Girder Tie Washer Bracing to Resist Uplift Pivoting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional girder ties fail to effectively resist uplift forces due to pivoting and withdrawal, leading to failure modes that undermine their ability to hold building components in place during high winds or other uplift loads.
Innovation Solution
A girder tie system that forms a moment couple with the rigid rod at multiple points, using a connector and washer design to inhibit flange movement and distribute loads, enhancing resistance to uplift forces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional girder ties are used to connect building components to rigid rods, then the connection can resist some uplift forces, but the connection fails due to pivoting and withdrawal under high wind loads
Solution Approach 1:
The connector is divided into multiple functional segments: building component connector portion, rigid rod connector portion, and integrated flange structures. This segmentation allows each portion to specifically address different aspects of the uplift resistance problem, preventing the pivoting and withdrawal failure modes through distributed load paths
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from conventional single-plane connections to three-dimensional multi-point attachments. The connector engages the building component at multiple locations and orientations, creating a spatial distribution of fasteners that resists uplift forces through multiple geometric planes, thereby preventing rotational pivoting and linear withdrawal
2Reliability
If the girder tie uses a simple connector design, then the device complexity is low, but it cannot effectively distribute loads and inhibit flange movement under uplift forces
Solution Approach 1:
The connector merges multiple functions into a single integrated component: it combines the building component connector, rigid rod connector, and flange bracing elements into one unified structure. This merging achieves effective load distribution and flange movement inhibition without requiring multiple separate parts, thus managing device complexity while improving reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The connector serves multiple functions simultaneously: it attaches to the building component, connects to the rigid rod, distributes uplift loads across multiple fasteners, and inhibits flange movement. This multi-functionality allows a single component design to address various failure modes without proportionally increasing complexity
Data Source
AI summary
A girder tie for connecting a building component to a rigid rod to resist uplift forces applied to the building component comprises a connector including a building component connector and a rigid rod connector coupled to the building component connector. The rigid rod connector attaches to the rigid rod. The building component connector includes first and second back flanges free of direct connection to one another. The first and second back flanges can each be attached to the building component. A washer is disposed between the rigid rod connector and a nut on the rigid rod that secures the rigid rod to the girder tie. The washer includes at least one back flange brace to inhibit the first and second back flanges from moving relative to one another when the building component experiences the uplift forces.