Steel Buildings in Europe

Part 5: Detailed Design of Trusses 5 - 48 When the chords are made of hollow sections end plate connections are generally used (use of hollow sections is outside the scope of this guide). Continuity using end plate connections Continuity using splice plate connections Figure 5.4 Chord continuity The splice plate connection shown Figure 5.4 has double cover splice plates on the web and flanges (giving two interfaces for shear forces). If the force in the splice is low, single external spliced plates can be used, although double plates are normally used on the web, to preserve symmetry in the transmission of the axial force. The resistance of the splice connections of truss chords must be verified under dominant load with secondary bending moment in the truss plane, according to EN 1993-1-8, by adapting the components method developed for beam-post connections. Software is freely available for this verification (see the SteelBizFrance.com website developed by CTICM). Verification of this type of connection, for the worked example, is given in Appendix A. As well as verifying the resistance, it is essential to ensure the stiffness of the continuous chord connections. Generally, when the resistance of a beam-beam connection using end plates is selected, it can be considered as rigid. Spliced plate connections are only effectively rigid when the slack is controlled (see Section 3.6 for evaluation example of the effect of slack in the bolted connections of the truss in the worked example). For splice connections, it is therefore recommended that one of the following options is selected:  Use preloaded bolts with controlled tightening, allowing transmission of loads by friction (non-slip)  Use fit bolts, preferably loaded on the shank in order to avoid slip under load by distortion of the thread of the connected pieces. 5.3 Connection of diagonals to chords Connection of diagonals and posts to chords can be made in different ways, according to the type of sections to be connected. When the chords are made of double members (two angles or two UPE sections), common practice is to insert gusset plates between the two