Column Stiffeners finisher to bear?

[NBEEBE]

I am wondering if there is a Rule of thumb or a section in the AISC spec (or manual) that states whether ALL stiffeners should be finished to bear. In the attached image you'll see my situation.

Shown is a retainnig wall tieback pile consisting of (2)W18x35. The stiffeners are placed at a position where a Tieback will be set at a 10degree angle. As a fabricator it would be desireable to NOT have to bevel all stiffeners to seat perfectly against the backside of the flanges, but am not sure if there is anything code wise that advises in fitting stiffeners to bear (that I could find). We would obviously rather see these plates be square cut at the ends (not beveled) and fit with the 1/16"+- gap created naturally by the angle. This gap could be compensated for by adding an additional 1/16" to the fillet weld that was originally planned for these areas.

I know this is a question to ask of the EOR, but wanted to throw it out there any see what the thoughts on this was. Or if maybe there is a pc of code I can reference or if this all depends on forces being applied and welds being applied.

 

[graybeach]

If you can design the fillet welds to transmit the full load, I don't think you need to finish to bear.

 

[dhengr]

NBEEBE:
I can’t see PNG files as an attachment, but...
As a fabricator you should talk to EOR and find out what he really needs. 80-90% of the time they don’t know any better, and they just call out that bearing fit because that’s what they think they need. You should explain how difficult and costly that detail is for the fab’er., when not really needed, in terms of fit-up, grinding, etc. This costs their job, because you do include this extra work in your pricing. Offer some practical alternatives from your standpoint, because they were never taught or never learned of this difficulty, in school or in practice.

Bearing stresses and bearing failures are seldom critical, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pay attention to them when applicable. Bearing stresses at yielding are actually higher than tensile or shear yielding, so unless the engineer is really finessing his design, he is likely not using this higher allowable stress level anyway. If I have to improve bearing at a stiffener, I’ll square cut it, assuming a std. WF or built-up girder, then nibble small bevels on each edge. This makes a little grinding for some fit-up easier, but since I have a PJP and fillet each side, I don’t need full or perfect stiffener bearing, I think I get my bearing through the welds rather than perfect fit-up of the stiffener. All you are really trying to do is to get that bearing load up into the web of the member, without bearing overstress.

 

[BAretired]

Why do the stiffeners need to be sloping? I would square cut the ends and butt them up to the right flange. Clip corners to avoid fillet. Leave a gap of an inch on the left flange.

BA