Fasteners in Buildings

According to AISC, the cross sectional area of of bolts and threaded parts are designed for specified allowable unit tension and shear stresses. In case of seismic loads and wind loads in combination of gravity loads, we increase the allowable stresses by 1/3. Normally in case of direct tension, rivets are not recommended.

Bearing type connections are the most commonly used connection is building construction. In buildings, the allowable bearing stress F_p, ksi (MPa), on projected area of fasteners is
F_p=1.2 F_u
where
F_uis the tensile strength of the connected part in ksi (MPa).

Points to be remembered
1. The distance in the line of force to the nearest edge of the connected part should be at least 1.5d.
2. The center to center spacing of fasteners should be at least 3d.
where d is the fastener diameter