Investigation of the rigidity of welded shear tab connections

Abstract

Shear tab connections are among the economical connections that are usually designed as a simple connection. The shear tab connection sustains some bending moment as the beam end rotates and therefore it may be classified as semi-rigid connections, based on the geometry of the connection. In this research, the end rotation of steel girders with shear tab connection, which is both welded to the supporting member and to the beam’s web, is investigated. 317 finite element models with different beam sizes and shear tab plates are used to investigate their effect on the connection rigidity and classification, under service loads. The results show that the main source of the connection rotation was the plastic deformations in the shear tab and the plastic modulus of the shear tab section plays an important role in the determination of the welded shear tab connection rotational rigidity. It also concluded that the gap between the beam and the connection face has negligible effect on the rigidity of the connection. Increasing the shear tab height leads to the increase of the shear tab section plastic modulus, which results in the increase of the connection rigidity. In addition, based on the results, a simple equation is introduced to predict the rigidity of the shear tab connections.