Whether you are looking for a concrete anchor, a headed stud, stud connector or a headed shear stud, it will be essential to choose the right part for the job. As these studs can be used in a wide variety of applications from residential and commercial decking applications to fasteners on bridges and steel and concrete buildings, there is a wide range of designs, sizes and even alloys possible.
There are different standards that are used for shear studs based on the type application. However, even with the various standards, there are some similarities found on all connectors.
Head
As the alternative names imply, all shear studs used as connectors are designed with a head. This is different than the head of a bolt and is typically round in shape with a slightly concave surface to a more pronounced ring around the outside of the bottom of the head.
This head will allow for the anchoring of the shear connector in the concrete while also allowing the stud to be easily loaded into the stud welding and held in place by the system before the weld occurs.
Foot
The foot or bottom of the shear studs is flat and of the same circumference as the length. There is also a ball of flux that is in the center of the tip of the stud to allow the melt to occur and form a solid, complete weld around the entire bottom of the shear connector.
For arc welding, which is typically the application used with the headed studs of larger diameter, a ferrule will be used. This is a ceramic collar that will slide down to surround the foot against the surface for the weld. This contains the weld pool, ensuring an even weld collar even when the stud may not be located on a horizontal surface.