Design of Pinned Column Base Plates Gianluca Ranzi School of Civil and Environmental Engineering The University of New

South Wales Peter Kneen National Manager Technology Australian Steel Institute
1. INTRODUCTION
This paper deals with the design of pinned base plates. The design actions considered are axial compression, axial tension, shear force and their combinations as shown in Fig. 1. The base plate is assumed to be essentially statically loaded, and additional considerations may be required in the case of dynamic loads or in fatigue applications. N* t N* c V* x V* y N* t N* c a shear force, V* (usually acting in the direction of either principal axis or both). Clause 9.1.4 of AS 4100 [11], which considers minimum design actions, does not specifically mention minimum design actions for column base plates but does require that: connections at the ends of tension or compression members be designed for a minimum force of 0.3 times the member design capacity; connections to beams in simple construction be designed for a minimum shear force equal to the lesser of 0.15 times the member design shear capacity and 40 kN. It is considered inappropriate for these provisions to be applied to column base plates, since the design of columns is usually governed by a combinations of axial loads and bending moments at other locations.

Figure 1

Column Design Actions: Axial and Shear Loads along minor and major axes (Ref. [26])

2. NOTATION
The following notation is used in this work. Other symbols which are defined within diagrams may not be listed below. Generally speaking, the symbols will be defined when first used. a b = distance from centre of bolt hole to inside face of flange a e = minimum concrete edge distance (side cover) A 1 = bearing area which varies depending upon the assumed pressure distribution between the base plate and the grout/concrete (i) A 1 = bearing area at the i-th iteration in Murray-Stockwell Model A 2 = supplementary area which is the largest area of the supporting concrete surface that is geometrically similar to and concentric to A 1 A H = assumed bearing area (in the case of H-shaped sections it is a H-shaped area) in MurrayStockwell Model A (i) = assumed bearing A H at the i-th iteration in H Murray-Stockwell Model A i = base plate area A psk = projected area over the concrete edge ignoring the shear key area A ps = effective projected area of concrete under uplift

Firstly the requirements of AS 4100 Steel Structures [11] in the calculation of the design actions for connections are outlined. Then for each design action available design guidelines and/or models are briefly presented in a chronological manner to provide an overview on how these have improved/changed over time. Attention has been given to try to ensure that the assumptions and/or limitations of each model presented are always clearly stated. Among these models, the most representative ones in the opinion of the authors are then recommended for design purposes. It is not intended to suggest that models, other than those recommended, may not give adequate capacities. The design of concrete elements is outside the scope of the present paper. Nevertheless some design considerations regarding the concrete elements still need to be addressed, i.e. bolts edge distances, bolts embedment lengths, concrete strength etc., and therefore it is necessary to ensure that such design assumptions/considerations are included in the final design of the concrete elements/structure.

1.1.

Design actions in accordance with AS 4100

Pinned type column base plates may be subject to the following design actions, as shown in Fig. 1: an axial force, N*, either tension or compression;

STEEL CONSTRUCTION VOLUME 36 NUMBER 2 SEPT 2002