Ultimate tensile deformation and strength capacity of shear tab connections

Single plate or shear tab is a common simple connection to connect steel beams to columns. The connection is traditionally designed for the shear load transferred from the supported beam only, while it has long been recognized that the shear connection can resist a certain amount of tensile force in the longitudinal direction of the supported beam which is critical to preserve the integrity of a structure. Canadian standard CSA/S16-14 explicitly states that connections shall be designed to provide resistance to progressive collapse as a consequence of a local failure. However, few specific design requirements are provided in the standard. Hence, the main objective of this research is to quantify the deformation and strength capacities of shear-tab connections when subjected to a pure tension or a combined tension and shear load in the context of progressive collapse resistance. First, a set of full-scale shear tab connection specimens were tested under a pure tension load. The results from the experiments are then used to verify and calibrate a finite element model of the connections. Thirdly, the finite element model is used to conduct a parametric study to determine the impact of tab thickness, tab edge distance, bolt diameter and the combined effect of tension and shear load. Finally, a formulation describing the relationship between the tensile force and the axial deformation for the shear tab connections is developed