Cost of shear connections vs. moment connections 1

[kcm_24]

Can anyone give me a rough estimate of the cost of a bolted or welded beam to column shear connection vs. welded moment connection? Say it includes a WF member framed into a WF column, and not terribly complex - all orthogonal framing.
Order of magnitude is what I'm looking for. Thank you so much.

 

[CANPRO]

You could think of it terms of the amount of connection material. Typical simple shear = 1 shear tab. Typical moment connection = 1 shear tab, (2) flange plates. This will add cost to the connection design, detailing, fabrication, and erection. I would say you're in the range of 3-4x the cost for standard shear vs standard moment. If your flange plate is required to be slip critical might be a bit more.

For reference, I work full-time for a fabricator, but I am not an estimator.

 

[jayrod12]

I would tend to agree with the 3-4x the cost. Also, many moment connections require significantly more prep work to the steel components compared to a standard shear only connection. Beveled cuts for welded connections, more bolts (often signficantly mroe) for bolt connected.

 

[Tomfh]

How much is connection fabrication as a proportion of total steel cost?

 

[jayrod12]

As far as I've been told, a large proportion of it. Since the bulk of the fabrication aspect for all members is connections, otherwise it is just cutting them to length.