Lap Shear Strength of Adhered Steel–Steel Connections

Adhesives have demonstrated success in heavy-structural settings including concrete anchoring and glue-laminated and cross-laminated timber construction yet are relatively unexplored in structural steel connections. The use of adhesives in structural steel–steel connections allows for strength throughout the entire connection without loss of cross section or the introduction of residual stresses as is prevalent in bolted and welded connections. Further, adhesives show promise as the steel industry moves towards modularized construction due to the ease of assembly of adhered joints. There is also potential for adhesives combined with bolts to increase strength and serviceability in the connection. The fundamental property of adhesives is their shear capacity, which is dependent on the adherend and the connection itself. Single lap splices effectively isolate the shear connection and can provide a characterization of connection strength. Single lap adhered splices were fabricated and tested at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to provide lap shear strength of five different adhesives for hot rolled and cold formed steel adherends. Repetitions of each were conducted to assess variability, resulting in a total of 30 experiments. The experimental study provides direct comparison of five commercially available structural adhesives and the performance of each of these adhesives across two common structural steel types to assess the efficacy of adhesives in steel construction. The results of this study can be generalized and used to guide the design of adhered steel connections.