Modeling Joints Made with Light-Gage Metal Connector Plates

Precise analysis of light-gage metal plate connected roof and floor trusses requires sophisticated mathematical techniques, which in turn, require detailed input for all structure properties including the mechanical properties of the joints. This input for joint properties must come from costly tests of many connector plate sizes. This paper describes work done in an effort to reduce the amount of testing required by developing an analytic system which can predict metal plate joint behavior under axial load. Such a system was formulated after a review of previously developed classical mechanics analyses of both mechanical fastener and adhesive joints. Results of this review indicated that all of the different approaches exhibited nearly the same distribution of forces within a joint. Tests of 3-inch-wide by 4-, 6-, 8-, 10-, and 12-inch-long plates were conducted to test the analytic procedure. The analytic approach was not able to predict the behavior of this range of plate sizes to the desired level of accuracy. However, an alternative empirical system was developed that allows the use of test data from the shortest and longest plates as limits for interpolation to obtain directly the joint stiffness values used in computer models of the entire truss.

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