Design Aid-Anchor Bolt Interaction of Shear and Tension Loads

A common practice among structural engineers involved in industrial building design is to specify either ASTM A36 threaded rod bolts or A307 headed bolts for use as cast-inplace anchors to carry combined shear and tension forces to the foundation. It is also fairly common to specify ASTM A325 or equivalent strength material for anchor bolts which must carry higher forces than can be accommodated by ordinary carbon steel bolts. Several articles have been written in the past ten years which have addressed the problem of anchor bolt design for combined loadings. By consolidating and summarizing the available data, the problem can be simplified for most situations encountered in normal practice. A conservative design approach is warranted, as suggested by Marsh and Burdette since test data is limited and consequences of bolt failures are quite unacceptable for steel structures which must carry expensive industrial equipment.