Article: Laterally Offset Hss Connections

HSS
ARTICLE
LATERALLY OFFSET HSS
CONNECTIONS
by Jeffrey A. Packer
Bahen/Tanenbaum Professor of Civil
Engineering, University of Toronto,
Ontario, Canada
by Jeffrey A. Packer
Bahen/Tanenbaum Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The design of rectangular HSS truss-type connections, in which the branches are
laterally offset from the chord centerline, is not included in the current steel
design Specification (AISC, 2016) nor in any HSS connection design guides
internationally (e.g., Packer et al., 2009; Packer et al., 2010). However, branch
members are sometimes offset to be flush with one side of the chord member to
fulfill nonstructural needs such as aesthetics or for ease of cladding installation,
as illustrated in Figure 1.
CONNECTION LIMIT STATES
Analytical, experimental and numerical research has recently been performed Figure 1: Multi-planar HSS T-
on HSS X-connections under branch axial loading with the branches laterally connection with branch members
offset to be flush with one sidewall of the chord (Bu et al., 2020). For such laterally offset to be flush with the chord
connections, the branch load disperses into one chord sidewall as well as into (main member) sidewall.
the chord connecting face. This produces a chord failure mode, which is a
combination of chord sidewall failure (by web local yielding or web
compression buckling) and chord face plastification (see Figure 2).
To capture this combined chord failure mode, an asymmetric rectilinear

yield-line failure mechanism was proposed for the chord face in combination
with a compatible deformation of the chord sidewall by considering it as a
column. Using virtual work, an expression for the connection nominal
strength, P n, expressed as a force in the branch, could be obtained as (Bu et
al., 2020):
𝐹" 𝑡 # 𝐻$ 1 1
𝑃! = ) , + 2𝛾𝜒6 + 272𝛾𝜒 + 8𝑄
𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃 𝐵 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃 2(1 − 𝛽) 1−𝛽 % Figure 2: Experimental failure mode with numerical
simulation by finite element analysis.
Equation 1
In Eq. (1):
B = overall width of HSS chord member, measured 90o to the plane of the connection
B b = overall width of HSS branch member, measured 90o to the plane of the connection
F y = specified minimum yield stress of HSS chord member
H = overall height of HSS chord member, measured in the plane of the connection
H b = overall height of HSS branch member, measured in the plane of the connection
K = effective length factor for buckling of sidewall
Q f = chord stress reduction factor (AISC 360-16 Eq. [K3-14])
t = design wall thickness of HSS chord member
β = branch-to-chord width ratio = B b/B
χ = column buckling reduction factor applied to the yield stress (i.e., χ = F cr /F y, per AISC 360-16 Section E3) by treating the sidewall as a fixed-
ended column (K = 0.65) with a length of (H – 3t) and a radius of gyration of t/√12.
γ = half of chord slenderness ratio = B/2t
To calibrate Eq. (1) for design, several hundred numerical test results (produced by a finite element model validated against laboratory tests)
were compared against predictions by Eq. (1), resulting in an extremely good correlation. Under either branch compression loading or branch
tension loading, a simple reliability analysis justified a resistance factor of φ = 1.0 for application to Eq. (1) in order to obtain the available
connection strength (Bu et al., 2020). It is worth noting that, in the case of branch tension loading, the failure mode is web local yielding and χ =
1.0 in Eq. (1).
A simpler and more conservative alternative to the combined chord failure mode model above is to consider the branch force to be resisted by
one chord sidewall only (without any contribution from the chord connecting face). For this single sidewall failure model, the connection nominal
strength, P n, can be predicted by:
𝜒𝐹" 𝑡 𝐻$
𝑃! = ; + 5𝑡=
𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃
Equation 2
Steel Tube Institute Article: Laterally Offset HSS Connections steeltubeinstitute.org 2

For Eq. (2), all variables are defined above and, for design, a resistance factor of φ = 1.0 is appropriate to obtain available connection strength
under either branch tension or compression loading because Eq. (2) is inherently conservative (Bu et al., 2020).
Under branch compression, the calculation of χ in either Eq. (1) or Eq. (2) can be somewhat tedious, so Kuhn et al. (2019) proposed a simplified
linear buckling “curve” approximation for chord sidewall slenderness (H/t) up to 50 for the case of the sidewall having fixed ends, which calculates
χ directly:
𝐻 1
𝜒 = 1.15 − 0.013 7 ≤ 1.0
𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃
Equation 3
Use of the alternative χ from Eq. (3) in either Eq. (1) or Eq. (2) again requires a resistance factor of φ = 1.0 to obtain the available connection
strength under branch compression loading (Bu et al., 2020).
LIMITATIONS
The two chord failure mode models, represented by Eq. (1) or the more conservative Eq. (2), either of which can be used under either branch
compression or branch tension, have been validated over a range of geometric parameters bounded by 10 ≤ 2γ ≤ 35 and 0.25 ≤ β ≤ 0.85. For
HSS mechanical properties, specified yield strengths up to 50 ksi have been considered.
For relatively thin branch members, a branch failure mode is possible in which branch local yielding is the limit state. A limited numerical
research study (Bu et al., 2020) has shown that a conservative estimate of the connection nominal strength, P n, expressed as a force in the
branch is given by:
𝑃! = 𝐹"$ 𝑡$ (𝐻$ + 𝐵& − 2𝑡$ )

Equation 4
where F yb is the specified minimum yield stress of the HSS branch member, tb is the design wall thickness of the HSS branch member, and B e is
a branch transverse wall effective width term given by:
10 𝐹" 𝑡
𝐵& = ; =@ A 𝐵 ≤ 𝐵$
𝐵⁄𝑡 𝐹"$ 𝑡$ $
Equation 5
In practice, a laterally offset connection is usually secured by its surrounding structure, which
provides lateral restraint. All of the above recommendations for design pertain to these ideal
conditions. However, a laterally offset connection may not be able to develop its full strength
if it deforms out of plane (e.g., under branch compression) and fails in a connection lateral
failure mode. Experiments on laterally unrestrained offset connections (Figure 3), under
branch compression, have shown that a connection strength reduction of approximately 30%
relative to a laterally restrained counterpart (Wei, 2019) is likely depending on the branch
length. Thus, an analysis of the supporting structure to confirm connection lateral restraint is Figure 3: Branch out-of-plane rotation
necessary. triggered by uneven deformations in an
unrestrained T-shaped connection under
branch compression.
REFERENCES
AISC. 2016. “Specification for Structural Steel Buildings,” ANSI/AISC 360-16, American Institute of Steel Construction, Chicago, IL.
Bu, X.D., Wei, F. and Packer, J.A. 2020. “Laterally Offset RHS X-Connections,” ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering, In Press, DOI:
10.1061/(ASCE)ST.1943-541X.0002864.
Kuhn, J., Packer, J.A. and Fan, Y. 2019. “Rectangular Hollow Section Webs under Transverse Compression,” Canadian Journal of Civil
Engineering, Vol. 46, pp. 810-827.
Packer, J.A., Sherman, D. and Lecce, M. 2010. “Hollow Structural Section Connections,” Steel Design Guide No. 24, 1st edition, American
Institute of Steel Construction, Chicago, IL.
Packer, J.A., Wardenier, J., Zhao, X.L., van der Vegte and Kurobane, Y. 2009. “Design Guide for Rectangular Hollow Section (RHS) Joints under
Predominantly Static Loading,” CIDECT Design Guide No. 3, 2nd edition, CIDECT, Geneva, Switzerland, ISBN 978-3-938817-04-9.
Wei, F. 2019. “Experimental Study of Laterally Offset RHS X-Connections in Branch Axial Compression,” Master of Applied Science thesis,
University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
August 2020
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HSS

CONNECTION LIMIT STATES

To capture this combined chord failure mode, an asymmetric rectilinear

Steel Tube Institute Article: Laterally Offset HSS Connections steeltubeinstitute.org 2

𝑃! = 𝐹"$ 𝑡$ (𝐻$ + 𝐵& − 2𝑡$ )

Steel Tube Institute Article: Laterally Offset HSS Connections steeltubeinstitute.org 3

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