Lateral Blow out Failure of Headed Studs Near a Free Edge

Pullout tests with headed studs placed near a free edge have been carried out. In most of the tests blow-out failure occurred. On the basis of this and other available test results an empirical equation for calculating the failure load was derived. The equation takes into account the influence of the edge distance, the concrete strength and the load bearing area. The equation for calculating the failure load shows good agreement with the test results. The equation for calculating the critical edge distance at which the failure mode changes to steel rupture or to concrete cone failure is given. The values for critical edge distance are different from the values in ACI 349, Appendix B, because of the ACI 349 overestimates the concrete capacity for large edge distances.