Beam-to-column shear connections with slotted holes

Slotted holes in web framing angles of beam to column connections provide greater fabrication tolerance and can facilitate both fabrication and erection of steel structures. The current North American steel design standards require plate washers to completely cover the slots in connections with long slotted holes in the outer plies of the joint. Although plate washers are required in connections that require pretensioned bolts, their need in bearing-type connections is questionable.; Tests on beam-to-column shear connections with slotted holes were conducted to investigate the influence of a wide range of parameters on their strength and behaviour. The angle leg connected to the supporting column was also investigated.; The test program indicated that plate washers are required with long slotted holes to develop the expected shear capacity. The North American standards were not able to predict the capacity of web framing angles failing in the leg connected to the column and failing within the edge distance. New prediction models are proposed for these failure modes.