CE5611 - 2016

CE5611 Precast
Concrete Technology
Connections Part 2

CE5611 - 2016

Precast Connections Part 2

Joints and Connections

Isolated and Non-isolated components
Compression joints
Shear joints
Tension joints
Examples Column inserts, Columns in
pockets, Columns on base plates

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A joint is the action of forces (e.g. tension, shear,

compression) that takes place at the interface
between two (or more) structural elements.

A connection is the action of forces (e.g. tension,

shear, compression) and/or moments (bending,
torsion) through an assembly comprising one (or
more) interfaces.

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The design of the connections is therefore a function of

both the structural elements and of the joints between
them.
Besides the action of forces we need to consider:
Fire
Accidental damage
Temporary construction loads
Inaccurate workmanship
Durability
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Isolated and non-isolated

elements
Non-isolated elements are connected to other
elements with a secondary means of load transfer,
which would sustain loads in the event of failure in
the primary support.
A stair flight unit seated on to a dry corbel is an
isolated element.

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Compression Joints
The main types of compression bearings are:
Dry bearing of precast to precast or precast to insitu concrete;
Dry packed bearing where elements are located on thin (3 to 10
mm thick) shims and the resulting small gap is filled using semi
dry sand/cement grout;
Bedded bearing where elements are positioned onto a prepared
semi-wet sand/cement grout;
Elastomeric or soft bearing using neoprene rubber or similar
bearing pads;
Extended bearings where the temporary bearing is small and
reinforced insitu concrete is used to complete the connection.
Steel bearing using steel plates or structural steel sections;

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After Elliott

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Reinforced and Unreinforced

There is a major sub-division between compression
joints in plain (unreinforced) concrete and those in
reinforced concrete.

The reason is because of the free lateral expansion due

to Poissons ratio and the ability for the joint to resist
lateral loads internally.

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Bearing in Plain Concrete (BS8110)

Used when the bearing is uniformly distributed and the

bearing stress is low, typically fb < 0.2fcu to 0.3fcu.
Reinforcement is not required, even where a horizontal
force H is applied, unless the bearing area is less than
about 12,000 mm2
Nominal lateral steel As = H / 0.87 fy is provided. (m = 1.15)
The minimum bearing dimension is 50 mm.
Plain concrete also applies to such units as hollow core
floors where reinforcement is provided in one direction
only.

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Ultimate bearing capacity is given as:-

Fb = fb lb lw

where the bearing length (perpendicular to floor span)

lb is taken as the least of:
(i) the actual bearing length;
(ii) one-half of (i) plus 100 mm; and
(iii) 600 mm.
Conditions (ii) and (iii) are empirical values

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The net bearing width (parallel to span) lw is equal to the

nominal bearing width minus the spalling tolerances
additive in the supporting and supported members,
given in Table, minus the allowances for constructional
inaccuracies.
The minimum net bearing width is 40 mm for non-isolated
components (or 60 mm for isolated), and the minimum
nominal bearing width is therefore 60 to 75 mm
depending on the conditions as follows.

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Ineffective bearing distances

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The design ultimate bearing stress, which is based on fcu of the weakest of the
two, or three, component materials (excluding masonry support), is as follows
(BS8110, clause 5.2.3.4) for:-
(a) Dry bearings on concrete: 0.4 fcu
(b) Wet bedded bearings on concrete or mortar : 0.6 fcu (bearing medium)
(c) Elastomeric bearing (called flexible padding): between 0.4 fcu and
0.6fcu; use 0.5 fcu or fc (bearing material)
(d) Steel bearing of size bp cast into member or support and not
exceeding 40% of the concrete dimension b: 0.8fcu. At the edges
the steel bearing should not extend to a distance equal to the
spalling allowances. Higher bearing stresses may be used only
if proved by adequate testing. For larger bearing plates the
allowable bearing stress fb is given as follows:

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Concentrated Loads in Bearing

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After Elliott
The change in stress within this region (= the gradient of the
stress curves in Figure) gives rise to a shear stress, which,
in conjunction with lateral expansion due to , produces
lateral tension in the concrete commencing at about y/b =
0.15 to 0.20 and extends for a distance of about y = 1.2 b
(although in theory it extends to infinity).
In the case of a bearing plate bp x hp embedded in a section b
x h the allowable bearing stress fb

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EC2 Rules for Precast Concrete

Connections transmitting compressive

forces (10.9.4.3)
Shear forces may be ignored if they are less than
10% of the compressive forces
The average bearing stresses between plane
surfaces should not exceed 0.3 fcd. (Connections
without bearing)
Maximum capacity can be determined according
to 6.7.

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EC2 Rules for Precast Concrete

(Non-Isolated Members)

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Table 10.3 to Table 10.5

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Bearings for isolated members (10.9.5.3)

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Reinforced and Plate Reinforced

Concrete Bearings
If the applied bearing stress exceeds the values given
previously, a bearing plate and designed reinforcement is
required in the bearing area.
In the presence of a vertical force V, a horizontal force H
exists due to the frictional restraint against thermal
movement and shrinkage, where:-
H=V
where is static coefficient of friction. Values for are
given in the following table.

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Structural mechanism at Reinforced

End Bearing (After Elliott)

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Values for

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6.2.5)

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In the case of cracked concrete bound by reinforcement an

effective shear friction factor is used where:

This equation is dimensional. Ac is the member cross-

sectional area assuming the cracked plane extends over
the entire end of the beam shown in the Figure in Slide
19.

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If the yield strength of the bars Ah is fyh (taken as 250

N/mm2 if they are welded to the bearing plate), then

(m =1.05)
The thickness of the bearing plate (or angle section)
should be sufficient to resist the force H, but this will
be found to be rather small and therefore a minimum
thickness of 10 mm is used. (Corrosion protection
requires a minimum thickness of 4 mm.) 29

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Bearing Pads (After Elliott)

A typical size is 150 x 150 mm. The length (or breadth) of the
pad should be 5 times its thickness, which should not be
less than 6 mm for floor units and 10 mm for beams and
rafters.
Limiting compressive strength for rubbers is taken as 7 - 10
N/mm2, although some materials will sustain greater
stresses manufacturers test data are available. Stresses
due to permanent dead loads should not exceed 3.5 N/mm2.
The compressive strain limit is taken as 0.15.

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Shear Joints
Shear forces can be transferred between concrete
elements by one, or more, of the following methods:-
(a) adhesion and bonding
(b) shear friction
(c) shear keys
(d) dowel action
(e) mechanical devices

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Shear Friction
A normal, or transverse, force N must be mobilised in order
to develop shear friction force V, and is given as:-

V=N
where = coefficient of friction across the joint, as given
previously.
After dividing by the contact area Ac the average shear stress
is given as:-
=
where is the compressive stress across the joint = N/Ac

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Normal forces may be generated internally, e.g. by

reinforcement (rebars or fibres)
If > 45o then:-
V = N + As fy ( sin + cos )

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Shear Keys (After Elliott)

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Shear Keys
The minimum length of the key should be 40 mm, and the
root depth should be at least 10 mm.
The length / depth ratio should not exceed 8.
The angle of the compressive strut depends on the
dimensions of the keyed surface and may easily be
determined whether or not the shear keys align as shown
in the next slide

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A resulting normal opening force N has a magnitude

N = V cot
which must be carried either by reinforcement, of area As,
crossing the interface, a pre-compression P from external
sources (post -tensioning for example), or a combination of
both such that

(m = 1.05)

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No shear reinforcement is required if the ultimate shear stress

is less than 1.3 N/mm2, when calculated on the minimum
root area.
If this value is exceeded transverse steel must be provided and
the interface shear capacity is based on the shear strength
of the reinforcement alone.

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6.2.5)

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Dowel Action
Where reinforcing bars, bolts, studs etc. are placed across
joints, shear forces may be transmitted by so called dowel
action of the bars

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The length of embedment should be the lesser of 30 x dowel

diameter or 300 mm, including hooks and bends.
Splitting reinforcement, typically R8 loops, may be placed
around the dowel to increase dowel resistance, although
the code of practice does not recognise its presence in the
following equation.

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The shear capacity of a dowel which is loaded without

eccentricity (w 0)

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If a dowel is loaded in shear and bending such that e > /8,

bending action will cause yielding of the dowel somewhere
along the embedded length.
The resultant bearing stress of the concrete beneath the dowel
has a maximum value of around 2 fcu
The dowel capacity Vd (empirical) as

(m =1.05)
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Mechanical Shear Devices

The most common form of mechanical connection is the welded
plate or bar

The ultimate shear capacity of the

welded plate joint is the least of :
(a) the pull out resistance of
the embedded plate,
(b) the weld capacity of the
holding bars to the
embedded plate, or
(c) the shear capacity of the
intermediate plate or
bar.

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The strength of the bar down-rated by a factor of 2 to allow for

possible eccentric bending due to the inclined position of
the bar relative to the plate.
This factor of 2 assumes that the bar is welded as close to the
start of the bend as possible and that and 20o.

(m =1.05)
where n is the number (typically 1) and and are the
inclinations (typically 20o 30o) of the holding bars to the
horizontal and vertical

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The weld capacity (b) of the holding bars is given as

where pw is the strength of the weld, taken as 215 N/mm2 for

grade E43 electrodes and mild steel bars, lw is the actual
weld length 2tw, and tw is the throat thickness (= weld
size/2). The weld size is usually between 3 and 6 mm for
bars upto 25 mm in diameter.

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The site weld is subject to a shear force V plus a horizontal

moment M = Ve, where e is the distance between welds and
is equal to the width of the intermediate plate.
If the net length of the weld is lw and leg length tw, the
maximum ultimate stress in the weld w is given as:

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Typical connection details

Many possible arrangements and a surprising variety
of details for connections.
Details finally used determined from
production or erection requirements
in-service design criteria, or
common practice.

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Hollow Core Slabs

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Double Tee Slabs

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Tension Joints - Loops

The length of the overlap is 2r + 3 + . If r = about 8 then the overlap length

is 20. Allow 20 mm clearance from the face of the precast unit to the tip of
the loop.
If the loops cannot nestle together (= touching) the maximum distance, above
one another, between the loop should be 4 to enable a compressive strut
to form between neighbours. 51

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The transverse component of the diagonal strut must be resisted

by transverse bars which have a force of 0.2 Ny, where Ny is the
axial force in the loops.
Where a loop of bend radius r is embedded over a length lp = (20
+ 20 mm), the pull-out resistance of the loop Ny is given by
the following empirical equation:

(m =1.05)

where n is a normal stress and ft is the tensile strength of

the concrete taken as ft = 0.24fcu
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Pressurised grout is inserted through a hole beneath the level

of the lap, and the appearance of the grout at a vent hole
above the top of the lap is used as an indication of complete
filling.
The annulus should be at least 6 mm clear on all sides of the
bars.
The grout should be non-shrinkable and be sufficiently
flowable to allow pressure grouting through a 20 mm
diameter nozzle using a manually powered hand pump.
A 2:1 sand cement mix containing a proprietary expanding
agent is used to give a 24 hour strength of 20 N/mm2 and a 28
day strength of around 60 N/mm2.

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Tension Joints - Loops

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EC 2 Approach

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Tension Joints - Loops

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Bolting or welding is used extensively to transfer tensile and

shear forces.
Minimum weld lengths to develop full strength in lapped bars:

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Example of Column Insert Design (Elliott)

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Columns in Pockets (Elliott)

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> >

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Columns on Base Plates (Elliott)

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