Experimental investigation of influence parameters on cartridge fired pin resistance

Cartridge fired pins, also known as powder actuated fasteners, have a wide application in different construction industry fields, mostly for joints of cold‐formed structural elements and profiled steel sheeting, or for installation of shear connectors in composite steel‐concrete structures. Installation of cartridge fired pins is mostly governed by high energy introduction from installation device and mechanical fastener to the steel base material, without initial predrilling of holes. Therefore, large plastic deformations of base material are developed through installation procedure, together with various anchorage mechanisms between fastener and base material. This paper presents experimental investigation of most important influence parameters on behaviour and resistance of cartridge fired pins, such as adjusted installation power level on installation device and steel base material strength. Experimental investigation involved X‐ENP‐21 HVB cartridge fired pins through double‐sided shear tests, tension tests with fasteners installed over X‐HVB shear connector with two different steel grades (S275 and S355) and two installation power levels (2 and 3.5), and tension tests with fasteners installed over two thicknesses of profiled steel sheeting (0.8 mm and 1.0 mm). Cartridge fired pin resistances together with corresponding failure mechanisms were experimentally quantified and presented in this paper.