DESIGN OF STEEL & TIMBER
A Course on
Bachelor of Civil Engineering
(Purbanchal University)
Chapter-2:
TYPES OF JOINTS & DESIGN
Lecturer:
Er. Rabin Bhattarai
Department of Civil Engineering
Introduction
Any steel structure such as roof truss, column beam, bridge truss, water
tanks, transmission line towers etc. are built up of separate components
which must properly connected. The following are the usual applications
for connection.
➢ Rivets
➢ Bolts
➢ Welds
Rivets & welds are used as permanent connection where as bolting as
temporarily but bolts cannot be used in place where vibration occurs.
1. Rivets
Round rod of circular cross-section which hold two metal pieces
together permanently, generally made from mild steel bars
having yield strength 220Mpa to 250Mpa
Types of riveting
Rivet Diameter
Nominal Diameter - Diameter of the shank of a rivet before driving
Effective Diameter/ Gross diameter- it is equal to the diameter of the
hole it fills after riveting.( diameter of hole or closed rivet)
As per IS 800:1984
Gross Dia. / Dia. of hole = nominal Dia. +1.5 mm for nominal Dia.≤25mm
= nominal Dia. +2 mm for nominal Dia.> 25mm
The diameter of the rivet according to the thickness of plate may be
determined by using the following formulas
1. Unwin’s formula , d= 6.04 𝑡 (mm) (commonly used)
2. French formulas, d = 1.5t+4 (mm)
3. Germans. Formulas, d = 50𝑡 − 2 (mm)
where, d= nominal diameter (mm)
t= thickness of connecting plate
Classification of Rivets
Rivets are classified according to method of driving as follows.
➢ Power Driven Riveting or Hot Riveting
> Power Driven Shop Rivet (PDSR)
> Power Driven Field Rivet (PDFR)
➢ Hand Driven Riveting or cold Riveting
> Hand Driven Shop Rivet (HDSR)
> Hand Driven Field Rivet (HDFR)
diameter more than 10mm are not permitted
Nominal diameter available in market are-
12,14,16,18,20,22,24,27,30,33,36,39,42,& 48mm
Types of Riveted Joints
1. Lap joints
a) Single lap joint
b) Double lap joint.
c) triple lap joint.
i) Chain riveting.
ii) Zig-zag riveting.
iii) diamond riveting
2. Butt joints
a) Single strap butt joint
b) Double strap butt joint.
c) triple strap butt joint.
i) Chain riveting.
ii) Zig-zag riveting.
iii) diamond riveting
Important Terms Used in Riveted Joints:
1. Nominal diameter: Diameter of cold shank of a rivet i.e. before
riveting
2. Gross Diameter ( Effective Diameter) : Diameter of hole .
3. Gross area: area of hole or area covered by gross dia.
4. Pitch: It is the distance from the centre of one rivet to the centre of
the next rivet measured in the direction of loading in a member. It
is usually denoted by p.
i) Diagonal pitch. It is the distance between the centres of any
two adjacent rivets in diagonal direction.
ii) Staggered pitch. It is the distance between any two adjacent
rivets in zig-zag direction measured parallel to the direction of
the load in the member.
5. Gauge : A row of rivets parallel to the direction of force is called
gauge line. The normal distance between two adjacent gauge
line is called the gauge distance (G).
6. Edge Distance(e) : distance between the edge of member or cover
plate & center of the nearest hole.
Failures of Rivet Joints
1. Tearing failure of plates between rivet holes
2. Shear failure of Rivets
3. Bearing failure of plates
4. Splitting/cracking failure of plates at the edges
1. Tearing failure of plates between rivet holes
strength of plate is reduced by rivets hole & plate may tear off
along the line of rivets hole & plate may tear off along the line of rivet
holes .this type of failure is for tension members.
2. Shear failure of Rivets: the rivets failure by shearing occurs if
the shearing stress of rivet induced exceeds the permissible shearing
stress of rivets .
3. Bearing failure of plates: the plate or rivet is crushed if the
compressive stress induced in plate or rivet exceeds the bearing
strength of the plate or rivet.
4. Edge Cracking: The plate will crack at the back of rivet if it is
placed very near to edge of plate of the plate.
Can be prevented by providing sufficient edge depth.
Assumption in the theory of Rivet joint
➢ The Tensile stress is uniformly distributed on the
portion of plate between rivets.
➢ Friction is neglected.
➢ Shearing stress is uniform
➢ Rivet fills the hole completely
➢ Bending stress is neglected
➢ Bearing stress distribution is uniform
contact area= d x t
Strength of riveted joint
➢ strength of the joint per pitch can be calculated as
riveted joint strength per pitch = smaller of
A) Rivet value
B) plate strength
where A) Rivet strength or Rivet value = smaller of
i) Bearing strength of rivet
ii) Shearing strength of Rivet
i) Bearing strength 𝑃𝑏 = 𝜎𝑝𝑓 *d*t
𝜋𝑑 2
ii) Shearing strength 𝑃𝑠 = 𝜏𝑣𝑓 ∗ , single shear
4
𝜋𝑑 2
= 2* 𝜏𝑣𝑓 ∗ , Double Shear
4
B) Plate Strength per pitch i.e.
Tearing strength 𝑃𝑡 =𝜎𝑎𝑡 *(p-d)*t ( stress * area )
Where , p= width of pitch or gauge distance,
d= gross or effective dia. of the rivet
t= thickness of the plate
thinner plate in case of lap joint
thickness of main plate or total plate thickness of
cover plate , whichever is smaller in case of butt
joint.
𝜎𝑝𝑓 = permissible/ allowable bearing stress in the
rivets
𝜏𝑣𝑓 = permissible/ allowable shear stress in the
rivets ( take 𝜎𝑝𝑓 , 𝜏𝑣𝑓 value from table 8.1 of code)
𝜎𝑎𝑡 = permissible / allowable tensile stress in axially
loaded tension members (0.6*250=150mpa)
Efficiency of joint (η )
𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑗𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡
η =
𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒
𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑃𝑡, 𝑃𝑏, 𝑃𝑠
η=
𝑃(𝑏)∗𝑡∗ 𝜎𝑎𝑡
Pitch of rivets
Pitch of rivets in riveted joint should be such that under pull
𝑃𝑡 =𝜎𝑎𝑡 *(p-d)*t
Strength of rivet =Rivet value R= 𝑃𝑠 or 𝑃𝑏 which is less
𝑃𝑡 ≤ R
Or 𝜎𝑎𝑡 *(p-d)*t ≤ R , find pitch p
𝑃𝑡
• η=
𝑃
𝜎𝑎𝑡 ∗(p−d)∗t 𝑝−𝑑
• η = =
𝜎𝑎𝑡 pt 𝑝
Welded connection
welding is a process of connecting metal parts by application of heat
(fusion) with or without pressure. Electric arc welding & oxy-acetylene
welding are two usual methods adopted. Molten or fused metal is
deposited between two metal parts. Which are to be connected.
✓ In arc welding the tip of weld are fused by electric arc (at high
temperature of about 33000c)
✓ In oxy-acetylene method a jet of burning oxygen & acetylene is used
as source of heat.
Advantage
➢ Welded structure are lighter than corresponding riveted structure
➢ Since the process does not involve driving holes, the gross sectional
area great strength can be achieved the strength as that as parent
metal piece.
➢ Repair & further new connection can be done more easily than in
riveting.
➢ A welded structure has better finish & appearance than the
corresponding riveted surface.
➢ Are economical than riveted joints provides more rigidity.
➢ Any shape of joint can be made with easy.
➢ Welding process does not involve great noise compared to noise
produced in the riveting process.
Disadvantage
➢ Skilled labour & supervisor is required .
➢ On account of extreme heat, fatigue may take place.
➢ There is a greater possibility of brittle fracture in welding
➢ Due to uneven heating & cooling the welded members are likely to
wrapped at the welded surface.
