Stainless Steel Wedge Anchor

Choosing the Right Wedge Anchor
1) What is a wedge anchor & when to use it?

A wedge anchor is a mechanical expansion anchor for cracked or non-cracked concrete.
It consists of:

A threaded stud with a conical end,

An expansion clip (wedge) near the bottom,

Nut and washer on top.

When you tighten the nut, the cone pulls up into the wedge clip – it expands against the concrete hole and locks the anchor in place.

Use a wedge anchor when you need:

A permanent, high-strength fixing into solid concrete

Medium to heavy-duty tension and shear capacity

A compact, easy-to-install anchor with standard tools

Typical applications:

Base plates for machinery, racks, frames, and columns

Handrails, guardrails, staircases

Cable trays, pipe supports, brackets

Heavy equipment, electrical panels, structural connections

Wedge anchors are designed for cracked and solid concrete (depending on approval), not for brick, block, or very weak substrates.

Mechanical Properties (Guide) – Wedge Anchors

Wedge anchors are expansion anchors where capacity depends on both steel strength and concrete strength.
Performance is usually given as characteristic or design tension and shear loads in specific concrete strengths.

1) Steel properties

Wedge anchor studs are often made from steels roughly equivalent to:

Property classes around 5.8 / 8.8 / stainless A2 / A4 (exact grade per manufacturer).

For stainless types, material corresponds to A2 (304) or A4 (316) with defined mechanical and corrosion properties.

Key steel parameters:

Tensile strength f_u (e.g. ~500–800 MPa depending on grade)

Yield strength f_y

These define the steel limit in tension and shear.

However, in many cases the concrete cone or pull-out will govern before steel fracture.

2) Concrete-related capacity

For a specific anchor (e.g. M12 wedge anchor):

Pull-out / concrete cone tension capacity depends on:

Concrete grade (e.g. C20/25 vs C30/37)

Effective embedment depth (h_ef)

Edge distance & spacing (influences whether you get a full cone or reduced cone)

Shear capacity depends on:

Steel shear capacity (A_s × f_u / √3 approx, per code)

Concrete edge breakout if near edges

Baseplate thickness and bearing capacity

Manufacturers supply tables with:

N_Rk (characteristic tension loads)

V_Rk (characteristic shear loads)
for given anchor sizes, embedments, and concrete strengths.

Design engineers then calculate design values (N_Rd, V_Rd) using safety factors as per ETAG/ETA/EN 1992-4 / ACI.