©COMPUTERS AND STRUCTURES, INC.

, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA DECEMBER 2001

STEEL FRAME DESIGN AISC-ASD89
Technical Note
Doubler Plates

One aspect of the design of a steel framing system is an evaluation of the

shear forces that exist in the region of the beam column intersection known
as the panel zone.

Shear stresses seldom control the design of a beam or column member. How-
ever, in a Moment-Resisting frame, the shear stress in the beam-column joint
can be critical, especially in framing systems when the column is subjected to
major direction bending and the joint shear forces are resisted by the web of
the column. In minor direction bending, the joint shear is carried by the col-
umn flanges, in which case the shear stresses are seldom critical, and this
condition is therefore not investigated by the program.

Shear stresses in the panel zone caused by major direction bending in the
column may require additional plates to be welded onto the column web, de-
pending on the loading and the geometry of the steel beams that frame into
the column, either along the column major direction or at an angle so that the
beams have components along the column major direction. See Figure 1. The
program investigates such situations and reports the thickness of any re-
quired doubler plates. Only columns with I-shapes are investigated for dou-
bler plate requirements. Also, doubler plate requirements are evaluated for
moment frames only. No check is made for braced frames.

The program calculates the required thickness of doubler plates using the
following algorithms. The shear force in the panel zone is given by:

nb
M bn cos θ n
Vp = ∑
n =1
d n − t fn
− Vc

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Steel Frame Design AISC-ASD89 Doubler Plates

Figure 1 Elevation and Plan of Doubler Plates for a Column of I-Section

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Steel Frame Design AISC-ASD89 Doubler Plates

The nominal panel shear strength is given by

Rv = 0.6Fydctr, for Pu ≤ 0.4Py or if Pu is tensile, and (LRFD K1-9)

 P 
Rv = 0.6Fydctr, 1.4 − u  for Pu > 0.4Py (LRFD K1-10)
 Py 

By using Vp = ϕRv, with ϕ = 0.9, the required column web thickness, tr, can
be found.

The extra thickness, or thickness of the doubler plate is given by

h
tdp = tr - tw ≥ (LFRD F2-1)
418 / Fy

where,

Fy = Column and doubler plate yield stress

tr = Required column web thickness

tdp = Required doubler plate thickness

tw = Column web thickness

h = dc-2tfc if welded, dc - 2kc if rolled

Vp = Panel zone shear

Vc = Column shear in column above

Fy = Beam flange forces

nb = Number of beams connecting to column

dn = Depth of n-th beam connecting to column

θn = Angle between n-th beam and column major direction

dc = Depth of column clear of fillets, equals d- 2k

Mbn = Calculated factored beam moment from the corresponding

load combination

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Steel Frame Design AISC-ASD89 Doubler Plates

Rv = Nominal shear strength of panel

Pu = Column factored axial load

Py = Column axial yield strength, FyA

The program reports the largest calculated value of tdb for any of the load
combinations based on the factored beam moments and factored column axial
loads.

The special seismic requirements checked by the program for calculating dou-
bler plate areas depend on the type of framing used; the requirements
checked are described herein for each type of framing. The requirements
checked are based on UBC Section 2211.4.2.1 for frames in Seismic Zones 0
and 1 and Zone 2 with Importance factor equal to 1 (UBC 2210.2, UBC
2211.4.2.1), on UBC Section 2211.4.2.2 for frames in Seismic Zone 2 with
Importance factor greater than 1 (UBC 2210.2, UBC 2211.4.2.2) and on UBC
Section 2211.4.2.3 for frames in Seismic Zones 3 and 4 (UBC 2210.2, UBC
2211.4.2.3). No special requirement is checked for frames in Seismic Zones 0
and 1 and in Seismic Zone 2 with Importance factor equal to 1 (UBC 2210.2,
UBC 2211.4.2.1).

! In Seismic Zones 3 and 4, for Special Moment-Resisting Frames, the panel

zone doubler plate requirements that are reported will develop the lesser
of beam moments equal to 0.9 of the plastic moment capacity of the
beam (0.9∑ϕbMpb), or beam moments resulting from specified load combi-
nations involving seismic load (UBC 2211.4.8.3.a).

The capacity of the panel zone in resisting this shear is taken as (UBC
2211.8.3.a):

 2
3bcf t cf 
ϕvVn = 0.6ϕvFydctp 1 +  (UBC 2211.4.8.3.a)
 db dc t p 
 

giving the required panel zone thickness as

Vp 2
3bcf t cf h
tp = − ≥ (UBC 2211.4.8.3, LRFD F2-1)
0.6ϕv Fy d c db dc 418 / Fy

and the required doubler plate thickness as

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Steel Frame Design AISC-ASD89 Doubler Plates

tdp = tp - twc

where,

ϕv = 0.75,

bcf = width of column flange

tcf = thickness of column flange

tp = required column web thickness

h = dc - 2tfc if welded, dc - 2kc if rolled, and

db = depth of deepest beam framing into the major direction of

the column.

! In Seismic Zones 3 and 4, for Special Moment-Resisting Frames, the pro-

gram checks the following panel zone column web thickness requirement:

(d c − 2t fc ) + (d b − 2t fb )
twc ≥ (UBC 2211.4.8.3.b)
90

If the check is not satisfied, it is noted in the output.

! In Seismic Zones 3 and 4, for Eccentrically Braced Frames, the doubler

plate requirements are checked similar to doubler plate checks for Special
Moment-Resisting Frames, as described above (UBC 2211.4.10.7).

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