A Boundary Stress Model for Fillet-Welded Connection Plates

A common structural steel connection design problem is to size a fillet-welded plate boundary for an eccentric shear and/or normal force. Three common design models for dealing with the design of the fillet-welded plate boundary are reviewed, and a new model is presented. The new model is derived to produce designs similar to the instantaneous center of rotation method; however, the model offers an explicit solution by assuming a stress distribution on the boundary that designers can easily confirm or modify in daily practice.