Shear plate of bolted connection inside or outside the web of a channel? 1

I don't think there is an appreciable difference. The channel doesn't know where the load goes once it enters the bolts.

in particular if whatever is applying the load is stiff enough to resist rotation.

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-Dik

Outside. You could still achieve edge distances without having to encroach on the k distance.

I definitely think that's the best way to attach to a channel if you want to limit twist / rotation of the channel.

That being said, a lot of this is really dependent on how the channel is loaded. Right?

Echoing skeletron's comment, in practice my choice of where to put the shear plate will generally be governed by spatial / geometric concerns and it often winds up on the shear center side as a result.

The theory is interesting though. With reference to the beam end free body diagram shown below, I believe that it works out like this:

1) From the perspective of torque on the beam, it doesn't matter where you put the plate. The torque that the plate will introduce into the channel will be identical whether the plate is on the shear center side, the non-shear center side, or in the building next door. The channel torque winds up being a function of only the load and the distance between the point of load application and the channel shear center. The channel torque would seem to be agnostic with respect to the location of the shear plate.

2) Putting the shear plate as close as possible to the line of action of the load will reduce the torque on the shear plate though. Not that anybody checks that.