## 4 Results and Discussion
### Horizontal Spacing between Vertical Edge and Bolts  
The second set of case studies considers a steel plate where three hypotheses concerning the horizontal spacing between the plate vertical edge and the outermost bolt columns were contemplated, 30, 40, 50, and 60 mm, keeping at 60 mm the bolt columns that are attached to the IPE profile on the same side of the connection. The two vertical spacing values between bolt rows that were found to have better mechanical behavior in the previous section (60 and 70 mm) were considered, and each of them was also combined with four steel plate thickness values: 3, 3.5, 4, and 5 mm. In these cases, the selected spacing distances also complied with the minimum distance to plate edges according to Eurocode 3 [17]. These variations were studied while the vertical spacing between bolts was kept constant. Figure 9 represents the dimensions and geometrical arrangement of the bolt holes in the plate.  
Equivalent maximum plastic deformation values for 32 different designs are displayed in Figure 10. As mentioned above, two vertical offset values between bolt rows were  
Figure 8: Bolt shear utilization for horizontal spacing of 50–60 mm.  
Figure 9: Dimensions of steel plate and position of holes with varying horizontal spacing.  
considered: (a) 60 mm, and (b) 70 mm. It is observed that the latter designs showed better mechanical performance not only in terms of bolt shear utilization but also in plastic deformation. In total, 14 of the 16 designs shown in Figure 10a met the maximum plastic deformation of the codes, while 15 of the 16 cases shown in Figure 10b comply with the specifications. Not all cases of connections using 3 mm joint covers complied with the maximum plastic deformation, particularly those where the distance to the vertical edges is less than 40 mm, in contrast to all other plate thickness values. The relationship between the distance to the vertical edge and the plastic deformation was found to be inversely proportional up to 60 mm and virtually linear. As the outer column was moved away from the vertical edge, while maintaining the distance between bolt columns, the strength issues were transferred to the IPE profile. However, the critical resistance values were not reached beyond 60 mm spacing between the vertical edge and bolts since the web thickness is 6.2 mm. It is also observed that, for 60 mm of vertical spacing between bolt rows, at higher plate thicknesses, the effect of increasing the distance to the vertical edges was very small.  
Figure 11 displays the von Mises stresses in the 3 mm thick plate with 30 mm and 60 mm horizontal spacing to the vertical edge. In both cases, a significant portion of the plate area is displayed in dark red, which indicates that the yield stress of the steel was reached. However, only the first case does not meet the EuroCode specifications due to an excessive plastic deformation. The second case is the design that meets the EuroCode specifications more strictly and can therefore be considered as the most efficient one.  
Figure 11: von Mises stress distribution in plates with color scale: (a) 3 mm thick plate with 30 mm horizontal spacing to the vertical edge; (b) 3 mm thick plate with 50 mm horizontal spacing to the vertical edge. The numbering of bolts is indicated.  
Figure 10: Plastic deformation: (a) 60 mm vertical spacing; (b) 70 mm vertical spacing.