13.10: Angles connected by one leg in tension

ABSTRACT The paper deals with bolted connections of angles connected by one leg subjected to tension force. These connections are characterized by the eccentricity of the tension force and are dealt with in the EN 1993‐1‐8 standard that provides the design resistance for block tearing, for bolt bearing and for reduced effective net cross‐section that is based on β factors. A closer look on the design resistance of the reduced effective net cross‐section shows that the calculation of β may lead to inconsistencies. An addition of a bolt may lead to decrease of the net cross‐section resistance. Moreover, the formulas for the calculation of the reduced net cross‐section resistances are only a different presentation of the formulas for the block tearing resistance. Analysis of 631 test results from literature shows that the calculation of the block tearing resistance is sufficient and that equations 3.12 and 3.13 of EN 1993‐1‐8 are redundant. The study will also show that a constant distribution of stress on the tension face may be assumed in the formula for the block tearing resistance of the angles connected by one leg in tension (eq. 3.9, EN 1993‐1‐8), similarly to the provisions in American standard AISC 360–05. A modified bolt bearing strength function is also presented and statistically analysed on 631 test results. It is simpler and less conservative than the one in EN 1993‐1‐8.