A column base consists of a column, a base plate and an anchoring assembly.

In general they are designed with unstiffened base plates, but stiffened base plates may be used where the connection is required to transfer high bending moments. The column base is usually supported by either a concrete slab or a sub-structure. Further column base details may also be adopted, including base plates strengthened by adding steel elements and embedding the lower portion of the column into a pocket in the concrete foundation. Base plates serve two basic functions which is transferring column loads to the supporting member or foundation. These loads include axial due to gravity, moments, and shears and sometimes axial due to uplift. Another functions is to allow the column to stand as a temporary vertical cantilever after the lifting line is released without having to guy off the column. The column and base plate must withstand temporary wind and erection loads safely. Typically, except for very large columns with very heavy base plates, such as for high rise buildings, base plates are shop welded to the column. Unless the weld is a complete penetration, weld, the bottom end of the column needs to be cut square so that there will be full bearing where the column is in contact with the base plate. Some years ago, this was accomplished using milling machines in the shop . For very large columns, the base plate is erected first, using three levelling bolts around the perimeter of the base plate to level it, then the column is erected onto the base plate and connected using angles or other connection methods. The base plate is grouted be force the column is erected. The mating surfaces should be prepared by milling or other means so that the column is in full contact with the base plate. Use o f thick base plates can introduce welding problems due to difficulty of meeting preheats requirements. The influence of low quality grout has been studied experimentally and numerically. It was found that the thin layer of grout does not affect the resistance of the concrete in bearing. It is expected that the grout layer is in three-dimensional compression, i.e. the grout between the concrete and the base plate, is similar to a liquid. Horizontal shear force in column bases may be resisted by friction between the base plate, grout and concrete footing; shear and bending of the anchor bolts; direct contact, e.g. achieved by recessing the base plate into the concrete footing. In most cases, the shear force can be resisted through friction between the base plate and the grout. The friction depends on the minimum compressive load and on the coefficient of friction. Pre-stressing the anchor bolts will increase the resistance of the shear force transfer by friction. In cases, where the horizontal shear force cannot be transmitted through friction between the base plate and the grout due to absence of normal force, the anchor bolts will transmit shear forces or other provisions need to be installed (e.g. shear studs). Because the grout does not have sufficient strength to resist bearing stresses between the bolt and the grout, considerable bending of the anchor bolts may occur. The main failure modes are the crack of the anchor bolts (local curvature of the bolt exceeds the ductility of the bolt

material), crumbling of the grout, failure (splitting) of the concrete footing and pull-out of the anchor bolt. Not only shear and bending in the bolts will occur due to the horizontal displacement,, but also the tensile force in the bolts will be increased due to second order effects. The horizontal component of the increasing tensile force gives an extra contribution to the shear resistance and stiffness. The increasing vertical component gives an extra contribution to the transfer of load by friction and increases resistance and stiffness as well. When the load increasing continuously, a fracture will occurs in one of the components of the connection. If the connection is well designed and executed, such fracture will occur at very large deformation. While having tension throughout a fixed column base is uncommon in typical buildings, it could arise in vertical members of bracing sub-structures required to transmit high lateral loads, for instance in industrial buildings in which cranes operate or in buildings under significant seismic loading. For the compression side of a joint the design approach is to ensure that the bearing stresses under the base plate neither exceed the design bearing strength of the foundation joint material nor lead to excessive bending of the base plate. The design model for an anchor bolt row in tension is similar to that for a bolt row of an end plate connection transmitting moment. Therefore, the design approach is to ensure that the tensile force in the anchor bolt row does not exceed.

Column Bases serve a critical role in transferring column loads to the foundation. The engineer needs to be aware o f materials available and should recognize that special attention to base plate and anchor bolt details can result in reduced costs during fabrication and erection. Base plate assemblies must be designed to accommodate temporary erection loads until the column is tied in with other structural members. Special attention by contractors when placing anchor bolts can reduce field problems and delays due to mislocated anchor bolts.