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DESIGN OF STEEL AND TIMBER

STRUCTURES
[CEN3204]

CHAPTER - II: TENSION MEMBERS

By: T K.

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II. Tension Members
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Content
1. Introduction
2. Design Considerations
a. Design value of axial tension force
b. Effective area
3. Design of Tension Members

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 2.1. Introduction
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 Tension members are linear members in which axial forces act so as to

elongate (stretch) the member. A rope, for example, is a tension member.
 Tension members carry loads most efficiently, since the entire cross section is
subjected to uniform stress. Unlike compression members, they do not fail by
buckling.
 Axially loaded tension members are used mainly as members of the roof truss,
truss for bridges, Cables in cable-stayed and suspension bridges, Bracing
in frames to resist lateral forces from blast, wind and earthquake and as tie to
take horizontal forces on industrial buildings.

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2.1. Introduction
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 2.1. Introduction
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 Tension members can have a variety of cross sections.
• Single angle and double angle sections [Fig 2(a)] are used in light roof trusses as in
industrial buildings.
• Tension members in bridge trusses are made of channels or I sections, acting
individually or built-up [Figs. 2(b) and 2(c)].
• Circular rods [Fig.2 (d)] are used in bracings designed to resist loads in tension only.
They buckle at very low compression and are not considered effective.
• Steel wire ropes [Fig.2 (e)] are used as suspenders in cable suspended bridges and as
main stays in the cable-stayed bridges.

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2.1. Introduction
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 2.2. Design Considerations: Design value of axial tension force

 The design value of the axial force is 𝑬𝑫 𝒕,𝑹𝒅

 A tension member can fail by
1. Excessive deformation (yielding) - Excessive deformation is prevented
by limiting stresses on the gross section to less than the yield stress. For
yielding on the gross section, the design plastic resistance is:

𝒚
𝒑𝒍,𝑹𝒅
𝑴𝟎

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2.2. Design Considerations: Design value of axial tension force

2. Fracture - Fracture is avoided by limiting stresses on the net section to

less than the ultimate tensile strength. For fracture on the net section at
the bolt hole, the design ultimate resistance is:
𝒆𝒇𝒇 𝒖
𝒖,𝑹𝒅
𝑴𝟐

– gross section area (area without reduction).

𝒆𝒇𝒇 – effective area.
𝒚 – stress at the yield point of the steel.
𝒖 – ultimate tensile stress.

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 2.2. Design Considerations: Effective area

 The effective area is taken as net area.

 Holes for rivets or bolts in tension affect the member in two ways
1. They reduce the area of the cross section
2. They result in non-uniform strain on cross sections in the neighborhood of the hole

 The net area of cross-section or element section

shall be taken as its gross area less appropriate
deductions for all holes and openings.
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 2.2. Design Considerations: Effective area

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𝒏𝒆𝒕 for Non staggered fasteners for plates

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 2.2. Design Considerations: Effective area

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𝒏𝒆𝒕for Staggered fasteners for plates  Therefore the net width can be
 When the fastener holes are staggered, the total computed by using the following formula
area to be deducted for fastener holes shall be which is known as “the chain formula”.
the greater of: 𝒂𝒔𝟐
1. The deduction for non-staggered holes. 𝒏 𝟒𝒑
2. The sum of the sectional area of all holes in any where: 𝒏 – number of holes in the chain of holes
diagonal or zigzag line extending progressively across 𝒂 – number of diagonal space 𝒑 in the chain
𝟐 ⁄
the member or part of member, less 𝑺 𝒕 𝟒𝑷 for each 𝒔 – is the pitch, the spacing of the centers of two
gauge space in the chain of holes. See Fig. consecutive holes in the chain
measured parallel to the member axis
𝒑 – is the spacing between the centers of the holes
measured perpendicular to the member axis
𝒅 – diameter of holes.
 Finally the net area should be the net
width x thickness of the plate: 𝒏 .
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 2.2. Design Considerations: Effective area

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𝒏𝒆𝒕 for Staggered fasteners for plates cont.…

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 2.2. Design Considerations: Effective area

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Angle under tension

 Angles are extensively used as tension members in trusses and bracings.
 Angles, if axially loaded through centroid, could be designed as in the case of plates.
 However, usually angles are connected to gusset plates by bolting or welding only one of
the two legs – eccentrically loaded.

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 2.2. Design Considerations: Effective area

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𝒏𝒆𝒕 for Angle connected with its two legs

 The method of solution is to assume
one leg of the angle to be rotated
and brought in the plane of the
second leg, as a result we get:
 The gross width of the angle in its
new position would be the sum of
the length of the two legs less the
angle thickness.
 The gauge distance for rivet or bolt
holes in the two legs is the sum of
the gauge distance in each leg less
the angle thickness.
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 2.2. Design Considerations: Effective area

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𝒏𝒆𝒕 for Angle connected by one leg

 Angles connected by a single row of bolts in one
leg may be treated as concentrically loaded and
the design ultimate resistance of the net section
determined as follows:

 For an unequal angle connected by its smaller leg.

𝒏𝒆𝒕 should be taken as the area of an equal-leg
angle having the size of the smaller leg

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 2.2. Design Considerations: Effective area - Ultimate resistance of
the net cross-section for special cases
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𝒏𝒆𝒕 for Angle connected by one leg cont. …

For intermediate value of p1,

linear interpolation may be
used

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 2.2. Design Considerations: Effective area

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𝒏𝒆𝒕 for channel and T-Sections. …

 For single channel connected through the web or single tee connected through the flange,
the effective area should be calculated by:
𝟑𝒂𝟏
𝒏𝒆𝒕 𝟏 𝟑𝒂𝟏 𝒂𝟐 𝟐

Where 𝟏 - is the net sectional area of the connected leg

𝟐 - is the net sectional area of the unconnected leg

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 2.2. Design Considerations: Effective area

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𝒏𝒆𝒕for Double angles. …

 For double angle connected back to back or space between:

Where 𝟏 - is the net sectional area of the connected leg

𝟐 - is the net sectional area of the unconnected leg

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2.3. Design Tension Members
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 2.3. Design of Tension Members: Strength as governed by
block shear failure:
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 A tension member may fail along end connection due to block shear as shown in Fig.

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 2.3. Design of Tension Members: Strength as governed by
block shear failure:
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Design for Block Tearing

 Block tearing consists of
failure in Shear at the row of
bolts along the shear face of
the hole group accompanied
by tensile rupture along the
line of bolts holes on the
tension face of the bolt
group.

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 2.3. Design of Tension Members: Strength as governed by
block shear failure:
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1) For a symmetric bolt group subjected to concentric loading the design

block tearing resistance, , , is given by:

𝒆𝒇𝒇,𝟏,𝑹𝑫 𝒖 𝒏𝒕 𝑴𝟐 𝒚 𝒏𝒗 𝑴𝟎

Where: 𝒏𝒕 is net area subjected to tension

𝒏𝒗 is net area subjected to shear

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 2.3. Design of Tension Members: Strength as governed by
block shear failure:
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2) For a bolt group subjected to eccentric loading the design block

shear tearing resistance 𝒆𝒇𝒇,𝟐,𝑹𝑫 is given by:

𝒆𝒇𝒇,𝟐,𝑹𝑫 𝒖 𝒏𝒕 𝑴𝟐 𝒚 𝒏𝒗 𝑴𝟎

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2.3. Design of Tension Members: Strength as governed by
block shear failure:
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 2.3. Design of Tension Members: Slenderness ratio:
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 Even if tension members are not under the action of reversal stress, to
avoid damages during transportation and erection of members, its
slenderness ratio is limited to 350. This value does not apply to cables.

[Allowable values of slenderness ratio according to other standards]

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 Examples
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Example 2.1. Calculate the net critical area for the bolt distribution shown below.

Solution:
Chain (1) 𝑑 = 15 – 2 𝑥 1 = 13 𝑐𝑚
Chain (2) 𝑠 = 3; 𝑝 = 3
×
→ 𝑑 = 15 − 4 × 1 + × = 12.5 𝑐𝑚
Chain (3) 𝑠 = 3 & 4; 𝑝 = 3
× ×
𝒂𝒔𝟐 → 𝑑 = 15 − 5 × 1 + × + × = 14.17 𝑐𝑚
𝒏 𝟒𝒑
Chain (4) 𝑑 = 15 – 3𝑥1 = 𝟏𝟐 𝒄𝒎
Therefore the 𝑵𝒆𝒕 𝑪𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑨𝒓𝒆𝒂 = 12 𝑥 0.5
= 𝟔 𝒄𝒎𝟐

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 Examples
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Example 2.2. Calculate the maximum design load for the plate of example
number one. Steel grade S 235. 2) The design ultimate resistance of the section at the
. bolt holes.
𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝐴 = 6𝑐𝑚 .

𝑈𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑓 = 36.0

𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝛾 = 1.25

Solution:
. × ×
𝑁 , = = 𝟏𝟓𝟓. 𝟓𝟐𝒌𝑵
1). The design plastic resistance of the gross section. .

𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝐴 = 15 𝑥 0.5 = 7.5 𝑐𝑚  Therefore, the design load is 𝟏𝟓𝟓. 𝟓𝟐 𝒌𝑵.
𝑌𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑓 = 23.5 𝑘𝑁/𝑐𝑚 (𝑇𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 3.1, 𝐶𝐸𝑆 152)
𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝛾 = 1 (𝑆𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 6.1, 𝐶𝐸𝑆 152)
. × .
𝑁 , = = 𝟏𝟕𝟔. 𝟐𝟓𝒌𝑵
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 Examples
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Example 2.3. Verify, according to the EC3 Code, the strength of a single equal leg angle
L 120 × 10 mm in tension connected on one side via one line of two M16 bolts in standard
holes (Figure, dimensions in mm). Bolts connect only one side of the angle to a gusset
plate. The angle is subjected to a design axial load N Ed of 350 kN.

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 Examples
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Example 2.4. Consider the chord AB of the steel truss, indicated in Figure, assuming it is subjected to a design
tensile axial force of NEd = 220 kN. The cross section consists of two angles of equal legs, in steel grade S235.
Design chord AB assuming bolted connection:

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 Examples
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Example 2.4. cont. …

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 Examples
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Example 2.5. Check the section used as a main tie of the roof truss shown in the Figure below. The section is
formed with 2 𝑢𝑛𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 100 × 75 × 8 𝑚𝑚. Steel grade 𝑆 275 is used. The joint was made with
7 𝑏𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 20 𝑚𝑚 as shown. The acting tensile force is 630 𝑘𝑁.

Steel Grade 𝑆 275 𝑓 = 275 𝑀𝑝𝑎 = 27.5 𝑘𝑁/𝑐𝑚

𝑓 = 430 𝑀𝑝𝑎 = 43.0 𝑘𝑁/𝑐𝑚
Gross area for one angle 100 × 75 × 8 = 13.49𝑐𝑚 (from table)
𝑑 = 𝑑 + 2 = 20 + 2 = 22 𝑚𝑚
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 Examples
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Example 2.5. cont. …
 Calculation of 𝑵𝒖,𝑹𝒅.
Solution:
. . × . ×
𝑁 , = = = 𝟔𝟒𝟔. 𝟒𝟒𝒌𝑵
1). Plastic resistance of the gross section: .

𝑁 = × . × .
= 𝟕𝟒𝟏. 𝟗𝟓𝒌𝑵  Checking for the maximum slenderness ratio.
,

2). Ultimate resistance of the net section at the bolt holes. 𝑆𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 = 𝐿 /𝑘 ;

Calculation of the 𝐴 . 𝑆 = 3.5 𝑐𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 minimum radius of gyration 𝑘 = 1.62𝑚𝑚.

𝑆𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 = 300 / 1.62 = 185 < 350 𝑂𝐾!.
𝑝 = 4.1 𝑐𝑚.
Answer:
The design tension resistance capacity of the cross-section is
𝟔𝟒𝟔. 𝟒𝟒𝒌𝑵 , therefore, because 𝟔𝟒𝟔. 𝟒𝟒𝒌𝑵 > 630 kN, the
section 1-1 used for design is adequate.

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 Examples
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Example 2.6. Calculate the block shear strength of the single angle tension member considered The single
angle 100 X 100 X 15 mm made from S235 steel is connected to the gusset plate with 14mm diameter bolts
as shown below. The bolt spacing is 80mm. center-to-center and the edge distances e1 and e2 are 40mm and
50mm, respectively. Solution:

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 Examples
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Block Shear Calculation  Failure occurs by rupture on the
shear area and rupture on the
tension area.
 Both surfaces (shear and tension)
contribute to the total strength

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