MISSION VIEJO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SidePlate®, a subsidiary of MiTek, a Berkshire Hathaway company, today announced that three full-scale seismic tests have been successfully carried out on the Company’s SidePlate Bolted connection. Conducted by the University of California-San Diego, the tests validate the seismic performance and value of the SidePlate Bolted connection, a field-bolted moment frame that debuted in 2013. With the success of these new tests, the SidePlate Bolted connection qualifies as a Special Moment Frame (SMF), per the ANSI / AISC 341-10 specification: ”Seismic Provisions for Structural Steel Buildings.”
Indeed, the University of California-San Diego tests proved that the SidePlate Bolted connection has substantially exceeded the SMF code requirements. This performance continues a tradition of exceptional performance for SidePlate connections. Two more tests are planned in the near future.
Unique to the market of Special Moment Frames, the SidePlate Bolted connection requires no field welding. It has already proven to be a huge success in low-seismic areas, where contractors and erectors using SidePlate Bolted connections have commented that they are “saving days to weeks of time in the field,” because the SidePlate Bolted connection can be quickly assembled.
Using the positive results of these recent Special Moment Frame tests, project teams in high-seismic areas can now also use the SidePlate Bolted connection and enjoy the benefits of seismic performance with fast field installation and fewer concerns about the labor and testing involved with a welded connection. Further, the stiffness of the SidePlate connections continues to reduce the structural steel tonnage required when compared to other designs.
All of SidePlate’s innovative designs are implemented with the help of responsive, attentive structural engineers who provide assistance and customer service at no charge to the design team. Visit www.SidePlate.com to read more about the SidePlate Bolted connection.
“Our 20+ years of high-seismic research has guided us through the development of the SidePlate Bolted connection, which now allows contractors to quickly erect structural steel on projects in any design criteria. This is all part of our Company culture of delivering value beyond compare,” said Henry Gallart, SidePlate’s president.
About SidePlate
Acting as a free extension of the design team, SidePlate delivers engineering services for professionals who design, fabricate, and erect steel frame structures. While providing connection technologies and ongoing support to the engineer, fabricator, contractor, architect, erector, and building owner, SidePlate offers economical solutions for general building applications, as well as for high-performance seismic and blast-resistant designs. Since 1995, SidePlate’s technologies and connections have been proven in real-world and laboratory tests for earthquakes, bomb blasts, and progressive-collapse resistance. SidePlate is a subsidiary of MiTek, a Berkshire Hathaway company (NYSE: BRK-A, NYSE: BRK-B). Learn more www.SidePlate.com.
