Experimental investigation of two-bolt connections for high strength steel members

Abstract

[EN] This paper presents an experimental research on bearing-type bolted connections consisting of two bolts positioned perpendicular to the loading direction. A total of 24 connections in double shear fabricated from high strength steels with yield stresses of 677MPa and 825MPa are tested. Two failure modes as tearout failure and splitting failure are observed in experiments. The effect of end distance, edge distance, bolt spacing and steel grade on the failure mode and bearing behavior are discussed. For connection design with bolts positioned perpendicular to loading direction, it is further found that combination of edge distance and bolt spacing effectively determines the failure mode and ultimate load. The test results are compared with Eurocode3. An optimal combination of edge distance and bolt spacing as well as related design suggestion is thus recommended.