4 DETAILING CONSIDERATIONS 4.

2 Base plate detailing

1 Generally four anchor bolts are preferred in order to maximise the stability of the free-
standing column while the rest of the steelwork is erected. Two bolt arrangements should
be restricted to situations involving short columns or door posts.
Reference 7 indicates that the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
requires four anchor bolts in all column base plate connections unless the small column or
post weighs less than 140 kilograms (300 pounds) in which case two bolts may be used.
OSHA also requires column base plates and anchor bolts to be designed for a specific
bending moment to reflect the stability required with an ironworker on the column. Since
Australian OH&S requirements require steel to be erected from ‘cherry-pickers’ or
elevated work platforms, this requirement is not included in this Design Guide. Some
Australian states have steelwork erection requirements that mandate the use of four
anchor bolts.
2 Base plate should be a preferred plate thickness in Grade 250 plate to AS/NZS 3678
(Ref. 11). A minimum thickness of 12 mm is recommended for posts and lightly loaded
columns, while 20 mm minimum thickness is recommended for normal applications (after
Ref. 7).
Preferred plate thicknesses for the base plate are: 12, 16, 20, 25, 28, 32, 36, 40.
Base plates are typically cut to size using thermal processes. Edge roughness
requirements are nominated in AS 4100 Clause 14.3.3.
3 Base plates larger than 600 mm in one direction should be provided with at least one
grout inspection hole of 50 to 75 mm diameter through which the grout will rise indicating
a satisfactory grouting operation. The grout hole will also prevent air pockets forming
under the base plate. Such a hole is not considered necessary if dry pack grout is used or
for base plate dimensions less than 600 mm long.
4 Fillet welds are preferred to butt welds when welding the column to the base plate. With
this connection, over-welding is prevalent (the ‘weld all round’ philosophy) and this can be
expensive. If designed for light loadings, the amount of welding may tend to the other
extreme and some fabricators may prefer to increase the amount of welding above that
shown on the design drawings in order to prevent damage during handling and shipping.
There is usually a compromise possible between these extremes. Another design
consideration is the likelihood of a nominally ‘pinned’ base being subjected to some
bending moment in a real situation, especially during erection where some frame stability
may be temporarily absent while the frame is assembled.
Basic welding guidelines summarized from Reference 7 are as follows:
(a) fillet weld should be used wherever possible rather than butt welds;
(b) avoid weld all round symbols since the weld across the toes of the flanges and
around the web fillets have little strength and are costly to produce;
(c) for most I-section columns, welding on one side of the flange and along both sides
of the web will generally be adequate and economical;
(d) for RHS and SHS columns, welding only along part or all of the flat portion of each
side will be adequate and economical, avoid welding around the radiused corners;
(e) use the minimum fillet weld sizes of AS 4100 Clause 9.7.3.2.
5 Column shafts with cold-sawn ends normally provide full bearing contact with the base
plate, complying with Clause 14.4.4.2 of AS 4100, which then allows the amount of
welding to be minimised for the case of axial compression and shear force. The portion of
base plate in contact with the column section should be flat to within this tolerance also.

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6 Prior to erecting the column/base plate assembly, the level of the base plate area should
be surveyed and shims placed to indicate the correct level of the underside of the base
plate (Figure 4). For lighter column/base plate assemblies, levelling-nut arrangements
may be used in order to allow accurate levelling of the base plate.
7 Hole sizes in base plates may be up to 6 mm larger than the anchor bolt diameter
(AS 4100, Clause 14.3.5.2). Holes would normally be drilled. Holes require a special plate
washer of 6 mm minimum thickness under the nut if the bolt hole is more than 3 mm
larger than the anchor bolt diameter. The oversize holes will accommodate reasonable
misalignment in the location of the anchor bolts and allow adjustment of column bases to
meet the tolerance requirement between column centres permitted in AS 4100 (Figure 6).
Recommended diameters of bolt holes, minimum washer dimensions and thickness are
given in Table 4.
8 A shear key may be welded to the underside of the base plate in order to resist the design
shear force (see Figure 5).

FIGURE 4 USE OF STEEL SHIMS FIGURE 5 SHEAR KEY DETAILS

9 The size and location of any permanent steel shims under the base plate should be
shown on the structural/shop detail drawings. Temporary steel shims which are used for
erection purposes until the underside of the base plate is grouted or concreted should be
left to the erector to use as required on site.
10 The minimum space between the underside of the base plate and the concrete foundation
should be:
25 mm for grouting
50 mm for mortar bedding
Grout strength should have a characteristic compressive cube strength at least twice that
of concrete foundation (Ref. 7). Cube strength is the normal method of specifying grout
strength rather than cylinder strength used for other concrete work.
11 Edge distance requirements for bolt holes should comply with AS 4100 Table 9.6.2 on the
assumption of a machine flame cut/sawn edge (edge distance greater than 1.5  bolt
diameter).
12 Plate dimensions and hole pitch and gauge should be such that the anchor bolts don’t
create construction problems by interfering with any reinforcing steel in the concrete
foundations.

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 Design Guide 7
Pinned base plate connections for columns
by

T.J. Hogan

first edition—2011
 AUSTRALIAN STEEL INSTITUTE
(ABN)/ACN (94) 000 973 839

Design Guide 7
Pinned base plate connections for columns

Copyright © 2011 by AUSTRALIAN STEEL INSTITUTE

Published by: AUSTRALIAN STEEL INSTITUTE

All rights reserved. This book or any part thereof must not be reproduced in any form without
the written permission of Australian Steel Institute.
Note to commercial software developers: Copyright of the information contained within this publication is
held by Australian Steel Institute (ASI). Written permission must be obtained from ASI for the use of any
information contained herein which is subsequently used in any commercially available software package.
FIRST EDITION 2011 (LIMIT STATES)
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:
Hogan, T.J.
Design Guide 7: Pinned base plate connections
1 st ed. This publication originated as part of
Includes bibliographic references. Design of structural connections
ISBN 978 1 9214762 4 2 (pbk.). First edition 1978
Steel, Structural—Standards – Australia. Second edition 1981
Steel, Structural—Specifications – Australia. Third edition 1988
Joints (Engineering)—Design and construction. Fourth edition 1994
Australian Steel Institute.
(Series: Structural steel connections series).
Also in this series:
Design capacity tables for structural steel. Volume 3: Simple connections—Open sections
Handbook 1: Design of structural steel connections
Design Guide 1: Bolting in structural steel connections
Design Guide 2: Welding in structural steel connections
Design Guide 3: Web side plate connections
Design Guide 4: Flexible end plate connections
Design Guide 5: Angle cleat connections
Design Guide 6: Seated connections
Design Guide 10: Bolted moment end plate beam splice connections
Design Guide 11: Welded beam to column moment connections
Design Guide 12: Bolted end plate beam to column moment connections
Design Guide 13: Splice connections
Design capacity tables for structural steel. Volume 4: Rigid connections—Open sections
Disclaimer: The information presented by the Australian Steel Institute in this publication has been
prepared for general information only and does not in any way constitute recommendations or
professional advice. While every effort has been made and all reasonable care taken to ensure the
accuracy of the information contained in this publication, this information should not be used or relied
upon for any specific application without investigation and verification as to its accuracy, suitability and
applicability by a competent professional person in this regard. The Australian Steel Institute, its officers
and employees and the authors and editors of this publication do not give any warranties or make any
representations in relation to the information provided herein and to the extent permitted by law (a) will
not be held liable or responsible in any way; and (b) expressly disclaim any liability or responsibility for
any loss or damage costs or expenses incurred in connection with this publication by any person, whether
that person is the purchaser of this publication or not. Without limitation, this includes loss, damage, costs
and expenses incurred as a result of the negligence of the authors, editors or publishers.
The information in this publication should not be relied upon as a substitute for independent due
diligence, professional or legal advice and in this regard the services of a competent professional person
or persons should be sought.

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 CONTENTS
Page Page
List of figures iv 9.4 DESIGN CHECK NO. 4—Design
List of tables v capacity for horizontal shear
Preface vi transfer by friction at base
About the author vii plate/concrete interface 35
Acknowledgements viii 9.5 DESIGN CHECK NO. 5—Design
capacity for horizontal shear
1 CONCEPT OF DESIGN GUIDES............... 1 transfer by bearing of embedded
1.1 Background 1 steel column 36
9.6 DESIGN CHECK NO. 6—Design
2 DESCRIPTION OF CONNECTION ............ 2 capacity for horizontal shear
transfer through shear key 38
3 TYPICAL DETAILING OF CONNECTION .. 4
9.7 DESIGN CHECK NO. 7—Design
4 DETAILING CONSIDERATIONS................ 6 capacity for horizontal shear
4.1 Base plate dimensions for open transfer through anchor bolts 40
sections 6
10 RECOMMENDED DESIGN MODEL—
4.2 Base plate detailing 8
AXIAL TENSION AND SHEAR..................43
4.3 Anchor bolt detailing 11
10.1 DESIGN CHECK NO. 8—Design
5 CODE REQUIREMENTS ......................... 14 capacity of steel base plate 43
10.2 DESIGN CHECK NO. 9—Design
6 BASIS OF DESIGN MODEL..................... 15 capacity of weld at column base 51
6.1 Axial compression 15 10.3 DESIGN CHECK NO. 10—Design
6.2 Horizontal shear 17 capacity of anchor bolts in tension 52
6.3 Anchor bolts in shear 19 10.4 DESIGN CHECK NO. 5 56
6.4 Axial tension 21 10.5 DESIGN CHECK NO. 6 56
6.5 Anchor bolts in tension 24 10.6 DESIGN CHECK NO. 7 56
6.6 Anchor bolts subject to tension 10.7 DESIGN CHECK NO. 11—Design
and shear simultaneously 26 capacity for horizontal shear and
tension applied to anchor bolts 57
7 CALCULATION OF DESIGN ACTIONS ... 27
11 DESIGN EXAMPLES ................................58
8 RECOMMENDED DESIGN MODEL— 11.1 Axial compression and shear—
SUMMARY OF DESIGN CHECKS........... 28 Design Example No. 1 58
11.2 Axial compression or axial tension
9 RECOMMENDED DESIGN MODEL— and shear—Design Example No. 2 62
AXIAL COMPRESSON AND SHEAR ....... 29
9.1 DESIGN CHECK NO. 1—Design 12 REFERENCES..........................................67
capacity for bearing on concrete
support 29 APPENDICES
9.2 DESIGN CHECK NO. 2—Design A Limcon software 69
capacity of steel base plate 32 B ASI Design Guide 13
9.3 DESIGN CHECK NO. 3—Design comment form 76
capacity of weld at column base 34

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