Testing Method to Determine Slip Coefficient for Coatings Used in Bolted Joints

In 1975, the Steel Structures Painting Council (SSPC) contacted the Research Council on Riveted and Bolted Structural Joints (RCRBSJ), now the Research Council on Structural Connections (RCSC), regarding the difficulties and costs which steel fabricators encounter with restrictions on coatings of contact surfaces for friction-type structural joints. The SSPC also expressed the need for a "standardized test which can be conducted by any certified testing agency at the initiative and expense of any interested party, including the paint manufacturer." And finally, the RCSC was requested to "prepare and promulgate a specification for the conduct of such a standard test for slip coefficients." The following Testing Method is the answer of Research Council on Structural Connections to the SSPC request. The test method was developed by Professors Joseph A. Yura and Karl H. Frank of The University of Texas at Austin under a grant from the Federal Highway Administration. The Testing Method was approved by the RCSC on June 14, 1984. This paper is presented here for information only and does not not imply an endorsement by the American Institute of Steel Construction, Inc.