Most commonly used ones are M16, M20, M24 and M30.
• The ratio of net tensile area at the threads to the nominal plain shank area of bolt is 0.78
• Bolts of property class 4.6 and 8.8 are commonly used.
• The number before decimal represents 1/100th of the nominal ultimate tensile strength
and the number after the decimal represents the ratio of yield stress to ultimate stress
expressed as percentage.
• Bolt class 4.6 has 400N/mm2 ultimate tensile strength and yield strength of 240N/mm2
(0.6 times 400).
High Strength Bolts
• They are made from bars of medium carbon heat treated steel
• These bolts can be tightened until they have high tensile stresses.
• The load is transferred by friction; hence they are called as friction bolts.
• They are available in sizes from 16mm to 36mm and are designated as M16, M20, M24
and M30.
• They are identified by the property class identification sysmbol such as 8S, 8.8S, 10S,
or 10.9S.
[Link] Advantages of Bottled Connections
1. The erection of the structure can be speeded up
2. Less skilled persons are required
3. The overall cost is less compared to other connections
[Link] Disadvantages of Bolted Connections
1. Cost of material is high
2. The tensile strength of the bolt is reduced because of area reduction at the root of the thread
3. Normally they are of loose fit and hence their strength is reduced
4. When subjected to vibrations or shocks, bolts may get loose.
[Link] Types of Bolted Connections
• Concentrically Loaded Connections
• Eccentrically Loaded Connections
• Moment Resisting Connections
Concentrically Loaded Connections
Lap Joint
Lap joint simply refers to the process of joining two pieces of a project by overlapping them.

Fig 1.17 Lap Joints

Butt Joint
The joint is formed simply by placing two pieces of metal end-to-end and then welding along
the join. Importantly, in a butt joint, the surfaces of the workpieces being joined are on the same
plane and weld metal remains within the planes of the surfaces.
 Fig 1.18 Butt Joints
[Link] Failure of Bolted joints
Bolted connections can fail either due to failure of the connection itself or due to failure of the
connecting components. Some of these failures, like the plate’s shear failure, the plate’s
splitting failure, and the plate’s bearing failure, can be prevented by adhering to edge distance
criteria as mentioned in IS 800: 2007. As a result, they are irrelevant, whereas the others deserve
careful thought. The bolted connection can fail in any of the methods listed below.
• Shear failure of a bolt, the bolt gets cut or separated about the shear interface. The
number of shear interfaces can be one or multiple depending upon joints. Based on the
number of shear planes, a bolt may fail in Single shear, Double shear, etc. Shear stresses
are created when plates slip due to applied forces. If the maximum factored shear force
exceeds the shear capacity of bolts, the bolt’s shear failure occurs at the bolt shear plane.
• Bearing failure of bolt occurs when low strength bolts are used to connect high
strength plates. In this failure, the bolt gets crushed around half of its circumference
when the connected plates slip due to applied force.
• Bearing failure of the plate also occurs when high-strength bolts are used to connect
low-strength plates. The presence of a neighbouring bolt or the proximity of an edge in
the load direction can aggravate the bearing problem. When ordinary bolts are subjected
to shear forces, slip occurs, and bolts come in contact with the plates. The plate may get
crushed if the plate material is weaker than the bolt material.
• Tension failure of the plate occurs when the bolts are stronger than the connected
plates.
• Shear failure of a plate is a type of excessive bearing failure when the bolt hole is near
the end of the plate.
• Block shear failure occurs when high-strength bolts are used to connect high-strength
plates. It is a combined failure of shear and tension. Sometimes bolts may have to be
placed at a lesser end distance than required, leading to plates shearing out. Due to this,
a block of material within the bolted area breaks away from the remaining area.

Fig 1.19 Failure of Bolted joints

[Link] INDIAN STANDARD PROVISIONS FOR BOLTED CONNECTION (IS 800-
2007)
STRUCTURE OF A BOLT

Fig 1.20 Structure of a Bolt

The head is the uppermost part of a bolt. It serves as the gripping surface for tools. Below the
head is the shank. The shank is the smooth part of a bolt that's devoid of threading. All bolts
have threading.
GRADES OF BOLTS
The International Standards Organisation designation for bolts, also followed in India, is given
by Grade x.y. In this nomenclature, x indicates one-tenth of the minimum ultimate tensile
strength of the bolt in N/mm2 and the second number, y, indicates one-tenth of the ratio of the
yield stress to ultimate stress, expressed as a percentage. Thus, for example, grade 4.6 bolt will
have a minimum ultimate strength 400 N/mm2 and minimum yield strength of 0.6 times 40,
which is 240 N/mm2. The common grades are 4.6, 8.8 and 10.8.
BOLT SIZE
The size of the bolts is designated as M6, M8, M12 etc., where M represents metric and the
number indicates the diameter of the shank portion of the bolt.
DIAMETER OF BOLT HOLES
SPACING OF BOLTS
Gauge Distance
The spacing between adjacent parallel lines of fasteners, transverse to the direction of load/
stress.
Pitch Distance
The centre-to-centre distance between individual fasteners in a line, in the direction of load/
stress.
End Distance
Distance from the centre of a fastener hole to the edge of an element measured parallel to the
direction of load transfer.
Edge Distance
Distance from the centre of a fastener hole to the nearest edge of an element measured
perpendicular to the direction of load transfer.
Minimum Spacing
The distance between centre of fasteners shall not be less than 2.5 times the nominal diameter
of the fastener.
The minimum edge and end distances from the centre of any hole to the nearest edge of a plate
shall not be less than 1.7 times the hole diameter in case of sheared or hand-flame cut edges;
and 1.5 times the hole diameter in case of rolled, machine-flame cut, sawn and planed edges.
Maximum Spacing
The distance between the centres of any two adjacent fasteners shall not exceed 32t or 300 mm,
whichever is less, where tis the thickness of the thinner plate.
The distance between the centres of two adjacent fasteners (pitch) in a line lying in the direction
of stress, shall not exceed 16t or 200 mm, whichever is less, in tension members and 12t or 200
mm, whichever is less, in compression members; where r is the thickness of the thinner plate.
The distance between the centres of any two consecutive fasteners in a line adjacent (gauge)
and parallel to an edge of an outside plate shall not exceed 100 mm plus 4t or 200 mm,
whichever is less, in compression and tension members; where t is the thickness of the thinner
outside plate.
DESIGN OF BLACK BOLTS
Shear Strength of Bolts
The design shear strength of a bolt is given by, Vsb ≤ Vdsb
Design bearing strength of a bolt, Vdsb = Vnsb/γmb
𝑓𝑢𝑏 (𝑛𝑛 𝐴𝑛𝑏 +𝑛𝑠 𝐴𝑠𝑏 )
Nominal bearing strength of a bolt, Vnsb =
√3
Where,
fub = ultimate tensile strength of a bolt;
nn = number of shear planes with threads intercepting the shear plane;
ns = number of shear planes without threads intercepting the shear plane;
Asb = nominal plain shank area of the bolt; and
Anb = net shear area of the bolt at threads, may be taken as the area corresponding to root
diameter at the thread.

Bearing Strength of Bolts

The design bearing strength of a bolt on any plate is given by, Vsb ≤ Vdpb
Design bearing strength of a bolt, Vdpb = Vnpb/γmb
Nominal bearing strength of a bolt, Vnpb = 2.5 kb d t fu
Where,
kb = min{(e/3d0), (p/3d0−0.25), fu/fub, 1.0} – factor for joint geometry and material strength
e = end distance of the fastener along bearing direction
p = pitch distance of the fastener along bearing direction
fub = ultimate tensile strength of the bolt
fu = ultimate tensile strength of the plate
d = nominal diameter of the bolt
d0 = diameter of bolt hole
t = plate thickness
1.8.2 DESIGN OF WELDED CONNECTIONS
Welding is the process of connecting metal pieces by application heat (i.e. fusion) with or
without pressure.
[Link] TYPES OF WELDING
Forge welding: The edge to be joined by applying an extremely high external mechanical
pressure.
Thermit welding: A mixture of iron oxide and aluminum called Thermit is used for ignition.
Gas welding: The edges to be joined are melted on Oxy‐acetylene gas flame.
Resistance welding: The parts are to be joined are pressed together and current is passed from
one end to another when welding temperature is attained, mechanical pressure is applied to
forge the weld.
Electric‐arc welding: Heat is applied by means of an electric arc struck between the parts to
be welded and an electrode melt and fills the gap at the joint.
[Link] Advantages of Welded joints
• As no hole is required for welding, hence no reduction of area so, structural member
are more effective in taking the load.
• In welding, filler plates, gusset plates, connection angle etc. are not used, which leads
to reduction in overall weight and cost of construction.
• The efficiency of welded joint is more than that of bolted or riveted joint.
[Link] Disadvantages of Welded joints
• Welded joints are more brittle and therefore their fatigue strength is less than the
member joined.
• Due to uneven heating and cooling of the members during the welding, the member
may distort resulting in additional stress.
• No provision for expansion and contraction is given in welded connection and
therefore, there is possibility of cracks.
• Defects like internal air pocket, slag inclusion and incomplete penetration are difficult
to detect.
[Link] Types of welds
There are several types of welds commonly used in welding processes. Here are some of the
main types:
• Fillet weld
• Butt weld
• Slot Weld
• Plug weld
Fillet weld
This type of weld is used when the members to be connected overlap each other. A fillet weld
is a weld of approximately triangular cross section joining two surfaces approximately as right
angles to each other in lap joint or tee joint. When the cross section of fillet weld is 45˚ isosceles
it triangle, then it is known as standard fillet weld. When the cross section of the fillet weld is
30˚ and 60˚ triangle, then is known as special fillet weld.

Fig 1.22 Structure of a Fillet Weld

Butt weld
This type of weld is used when the members are in same plane. Butt weld is also termed as
groove weld. The butt weld is used to join structural members carrying direct compression or
tension. It is used to make tee-joint and butt-joint. The following types of butt welds are in
practice. These are named depending upon shape of the grove made for welding.

Fig 1.23 Structure of a Butt Weld

 Fig 1.24 Types of Butt Weld
Slot Weld
A slot weld joins the surface of a piece of material to another piece through an elongated hole.
The hole can be open at one end and can be partially or completely filled with weld material.
Plug weld
Plug welds are a round weld that is made inside of an existing hole most commonly in one
piece of metal, welding that piece to another member.
[Link] INDIAN STANDARD PROVISIONS FOR WELDED CONNECTION (IS 800-
2007)
Fillet Weld
Size of weld (S)
The size of normal fillet weld is taken as minimum leg length of the leg.

Fig 1.25 Structure of Fillet Weld

The maximum size of weld is obtained by subtracting 1.5mm from the thickness of the thinner
member to be joined. The Minimum size of weld is 3mm for plate having thickness up to 10
mm. For plates of thickness 10 to 20mm minimum size is 5mm, for 20 to 32mm plates
minimum size is 6mm & greater than 32mm minimum size is 8mm.

Effective throat thickness (tt)

The shortest distance from the root of the fillet weld to the face of the diagrammatic weld (line
joining the toes). It shall not be less than 3mm and shall not exceed 0.7t, where, t is the thickness
of thinner plate.
Effective throat thickness, tt= K × Size of Weld = KS
The value of K depends on the angle between the fusion faces.
Table 1.5 Values of Coefficient K
Angle between fusion faces (in º) 60-90 91-100 101-106 107-113 114-120
K 0.70 0.65 0.60 0.55 0.5

Effective length (Lw)

The effective Length of the weld is the length of weld for which the specified size and throat
thickness exist. The welding length provided is equal to the effective length plus twice the size
of weld
L = Lw + 2s
Effective length should not be less than 4 times the size of weld.
Effective Area
The effective area of the fillet weld is equal to effective length of weld multiplied by effective
throat thickness.
Overlap
The minimum lap should be 4 times the thickness of thinner part (or) 40mm whichever is more.

Fig 1.26 Overlap Length

Design Strength
The design strength of fillet weld based on its throat area is given by,
𝑓𝑢
𝑃𝑑𝑤 = 𝐿𝑤 𝑡𝑡
√3𝛾𝑚𝑤
Where,
Lw is the effective length of weld in mm
tt is the effective throat thickness of the weld in mm (tt = KS)
S is the size of weld in mm
fu is the ultimate strength of the weld in N/mm2
γmw is t he partial safety factor (1.25 for shop welding and 1.5 for site welding)

Butt Weld
Size of weld (te)
The size of the butt weld is specified by the throat dimension. This is also called the effective
throat thickness.
In case of complete penetration of the groove weld the effective throat thickness is taken as the
thickness of the thinner member joined.
In case of partial penetration, for calculating the strength, the effective throat thickness is
assumed to be 5/8th of the thickness of the thinner member.
Design Strength
The design strength of butt weld in tension of compression is given by,
𝑓𝑦 𝐿𝑤 𝑡𝑒
𝑇𝑑𝑤 =
𝛾𝑚𝑤
The design strength of butt weld in shear is given by,
𝑓𝑦 𝐿𝑤 𝑡𝑒
𝑉𝑑𝑤 =
√3𝛾𝑚𝑤
Where,
fy is the yield stress of the weld in N/mm2
Lw is the effective length of weld in mm
te is the effective throat thickness of the weld in mm
γmw is the partial safety factor (1.25 for shop welding and 1.5 for site welding)
End Returns
When placing a fillet weld, though the welder tries to build up the weld to its full dimension
from the beginning, there is always a slight tapering off where the weld starts and where it
ends. The width of this tapering is called end returns and is equal to two times the size of weld
on either side of welding.

Fig 1.27 End Return in a Welded Joint

ECCENTRIC CONNECTIONS
Connections which are subjected to loading away from the CG of the bolt group or weld
group are termed as eccentric connections.
Types of Eccentric Connections
The eccentric connections can be classified as
• Framed connections (Bolted and Welded)
• Seated connections
➢ Stiffened Seated Connection (Bolted and Welded)
➢ Unstiffened Seated Connection (Bolted and Welded)
• Bracket connections
➢ Type I Connection (Bolted and Welded)
➢ Type II Connection (Bolted and Welded)
Framed Connection

Fig 1.28 (a) Bolted Framed Connection Fig 1.28 (b) Welded Framed Connection

Seated Connections

Fig 1.29 (a) Bolted unstiffened seated Fig 1.29 (b) Welded unstiffened seated
connection connection
 Fig 1.29 (c) Bolted stiffened seated Fig 1.29 (d) Welded stiffened seated
connection connection

Bracket Connections

Fig 1.30 (a) Bracket Connection – Type I Fig 1.30 (b) Bracket Connection – Type I –
– Bolted Welded

Fig 1.30 (c) Bracket Connection – Type II Fig 1.30 (d) Bracket Connection – Type II
- Bolted - Welded
s