anchor bolts are located with a side cover less than 2a e3.

A possible reinforcement layout to be utilised in the case the side cover is in between a e3 and 2a e3 is shown in Fig. 61. Allowance for the full development of the reinforcement should be allowed for in accordance with AS 3600 regardless of the reinforcement layout adopted and in the case such allowance is not feasible the shear capacity of the anchor bolt with edge distance problems should be disregarded. [2][17] Experimental studies have shown that possible failure modes which can occur by transferring shear actions by means of anchor bolts are concrete failure with and without wedge cone, concrete failure with pull-out cone and shear failure of the anchor bolt. [45]
Shear force

* Potential failure zone *- Development length from AS3600

deformation of the bolt leads to tensile stress in the bolt but this is generally insufficient to cause pullout. [38] Some authors do not recommend that shear be resisted by the anchor bolts. Ricker in [38] specifically notes that anchor bolts should not be used to resist shear forces in a column base. In his opinion bolts have a low bending resistance and that if a plate eases sideways to bear against a bolt, bending is induced in the bolt which acts as a cantilever with a lever arm equal to the grout thickness plus an additional distance should the concrete foundation crush locally. Fischer in [24] notes that in his opinion no more than two anchor bolts for each anchor group would transfer shear. He explains that under normal loading condition only one bolt would be carrying shear in bearing as shown in Fig. 62. The column would then rotate subject to a shear action till a second anchor would go into bearing. Due to the oversize holes specified in base plates it is not possible to ensure that the bolts of the bolt group would deform sufficiently to allow all bolts to go into bearing. [24] Ref. [31] considers that, in the case of base plates, there is not enough data available to precisely quantify the shear strength of an individual anchor bolt, much less a group of anchor bolts.

Figure 61 Reinforcement for Shear Near an Edge of Concrete Foundation (Ref. [2])
[45] notes that by ensuring sufficient embedment length of the anchor bolt no concrete pull-out can occur. The concrete edge cone failure can be prevented if either an edge distance a e as determined in equation (106) or adequate reinforcement are provided. From test data, [45] concludes that among available guidelines the one of [3], outlined in equation (106), is the most appropriate. [45] shows that equation (106) is not applicable to anchor bolt groups as it can lead to unsafe design particularly for large edge distances and that the nominal concrete capacity is related to both edge distance and bolt spacing. [45] provides no alternative design guidelines but notes that from experimental results the nominal capacity of a two bolt group may only be 60% more than that of a single bolt for the same edge distance.[45] No guidance is currently available for calculating the nominal shear capacity of anchor bolt groups. It is interesting to note that for the case where a grout pad exists between the base plate and the concrete, the grout pad allows bending deformation of the anchor bolt to occur under an applied shear force. The lateral

Figure 62 Transfer of shear by bearing of anchor bolts

DeWolf in [22] recommends to avoid the use of anchor bolts to resist shear and suggests that the transfer of shear through anchor bolts takes place by either shear friction or bearing. In the former instance the transfer of shear occurs once a clamping force is developed to the base plate. [22] Even if the anchor bolts are not tightened properly the clamping force can still develop as a consequence of a wedge concrete failure which would tend to lift the base plate up and therefore tensioning the anchor bolts. [31] No specific guidelines are available to evaluate the contribution of the clamping force to the shear resistance of the bolt and in practice this clamping force may not necessary be available. The other transfer mode of anchor bolts described by DeWolf is by bearing between the anchor and the bolt hole, but he regards this very unlikely to occur in practice in more than one or two anchors as the bolt holes of base plates are usually oversized holes. [22] He also notes that a more reliable method of shear transfer through the anchor bolts can be achieved by welding the nuts to the base plate or by providing special washers

33

STEEL CONSTRUCTION VOLUME 36 NUMBER 2 SEPT 2002