Stress concentration factors for truss/girder-end hollow section connections

The design provisions in the current standards and guidelines for welded hollow structural section (HSS) connections assume a chord member with sufficient continuity on both sides of a connection. For connections at the end of a truss/girder, the existing design formulae do not apply because the chord-continuity assumption is violated. Therefore, guidance on design of "end connections" has become increasingly sought after since this has been a practical design problem encountered by engineers. The proposed research will generate and publish practical design guidance for calculation of stress concentration factors (SCFs) for fatigue design of end connections via experimental testing and advanced computer simulation using the finite element (FE) technique.