A Tentative Design Guideline for a New Steel Beam

Connection Detail to Composite Tube Columns

ATOROD AZIZINAMINI and BANGALORE PRAKASH

Oteel tubes of relatively thin wall thickness filled with high- overstressing the steel tube. In addition, the deformation
strength concrete have been used in building construction in of the steel tube will increase connection rotation, de-
the U.S. and Far East Asian countries. This structural system creasing its stiffness.
allows the designer to maintain manageable column sizes 2. Welding of the thin steel tube results in large residual
while obtaining increased stiffness and ductility for wind and stresses because of the restraint provided by other con-
seismic loads. Column shapes can take the form of tubes or nection elements.
pipes as required by architectural restrictions. Additionally, 3. The steel tube is designed primarily to provide lateral
shop fabrication of steel shapes helps insure quality control. confinement for the concrete which could be compromised
In this type of construction, in general, at each floor level by the additional stress due to the welded connection.
heavy steel beam is framed to these composite columns.
Often, these connections are required to develop shear yield POSSIBLE CONNECTION DETAIL
and plastic moment capacity of the beam simultaneously. With these considerations in mind, attempts should be made
This paper summarizes results and recommendations from to prevent direct transfer of beam forces to the steel tube. Two
a pilot study conducted to develop a moment-resisting steel general types of connection details were envisioned, types A
connection detail for connecting steel beams to composite andB.
columns of the type described above. The focus of this pilot
study was on composite columns having a square or rectan- Type A Connection Detail
gular cross section.
Figure 1 shows one alternative in which forces are transmitted
CURRENT PRACTICE to the core concrete via anchor bolts connecting the steel
Beam-column connections in concrete-filled steel tubes are elements to the steel tube. In this alternative, all elements
usually constructed by directly welding the steel beam to the could be pre-connected to the steel tube in the shop. The nut
tube when connections are required to develop plastic mo- inside the steel tube is designed to accomplish this task. The
ment capacity of the beam. Current design practices for these capacity of this type of connection would be limited with the
connections rely heavily on the judgment and experience of pull-out capacity of the anchor bolts and local capacity of the
individual designers, with little research and testing informa- tube.
tion available. Another variation of the same idea is shown in Figure 2,
When beams are welded or attached to steel tubes through where connecting elements would be embedded in the core
connection elements, complicated stiffener assemblies are concrete via slots cut in the steel tube. In this variation slots
required in the joint area within the column. However, weld- must be welded to connection elements after beam assembly
ing of the steel beam or connecting element directly to the for concrete confinement. The ultimate capacity of this detail
steel tube of composite columns should be avoided for the also would be limited to the pull-out capacity of the connec-
following reasons: tion elements and the concrete in the tube.

1. Transfer of tensile forces to the steel tube can result in lype B Connection Detail
separation of the tube from the concrete core, thereby
Another option is to pass the beam completely through the
column (see Figure 3). This type of connection is believed to
be the most suitable. In this type of detail a certain height of
Atorod Azizinamini is an assistant professor, Department of Civil column tube, together with a short beam stub passing through
Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE. the column and welded to the tube, could be shop fabricated
Bangalore Prakash, structural engineer with Nabih Youssef to form a "tree colunrn." The beam portion of the "tree
and Associates, Los Angeles, California, formerly a graduate column" could then be bolted to girders in the field. A com-
student, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Ne- bination of analytical and experimental investigations was
braska, Lincoln, NE.
undertaken to comprehend and identify the force transfer

108 ENGINEERING JOURNAL/AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF STEEL CONSTRUCTION

mechanism and suggest a tentative design procedure for this carrying shear. The effectiveness of the compression strut was
type of connection. shown to be increased to a limit by increasing the thickness
of the steel plate between the beam flanges. The width of the
ANALYTICAL INVESTIGATION concrete compression strut on each side of the beam web in
the direction normal to the beam web is approximately equal
To investigate the performance of the connection detail in
to half the beam flange width.
which the beam completely passes through the column (here-
A compressive force block is created when beam flanges
after referred to as a through connection), detailed finite
are compressed against the upper and lower columns (Figure
element analyses were conducted. The finite element model
4). The width of this compression block is approximately
used in these analyses consisted of a three-dimensional model
equal to the width of the beam flange. In the upper and lower
of the column with a small portion of the beam extending from
columns shown in Figure 4 the compressive force, C, is shown
the column. In these analyses concrete cracking and non-lin-
to be balanced by the tensile force provided by an embedded
ear behavior of the steel elements were modeled. In addition,
rod in the concrete and possibly welded to the beam flanges.
the interface between steel and concrete elements was care-
This rod was not modeled in the finite element model, forcing
fully modeled.
the steel liner plate to carry this tensile force.
Results of the analyses were used to identify the force
Since one of the objectives of this phase of the study is to
transfer mechanism between the steel beam and composite
devise means to improve connection performance, it is bene-
column in the joint region, and to identify the effects of some
ficial to require rods be attached to beam flanges as shown in
of the connection details on its performance. Major conclu-
Figure 4. The presence of such rods is believed to make the
sions from the analytical investigation associated with the
beam web within the joints stiffer and reduce the stress level
through beam connection detail are discussed in the following
in the steel tube.
section.
Figure 4 shows the force transfer mechanism observed
from the analyses. The portion of the steel tube between the EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION
beam flanges acts as a stiffener, resulting in a concrete com- To gain additional insight of the behavior of the through beam
pression strut which assists the beam web within the joint in connection detail, one test specimen representing approxi-
mately a one-half scale model of a prototype column used in
STEEL TUBE high-rise building construction in seismic zones was con-
FOR TYPICAL BOLT
.DETAIL CONNECTING
T TO COLUMN SEE
DETAIL A

ERECTION
ANGLE

STEEL
TUBE

Fig. 1. Type A connection detail using anchor bolt. Fig. 2. Type A connection detail using embedded elements.

THIRD QUARTER/1993 109

structed and tested. The prototype column consists of a 4-ft Four holes were drilled on each flange of the beam within
(1.22-m) square hollow tube with a 2-in. (50.8-nim) wall the column as shown in Figure 6. These holes were used to
thickness, 10'-9 (3.28-m) story height, and W30x99 beam pass four #11 grade 60 (414 MPa) reinforcing bars through
section framing to the column. In this particular building the the beam flanges. Reinforcing bars were then welded to the
W30x99 beams were welded directly to the steel tube. To beam flanges. As discussed earlier, these reinforcing bars
prevent overstressing of the steel tube a complicated scheme were provided to resist tensile forces in the lower and upper
of stiffener assemblies was placed inside the hollow tube columns arising from applied beam loads. The 4x2xl-in.
directly behind the beam section. (102x50.8x25.4-mm) plates welded to each end of the rein-
Figure 5 shows the general configuration of the test speci- forcing rods were intended to reduce the amount of slip in the
men. The height of the column from the beam's top and rebars. "Excessive" slip of the rebars could transfer large
bottom flanges to the support point is 3VVie inches (0.8 m) tensile forces to the steel tube. It may be possible to achieve
and represents the distance from the floor to the inflection this same objective by using longer rebars (develop the re-
point in the upper and lower stories of a building frame bars) or by using a hook at the end of the rebars, particularly
subjected to lateral loading (assuming the inflection point to since it has been reported that the use of steel plates at the end
be located at mid-height of the column). The length of the of anchor bolts could potentially reduce their capacity.^
beam extending from each side of the column is 27 inches The specimen was cast and cured in the vertical position.
(0.69 m). This length was selected such that the beam's The concrete compressive strength at time of testing was
cross-section shear yield and plastic moment capacities 14,000 psi (99 MPa).
would develop simultaneously.
Figure 6 shows the different components of the test speci- TEST RESULTS
men. The test specimen consisted of three major components: In this section the general behavior of the test specimen in
terms of function of the beam web within the joint are
a. hollow steel tube made of A36 steel
described briefly. Further details are given elsewhere.^
b. hybrid built-up beam section
Figure 7 shows the location and orientation of six gages
c. four #11 grade 60 reinforcing bars with anchor plates
attached to the beam web within the column. Also shown in
welded to each end of the reinforcing bars
this figure is the direction of the applied beam loads. Data
The hollow steel tube is 24 inches (0.6 m) square with y2-in. from these gages, as shown in Figure 8, indicate that the beam
(12.7-mm) wall thickness. A half-scale model of the prototype web within the joint is subjected primarily to compressive and
column (which has a 2-in. (50.8-mm) wall thickness) would tensile strains along the lines GG and HH, respectively. This
have required using 1-in. (25.4-mm) wall thickness in the test
specimen. However, only y2-in. (12.7-mm) wall thickness is
used.
Y ^\)
As shown in Figure 6, two slots in the shape of the beam
cross section were prepared on two faces of the steel tube. I Vb
These slots were used to pass the beam through the column.
vL^ VC I T
CI ^

STEEL TUBE Vc

STEEL
BEAM
PASSING
THROUGH
COLUMN

Fig. 4. Force transfer mechanism for through

Fig. 3. Through connection detail. beam connection detail.

110 ENGINEERING JOURNAL / AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF STEEL CONSTRUCTION

type of deformation indicates that the beam web experiences shear and moment at the joint at failure. These quantities are
shear type deformation. assumed to be related as follows:
Closer examination of data from gages shown in Figure 7
indicate that tensile strains along Unes parallel to HH are
significantly larger than compressive strains parallel to line
GG. This observation can be explained as follows. The type
of shear deformation imposed on the beam web within the
joint results in the creation of a concrete compressive strut where VJ, and M^ are ultimate beam shear and moment, respec-
parallel to line GG in Figure 7. This compressive strut acts as tively, while V^ andM^ are ultimate column shear and moment,
a stiffener along the diagonal GG, consequently reducing the respectively. Figure 9 shows these forces for an isolated
compressive strain in the beam web in that direction. How- portion of a structure subjected to lateral loads.
ever, in the other direction (along line HH) tensile strains in The validity of assumption (c.) above could be justified for
the web increase since concrete is not effective. This obser- the following reasons:
vation verified the force transfer mechanism deduced from 1. Column sizes for the type of construction considered in
the analytical investigation and explained earlier. this paper are generally much larger than the beam sizes.
2. The concrete type used in these columns is generally
BEHAVIORAL MODEL high-strength concrete with compressive strength well
Based on results of the finite-element analysis and experi- above 10,000 psi. The uniaxial stress-strain charac-
mental results, a behavioral model in the form of equations teristics of high-strength concrete exhibit a linear behav-
relating the applied external forces to the connection's inter- ior up to maximum strength, followed by a sharp de-
nal forces was developed. These equations are then used to scending portion.
suggest a tentative design criteria for through-beam connec-
Derivation of Behavioral Model
tion detail.
In developing the behavioral model the following assump- The type of joint is shown in Figure 9. Figure 10 shows the
tions were made: Free Body Diagram (FBD) of the beam web within the joint

a. Externally applied shear forces and moments at the joints X 24" X 1/2" (A36)
are known. Cut in the tube wall
b. Failure is defined as the point at which the beam web of size 15"x 60", for
i n s t r u m e n t a t i o n purpose
within the joint reaches its shear stress limit when exter-
nally applied forces are at their ultimate values. Slot to p a s s t h e b e a m
c. At failure the concrete stress distribution is linear and through the tube
maximum concrete compressive stress is below its lim-
iting value.

The joint forces impHed in assumption (a.) could be ob-

(a)
tained from analysis and requires the knowledge of applied
i£4"x 2"x r --I k3|"

#11 Rebar-f-1
<H I5" 5|"x^^"(GR50)
34 1 1 / 1 6 '
_2Z^
-5l"xfg"(GR50)
14 5 / 8 '

27' Section A-A

21 " 6 '
34 11/18 "
<\ (c)
~T3"
24"x24"x1/2"
Hollow Steel Tube Fig. 6. Different components of the test specimen:
Filled with concrete a) hollow steel tube, b) hybrid built-up beam section,
c) four #11 reinforcing bars with anchor plates
Fig. 5. General configuration of test specimen. welded to each end.

THIRD QUARTER/1993 111

and upper column at ultimate load. With reference to Figure Next, maximum stress in concrete and stresses in the steel
10, the following additional assumptions are made in deriving rod and steel tube could be calculated as follows:
the Behavioral Model:
(4)
1. The concrete stress distribution is assumed to be linear.
The width of the concrete stress block is assumed to f = FF (5)
equal bp beam flange width.
J sc ^s^sc
2. As shown in Figure 10, strain distribution over the upper (6)
column is assumed to be linear.
flc = ^s^c
3. The steel tube and concrete act compositely. (7)
J St ~ ^S^St
4. The portion of the upper column shear, \^, transferred to
the steel beam is assumed to be PQ, where Q is the fit = Es^i (8)
resultant concrete compressive force bearing against the where /,, /^^ Z/^, fst, and //^ are maximum concrete concrete
beam flange and (3 is the coefficient of friction. compressive stress, stress in rod in compression, stress in steel
5. Applied beam moments are resolved into couples con- tube in compression, stress in rod in tension, and stress in steel
centrated at beam flanges. tube in tension, respectively.
6. Resultant of concrete compression strut is along a diago- Substituting Equations 1 through 3 in Equations 4 through
nal as shown in Figure 10. 8 and multiplying Equations 4 through 8 by corresponding
Considering the above assumptions and strain distribution area, the resultant forces for different connection elements
shown for the upper column in Figure 10, strain for different could be calculated as follows:
connection elements could be related to e^, steel tube strain
in tension. (9)

^c - -J
a ^1 (1) a (10)
a^ — a d^- a
/v.

a — di
(2) a- d^
d^- a (11)
-/>yl
d^ — d^ —a
(3) d^- d^- a
d^- a (12)
^s — ^^S ^ fyl
where
e^ = maximum compressive strain in steel tube and T,=^ybftJ^, (13)
concrete in compression Using the FBD of the upper column shown in Figure 10,
e^^= strain in steel rod in compression
8, = strain in steel rod in tension 2500

STEEL TUBE

Strain at 2 along 2-C^ ^

Strain at 3 along 3-F
-1000
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
DEFLECTION, INCHES

Fig. 7. Location and orientation of gages Fig. 8. Strain data from gages attached to
attached to beam web within the column. beam web within the column.

112 ENGINEERING JOURNAL / AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF STEEL CONSTRUCTION

Equations 9 through 13, and satisfying vertical force equilib- rectly (through the coefficients a and I2) to different connec-
rium, the following equation could be obtained. tion parameters such as A,,A^, and a.

1 [V2if\'bfa'-A,(d,-2a)] (14) DESIGN APPROACH

A.=
d-2a Before proceeding with the steps necessary in designing the
where through-beam connection detail, additional equations will be
derived to relate the shear stress in the beam web within the
- beam flange width joint to the compressive force in the concrete compression
dc = depth of the column strut and externally applied forces.
a = depth of the concrete compression block Considering the FBD of a portion of the beam web within
^' = ratio of modulus of elasticity for concrete over
modulus of elasticity of steel
A] = effective area of steel tube = 7b^ t^
A. = area of steel rod at each comer of the beam
U = thickness of steel tube
In defining A i it is assumed that a steel tube width equal to
two times the beam flange width is effective in carrying
tension and compression. This value was estimated from
experimental results.
Next, considering the moment equilibrium of the FBD of
the upper column shown in Figure 10 the following expres-
sion can be derived.

A^ad, + AXad, - Id^d, + 2d^^) +

^/2\\'bfCt J^ . - 3^ M.i L • = v. (15)

akid, - a)
where
d^ = distance between steel rod and steel tube
ctll
fyi = yield strength of steel tube
In Equation 15 ^fyi is the stress level the steel tube is
allowed to approach at ultimate condition, ^/^i could also be
viewed as the portion of the steel tube strength utilized to
resist the forces transferred by the connection. Based on the
limited experimental data obtained from this investigation it
is suggested that a value of 0.35 be used for ^.
Equations 14 and 15 relate the externally applied force,
y^, directly and the externally applied forces V, and M^ indi-

^ b y^ y^? ^ ^

Fig. 9. Assumed forces on an interior joint Fig. 10. FBD of the upper column and beam
in a frame subjected to lateral loads. web within the joint area.

THIRD QUARTER/1993 113

the joint area as shown in Figure 11 and satisfying the hori- Until further research is conducted it is suggested that A^
zontal force equilibrium, the following equation could be be calculated as follows:
derived:
A, = 2bfXd,
\/+Qcose + p Q - - T ^ = 0 (16)
DESIGN EXAMPLE
Design a through-beam connection detail with the following
where
geometry and properties.
V^ = shear force in the beam web at ultimate condition Given (Steps 1 and 2):
9 = arctan -7- t^ - 0.5 in.
hj =5.5 in.
Equations 14, 15, and 16 could be used to proportion the J^ = 14.5 in.
through-beam connection detail. J, =24 in.
Until further research is conducted the following steps are di = 3.5in.
suggested for designing the through-beam connection detail /^i =36ksi
following the LRFD format.
Fy^ = 36 ksi
Step 1. From analysis, obtain factored joint forces. t^ =0.25 in.
Step 2. Select the following quantities: t^, b^ J^, J,., <ii,/yi a =0.85
l^ = 32 in.
Step 3. Solving Equations 14 and 15 simultaneously, obtain Y^ =79 kips
A, and a. This could be achieved using the trial and error
M^= 1,660 in-kips
approach.
(3 =0.5
Step 4. Check stress in different connection elements. ^ =0.35
Step 5. Assume the beam web yields at ultimate load. With n' = 0.23
this assumption V^ could be calculated as follows: Ai =5.5 in ^
/ / = 14 ksi
V=0.6E.,Ld^ (17)
F^ - 29,000 ksi (modulus of elasticity of steel)
where F^ = 6,670 ksi (modulus of elasticity of concrete)
Fy^ = beam web yield stress Step 3: Using the trial and error approach and Equations 14
t^ = thickness of the beam web
Step 6. Using Equation 16 calculate Q^, compressive force in
the concrete compressive strut, and applied shear force to
concrete in the joint area.
Step 7. Check shear stress in concrete in the joint area. The
limiting shear force could be assumed to be as suggested by
i
ACT 352 [2]:
\=(^R^A, (18) \ X

where Mb/^b - - - - ' ^ ^ M,/d,

(j) = 0.85
R = 20, 15, and 12 for interior, exterior, and comer joints,
respectively
fj = concrete compressive strength

It is suggested that the value of V ^ b e limited to 100 psi,

implying that in the case of 15,000 psi concrete, for instance,
V)^be taken as 100 rather than 122 as would be obtained from
K calculations. Fig. 11. FBD of the portion of the web within the joint area.

114 ENGINEERING JOURNAL / AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF STEEL CONSTRUCTION

and 15, calculate a and A,. For the first trial assume a = 8.5. Step 7: The shear force carried by concrete within the joint
Equation 14 will result in: between the beam flanges is assumed to be the horizontal
component, C^f
1
[1/2(0.23X5.5X8.5)' - 5.5(24 - 2 x 8.5)
^' 24 - 2 X 8.5
A = 1.03 in 2 \^ = 90.9cos(31.1) = 77.8'^

Substitute A^ = 1.03 in.^ in Equation 15 and calculate VJ,. If For the interior joint the shear capacity is
the result is approximately equal to 79 kips the assumed value y, = ^{2oy;(2bfM)
of a is o.k. Equation 15 yields:
V, = 0.85(20)100x[(2x5.5)(24)]/l,000 = 449' >
VB = [5.5 X 8.5 X 24 + 1.03(8.5 x 24 - 2 x 3.5 x 24 + 77.8*^ o.k.
2 X 3.5') + y2(0.23)(5.5X8.5)'(24 -
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
0.35 X 36
The use of composite columns of the type described in this
^'^^^^^0.85x32(24-8.5) paper is proven to be economical. This paper has summarized
% = 64.3 kips ^ 79 kips a suggested connection detail (a through-beam connection
detail) for connecting steel beams to these columns as well as
Assume a = 9 inches. This will yield A^ = 3.04 in.^, V^ = tentative design guidelines. The information presented in this
77^^79'^ o.k. paper is based on a pilot study and, therefore, it is suggested
Therefore, a = 9 inches and A^ = 3.04 in.' that this information be viewed as a general guideline until
Use two #11 Grade 60 deformed reinforcing bars. A^ = further research is carried out. It should also be noted that the
3.12 in.' effect of axial load in the column on performance of the
Step 4: Check stresses in different connection elements connection was not considered. The intent of the paper is to
against their limit values. First calculate tensile strain in the suggest an economical connection detail and outline a proce-
steel tube. dure to comprehend its behavior through the behavioral
model presented.
e, = ^/,i /E, = 0.35 X 36/29,000 = 0.000434 in./in.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Using Equations 1 and 4 calculate/,.
The authors greatly appreciate the support provided by the
/ , = 1.74ksi<//=14ksi o.k. American Institute of Steel Construction which provided
partial funding of a graduate student. Valmont Industries of
Using Equations 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 calculate stresses in
Omaha, Nebraska is greatly appreciated for constructing the
other connection elements. This yields:
test specimen. Special thanks are also due the Center for
/,, = 4.61 ksi < (t)^= 0.85 x 60 = 51 ksi o.k. Infrastructure Research at the University of Nebraska-
/i,= 7.55 ksi < (|)^= 0.85 x 36 = 30.6 ksi o.k. Lincoln for supporting this research. The authors thank Dr. J.
/,, = 9.65 ksi < (|)^ = 0.9 x 60 = 54 ksi o.k. P. Colaco of CBM Engineers, Inc., Houston, Texas for his
A = 12.6 ksi < (|)^ = 0.9 X 36 = 32.4 ksi o.k. helpful suggestions and great encouragement while pursuing
this research.
Step 5: Using Equation 17 calculate shear force in the beam
web: REFERENCES
\C = 0.6 X 36 X 0.25 x 24 = 129.6 kips 1. Shipp, G. John and Haninger, R. Edward, "Design of
Headed Anchor Bolts," AISC Engineering Journal, Sec-
Step 6: Using Equation 16 calculate compressive force in ond Quarter, 1983, Vol. 20, No. 2 pp. 58-69.
concrete compression strut. 2. Prakash, A. Bangalore, "Development of Connection De-
tail for Connecting Steel Beams to Composite Columns,"
e =arctan 14.5/24 = 31.1°
M.S. Thesis, Civil Engineering Department, University of
C.=V2y]%bf(a'/d,-a)fy, Nebraska-Lincoln, 1992.
Q = y2(0.23)(0.35)(5.5)(9V24 - 9) x 36 = 43 kips 3. ACI-ASCE Committee 352, "Recommendations for De-
\C+ Qcos(e) + PQ - (2M, /d,) = 0 sign of Beam-Column Joints in Monolithic Reinforced
129.6 + Qcos(31.1) + 0.5(43) - (2 x 1,660) /14.5 = 0 Concrete Structures," ACI Journal Proceedings, Vol. 82,
Q = 90.9 kips No. 3, May-June 1985, pp. 266-283.

THIRD QUARTER/1993 115