Plastic Strength of Connection Elements

Many connection elements are modeled as rectangular members under various combinations of shear, flexural, torsional and axial loads. Strength design is now used for steel members and connections; therefore, the traditional method of combining loads using beam theory needs to be updated to comply with strength design philosophy. Due to the extensive research available on the plastic interaction of rectangular members, a review of existing equations forms the basis of this paper. In cases where existing research is unavailable, new derivations are provided. An interaction equation is developed for strength design of rectangular connection elements under any possible loading combination.