A design team is detailing the splice connections for a large steel bridge girder.

Scenario: The girder will be subjected to millions of cycles of heavy truck traffic, causing severe dynamic and fatigue loading.

Solution: A standard bearing-type connection cannot be used here. If the bolts are allowed to slip into bearing under cyclic loads, the repeated movement will quickly cause fatigue failure in the bolts or the plate.

The team must specify a slip-critical connection. This requires the bolts to be highly pre-tensioned during installation (typically using turn-of-nut or tension-control bolts). The extreme clamping force creates immense friction between the steel plates, transferring the shear forces entirely through friction without the bolts ever touching the edges of the holes.

During the fabrication of a steel truss, a worker accidentally drills the bolt holes for a gusset plate connection too close to the edge of the tension diagonal member.

Scenario: The inspector flags the connection because the edge distance is less than the AISC specified minimum.

Solution: The minimum edge distance requirement is not arbitrary; it prevents a failure mode known as tear-out (or block shear tearing out the end of the plate).

Because the holes are too close to the edge, the shear area of the steel behind the bolt is too small. Even if the bolts have sufficient shear strength, the force of the bolt bearing against the hole will tear a chunk of steel right out of the edge of the member. The fabricated piece must be rejected, and a new member with properly spaced holes must be fabricated.