Strength of Bolted Lap Joints in Steel Sheets with Small End Distance

The objective of this work is to investigate the shear capacity of small end distance lap joints in sheet steel fastened with a single bolt. For bolted connections in shear, the current American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) specification does not differentiate between tilting limit states, in which the fastener rotates and thin sheet curls, and nontilting limit states, such as bearing and tearing. An experimental program consisting of 36 bolted specimens with a small end distance, 18 subject to tilting and 18 not subject to tilting, were conducted to explore this phenomenon. The conducted tests were compared to available predictions in the design specifications and the literature. The comparison indicates that tilting needs to be explicitly considered in the tested condition. Recommendations are provided for design. There is a need for future work to investigate multibolt configurations with small end distance and connections with members.