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Chapter 2 - Shear
The AISC Specification devotes one entiresentence ro shear(!) in chapterc, paragraph G.4, while the con.nentaryis aboutone pagelong. The Specification givesthe i,rpr"rrion tit sirea.is a silnplematter.but after reading the comrrentary you will relizethatthreis moreto it than ;eets the eye. At the beginning of this designmanualthereis a questior.r aboutchecking the shearin a singleangle. You might think that the shearstress is 4,,,,, ivicle by the areaof te I.g puruir.lto thedirectio'of load. If yoLr stopped there.you wourdhaveconsidered flexLrrar shear,"bit this is only partof the sheartbrceequatiorr. Everyanglethat is usedas a tream in a conventional orierr tation as a relievingangreat the headof a window), unlessrateray braced against .(such twisr, is sirbjected to a tor.siotal ntoment which prodLrces torsionalshear The strategy adoptedin this designmanualis to conrbine the flexuralandtorsional shearstresses, and compare that valueto the limit given in the AISC Specificatiou. 2.1 Flexun Shear

Flexuralshearsthe sirear that mostengineers norrnalry trrinkabout. The commentary to the AISC Specification provides the following equation l.orflexuralshearstress, f,:

I .5V,.
Dt

Eqn.(C-C4-l )

This.q,utlon applies to equalleg anglesloadedalongone ofthe prrncipal axes. when was the last time ,ou loadedan arrgle alongone ofthe principalaxes? probablr never. Do you evenknow how to.deternine wherethe principar axesare? (After usingthis designmanuaiyou wi .) The usual oriertationhasthe angleroaded arongorreof the geomtric axes,in which case(accordi'gto thl Comnrentarv) the shearstress beco.es I .35Zl(t),for equal leg angles.So far, so good."Here cotnesthe tricky part. The tenn v1,is the conrponen of tlle sheai l'oice parallel to tl.r-" leg *ith sectionlength and thickness "ross r, so it's not the total shear,but ratherit ii the porrionofre shearin " eachleg' The comnrentary doesrrotexprainhow to detefmine trrisproportion.F*rh"r;;.", il; corstarts l 5 and 1.35in these equations are for equarleg angles. For uneqLrar leg ungr"s, ti"ualre is soe"vhere in between and could be carcLrrated usingtrrgit. (Assuming, of coirrsel that you know lrow to derermine v,). rt rcalryisn't practicar for an ngineer in a cre-sign office io spd time dohg ltt,o/lt calctLlations or trying to frgureout how muclrsrlearis in eachrJg. A ,nu.n simpre, approach is needed. Assu,ne that the shearis resisted by the leg paralerto trredirectionof trreIoacr.For the caseofa relievingangleabovean openingin a brick wa , this is the verticalreg. The capacity orth" ungi" ,. thendetelmined Lrsing AISC Specification Equation G2_I :

= 0.6F,,A,,C,. I,,
In this equaton 1", is the areaofthe regresisti'gtire shearand c" is the shear-buckling reduction iactorwhich_is given by parag.aph G4 in the Specification as r.0 in trriscase. InexpliJabry, the .\lSC Specificatiorr alsotells us i' paragraph C4 thatt' = I .2, but,t, doesnot enterinto equation C l - I . s o t h i si s o f n o L r s e .

\ 't1le.1ngle Desi.,tt t\.lonual

Page 2- I

UsingC" = 1.0,we canrearrange this equation to determine the shear stress,jfi:

|=r

= 0.6FrC,

There is still the matter ofthe LRFD and ASD reductionfactors, but first we needto determinethe torsional shearstress. Then we can combine the two shearsand apply the reductionfactors.

2,2

Tonional Shear

When an angle is loadedconventionally,as in the caseof a relievingangle,a torsionalmomentis produced, see Figure 2. I . The torsional momentM7 is the result of the eccentricity betweenthe applied load P and the shear center. Mr=Pe Recall the conceptofthe shearcenterfrom elementary mechanics. This is the point on the crosssectionthrough which appliedloadsmustact in orderto produce bending without twisting. Forboth equalleg and unequalleg angles,the shearcenter is assumed to be locatedat the intersection ofthe legs. Technically this isn't the exact location, but the eror resulting from this assumptionis insignificant comparedto the level of effort requiredto determinethe true shearcenter. If you really want to know wherethe shearcenteris, consulta bookon the theorv of elasticiw.

Figure 2.1 - Eccentricity from lhe shearcenter.

The resulting torsional moment is resisted (pure)shear by two shear mechanisms: St.Venant's and warpingshear.To makeit evenworse, therearetwo kindsof warpingshear.However, tlre commentary to the Specification explains thatthese two warpingshears account for less than20olo ofthe St.Venant's(pure)shear andthuscanbe ignored if it is assumed thattheentiretorsional moment is resisted (pure)shear.Thetorsional by St.Venant's shear stress is givenby Equation (C-G4-2)in theCommentary to theAISC Specification: r - M 7 . t_ 3 M r "JAt Noticethatthese equations arethe same, takea few minutes andproveit to yourself.Oneis in terms ofl thetorsional constant, whiletheother is in terms of thetotalarea,4. Theterm/ represents thethickness ofthe angle.[f J isn'tavailable in a table. thenuse thesecond equation whichhas area andthickness in thedenominator. TheAISCManual liststhevalue ofJforall standard single angles.

Single Angle Design Manual

Page 2-2

23

Total Shea

The total shearstess is the surnofthe flexural shearandthe torsionalshear:

t

=---!-+------!I 11w ,t

l/_ M-t

) Using paragraph G I of the AISC Specification with C, : 1.0, the limits for the shear stress of a

single anglewith a yield sfength of 3 ksi are:

LRFDQ"v,=o.sr,=0.s(0.6Fy) c=o.s+4= l9.4ksi. ASD:v/o, =' 1.u, =o'u Fy=12.eksi. ",' /.u7 = 0.36

t, : :j.

u; '*-.

Single Angle Desigt Manual

Pdge2-3

EXAMPLE 2.7

I
Determine the shearstress in a 5x5x5/16relievingangle,spporting a 5' tall brick wall. Assume the following: Fy 36 ksi; spanlength6'-0"; simply supported; unbraced againstlater.al displacerrent; loadacts down, any archingactionin the masonry will be ignored.

( Step l Load Determination

Assumethat a brick wall weighs40 lbs/ft2, thus

= 280lbs/ft. LRFD: P,,:40x5'x1.4 = . ASD: P,, 40x5':200lbs/R.

Step 2. Torsion

t t
'l

Determine the maximumtorsionin the angle. Git en the geometryin FigureE2.land using3.63" for ihe width ofa standard brick,the eccentricity. , can be determined as:

- (0.312s12) = 3.53". : 5 + 0.5- (3.6312) l5]125 Theunit torsion in thiscase will be:
Figure E2.l
T= p o
l1

{ ( i./ | ii t o.l

I
;.(

,:i':

LRFD= 280x 3.53= 988inch.lbs./foot. ASD = 200 x 3.53= 706inch.lbs./foot.

')c6'2''

r,l ,
,^

\ \ )2 g 4 . f , l aJ ' r ' : ' 7 \ Y

l ' F < , ? 3'' . ) ' ' ' " '

t'. ,

The maximumtorsionfor a relievinganglewill be:

M, = TL/2 a = 2964inch.lbs. LRFD = 988x6/2 : 21l 7 inch.lbs. ASD= 106x6/2

l ',,,a\tr.-

i.:' '

-..)t1. \:, ..

I I I
( (
-, Lf:

' ' I' 6 l L

Step3. VerticalShear Detemine theverticalshear at tlie endsupport.

i.'r J

t'': .'

I I I
(

v,,: I4/L/2 ' = 840lbs. LRFD= 280x6/2 = 600lbs. ASD: 200x6/2

-;,

( ;i,,,. ' .,';.. 't'

(
Single Angle Desigt Manual i'aga )-1

b b

t
D

a 7D =a
ft
7D

Step4. Combine theTorsional Shear andtheVertical Shear Theequation for themaximum shear stress is " l/. bt M,t .I

a a a a a
Fl

LRFDI,

x 0.3125 840 2964 =518+8576=91l4psi. 5x 0 . 3 125 0 .r 0 8

ea ea

.'0'3t25 - 3 8 4+ 6 1 2 6 = 6 5 1o ASD /, =--i90 +2],17 0s i . 5v 0 . 1 125 0 .1 0 8

ea
7a
Ff

Compare these stresses to thelimts: LRFD : Q,f,, = 19,400pst ASD:rt/n = l2.900psi

/ "t'

=a

l
=l Fl El

In both cases the actualslrear stress is lessthanthe allowable, so the designis acceptable. Of

course. deflectiolt should alsobechecked. Notethata significant ofthe totalshear stress is portion
represented by the torsional compolent.Clearly,this contribution to the total shear cannotbe isnoted.

aa
tl Fl El Fl Fl

it
Fl El

rl
l El tl l rl l

rt
El
Single Angle Design Nlanual Page 2-5

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