The effect of bolt stagger for block shear tension failures in angles

Abstract For various reasons, structural tension members may not always transmit load to their end connections through all of their cross-sectional elements. The resulting shear lag reduces the ultimate strength of these tension members. When connections are relatively short and have shear lag effects, block shear will usually be the mode of failure. This paper investigates, using finite element analysis, the effect that the stagger of bolt patterns has on ultimate block shear capacity. Significant differences from current code practices are found. In particular, it is found that stagger may not always increase the tension capacity as codes currently indicate.