Reinforcing the base of an Impacted HSS column

[mfstructural]

I am working on a small project to reinforce the base of an HSS column that was impacted by a forklift 15 years ago......
The tenant is moving out and it's part of their lease agreement to repair it.

Under normal circumstances I would just weld cover plates or angles to the corners and extend beyond the damaged area. In this case the forklift punctured the column and cause the adjacent side to bulge out...so a plate will not work.

I'm thinking of showing two plates abutting at the corner and using shim plates as required and also weld those. Does anyone see an issue with that?

View attachment IMG_5687.JPG

 

[XR250]

Can you beat the bulge out the other side and just weld up this slot?

 

[mfstructural]

I thought about that. maybe heat it if necessary just to help straighten it out?

 

[Tomfh]

Beat it flat and weld on plates or angles

 

[jayrod12]

I've also done it where we shore up the existing roof beams, cut the column above the damaged areas and installed a full moment splice to a replacement bottom half of the column.

The first time I proposed it, the contractor told me it would be too difficult to get right, so we came up with some other solution that ended up involving significantly more site fit-up etc. The second time with the same contractor he honestly admitted I was right and we replaced the bottom section. Took them a day from start to finish.

 

[XR250]

Maybe check the sides of the columns for the ability to support the load without doing any repair?

 

[KootK]

How big is this column? 8x8?

 

[KootK]

Seems to me you've kind of lost one of your corners. You might do something like I've shown below analytically to prove that it doesn't matter. And the do something semi-cosmetic anyhow if that's the nature of the exercise.

I like @jayrod12's replacement scheme but, here, I imagine that means a local demo and replace of the SOG.

 

[mfstructural]

The columns is HSS 8x8. I like the idea of beating it flat and welding a reinf plate. The contractor specifically asked for this type of repair detail as it's what they've been using and what the client was expecting as far as cost. And I am comfortable with it.