Splice Plate, beam to beam (" Connection specifications " and more)

Also see :

Tip: Clip angles and end plates can also be used to splice beams.

user defined | beam | auto standard | system

General info about beam splice connections :

  • Connection design can create a splice plate on one side or both sides of the webs of the two beams being spliced. Click here for examples from the connection guide. The splice plates bolt to the webs of the adjoining beams. For splice plates on both sides of the webs, fill plates (one near side, one far side) are designed along with the two splice plates if fill plates are required to compensate for differences in the web thicknesses of the two beams.
  • ' Non-moment ' splice plates can be designed for flanged shapes such as wide flange or welded plate wide flange as well as for channel or HSS rectangular (tube) beams. The two beams can slope at different angles, but cannot be skewed with respect to one another. Also, both beams must have the same " Web rotation ."
  • Under Home > Project Settings > Job > Auto Standard Connections , ' Splice plate ' can be entered as the " Input connection type " for any of the following framing conditions: " Chan Beam to Chan Beam (splc) ," " Tube Beam to Tube Beam (splc) ," " WFlg Beam to WFlg Beam (splc) ," " WFlg Beam to PGrd Beam (splc) ," " PGrd Beam to PGrd Beam (splc) ," " SFlg Beam to SFlg Beam (splc) ."
  • For ' Bolted ' moment splices, both beams must be a flanged " Section size " shape similar to wide flange with depths that are less than 1-1/4 inches in difference. The work lines of the two beams must be colinear.
  • Connection design creates beam-to-beam splice plate connections based on the lesser " Moment " and/or " Shear " loads of the two beams being spliced. The load is calculated for the total length of the member, regardless of support. The program looks to relevant setup options and beam splice " Connection specifications " to determine splice plate design. If necessary to meet loading conditions, connection design first increases rows of bolts, then bolt diameter and material thickness to design a connection that works. Connection design may also adjust the number of columns of bolts.

user defined | beam | auto standard | system | top

------" Connection specifications " for beam ' Splice plate ' connections ------

Beam-to-beam splice plate connections can be applied as auto standard.


A beam's " Connection specifications " change with the selected connection type. To get this set of conn specs to show up on the Beam Edit window, select ' Splice plate ' is the " Input connection type ." For ' Auto standard ' or ' User defined ' input connection types, conn specs are not on the Beam Review window, but can be found at Home > Project Settings > Job > Auto Standard Connections or User Defined Connections .


  • For connection design to create a beam-to-beam splice connection, the work lines of both beams must be colinear, and both beams must have the same " Web rotation ." For moment splices, both beams must use " Section sizes " with depths less than 1 1/4 inches in difference. " Moment " options may be applied to a beam whose " Section size " is a flanged shape similar to wide flange. Be sure to make the appropriate choices for both beams.

Web plates on: Left end or Right end or Both members .

' Left end ' specifies that connection design shop bolt the splice plate(s) to the beam whose left end is being connected by the web splice connection. ' Left end ' is automatically selected for both beams when you select it for one of the beams being spliced. The " Web plate side " option is enabled.

' Right end ' instructs connection design to shop bolt the splice plate(s) to the beam whose right end is being connected by the web splice. The " Web plate side " option is enabled.

' Both members ' designs near- and far-side splice plates (two plates) and disables ( grays out ) the " Web plate side " option. One splice plate ships with the one beam, the other with the other beam, and all bolts on both beams are field bolts.

Web plate side: Near or Far or Both . This applies when -- here in " Connection specifications " -- " Web plates on " is set to ' Left end ' or ' Right end '.

' Near '
' Far '
' Both '

' Near ' bolts the one web splice plate to the near side of both beams.

' Far ' bolts the one one web splice plate to the far side of both beams.

' Both ' generates splice plates on both sides of the beam. The splice plates shop bolt to the left end of the one beam or the right end of the other beam depending on the choice made to " Web plates on ."

Splice plate grade: Auto or select a material grade .

'   Auto (checked) ' specifies that connection design enter the " Plate material grade " from Home > Project Settings > Fabricator > Standard Fabricator Connections > Plates > the " Splice Plates " section.

'   Auto (not checked) ' lets you select a steel grade on the list box ( ). Choices shown in that list box come from Home > Project Settings > Job > Plate Grades .

Flange plates on: Left end or Right end . This " Connection specifications " option applies to beam splice connections when the " Moment type " is set to ' Bolted ' in this beam's " Moment " leaf.

This example shows inner flange plates as well as top and bottom moment flange plates.

' Left end ' specifies that the flange plates shop bolt to the beam whose left end is being spliced. This choice needs to be made on only one of the beams. The ends of both beams that are being spliced automatically have " Flange plates on " set to ' Left end ' when ' Left end ' is the choice for one of the beams.

' Right end ' specifies that the flange plates shop bolt to the beam whose right end is being spliced. Making this change on one of the beams being spliced automatically applies that same choice to the other beam that is being spliced.

user defined | beam | auto standard | system | top

Connection design locks for beam splices :

Connection design locks for beam splices may appear, under a leaf with one of the below-listed names, on the Beam Edit window, or on a Connection Component window. The locks can also appear on the User Defined Connections window.

Connection Design Locks
 (" Input connection type " = ' Splice plate ')
Leaf Name Situation
Web Plate   These locks become available on the Beam Edit window when ' Splice plate ' is the " Input connection type " for the appropriate end of each of two end-to-end beams. Web splices may be designed with or without top/bottom moment flange plates. 
Web Fill Plate These locks are, by default, filled out with values of ' 0 ' if the two beams being spliced have equal web thicknesses.
Moment Flange Plate These locks become available when bolted moment flange plates are specified for a beam splice connection.  In other words, when the " Connection material " is ' Plate '. 

user defined | beam | auto standard | system | top