Engineering Structures 24 (2002) 14311440

www.elsevier.com/locate/engstruct

Behaviour of welded connections of moment resisting frames

beam-to-column joints
D. Dubina , A. Stratan
Department of Steel Structures and Structural Mechanics, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, PolitehnicaUniversity of Timisoara,
I. Curea nr.1, Timisoara 1900, Romania

Received 1 February 2002; received in revised form 7 June 2002; accepted 7 June 2002

Abstract

The importance of welded connections on the behaviour of beam-to-column joints in steel moment resisting frames was the
reason to develop an experimental programme focused on the behaviour of welding details. A number of 54 T assembly specimens
that reproduce the beam-to-column welded joints have been tested. The experimental programme considered the following para-
meters: steel grade, strain rate, welding type (fillet weld, double bevel butt weld, and single bevel butt weld), and type of loading
(monotonic and cyclic pulsating). The behaviour of the different types of welds have been evaluated and compared in terms of
both performance and economical aspects. 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Beam-to-column joints; Welded connections; Fillet weld; Butt weld; Cyclic loading; Strain rate

1. Introduction 1. workmanship (welding defects)

Steel moment-resisting frames have been traditionally
used in seismic areas for low and middle-rise buildings.
This structural system has the advantage of large free
interior spaces and clear facades. On the other hand, steel
moment resisting frames were considered advantageous
from the seismic point of view, due to their inherent
local and global ductility. However, the earthquakes of
Northridge (1994) and Hyogoken-Nanbu (1995)
revealed a series of undesirable brittle failure modes in
welded beam-to-column joints that undermined the high
seismic performance of steel moment-resisting frames.
This fact generated concern in the scientific community
for the causes of the unexpected poor behaviour of
beam-to-column moment connections. Extensive labora-
tory studies have been carried out to study the poor per-
formance of beam-to-column joints and to develop
improved connection details and methodologies [1,2].
Among the possible causes of brittle fractures in welded
joints the following ones have been identified:
Corresponding author. Tel./fax.: +40 56192970.
E-mail address: dubina@constructii.west.ro (D. Dubina).
2. detailing (stress concentration at the root or the toe
of welds)
3. materials (low-toughness weld metal), and
4. unusually high seismic input (high strain rates).
A common failure pattern of beam-to column joints
is cracking of the bottom beam flange to column weld
(see Fig. 1). The main causes of this type of failure are
weld defects at the root of the weld (downward welding)
and high stresses at the exterior of the beam flange. Weld
root induced cracks can propagate either into the beam
flange and web, or into the column flange. In most of the
tested pre-Northridge joint typologies were observed
reduced values of beam plastic rotation (0.01 rad).
The research on the causes of brittle failures of beam
to column joints observed in the last earthquakes took
different directions. Japanese research concentrated on
dynamic testing, influence of temperature on connection
performance, the material properties of base and weld
metal, the development of new materials, the geometry
of weld copes and other details, and the elimination of
these copes. The US research has attempted to better
understand nonlinear and brittle performance of steel
frame structures and properties of material and welding,
a significant portion of the research being devoted

0141-0296/02/$ - see front matter 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 1 4 1 - 0 2 9 6 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 9 1 - 3
1432 D. Dubina, A. Stratan / Engineering Structures 24 (2002) 14311440
Fig. 1. Weld cracking at the bottom beam flange.
toward developing new connection geometries [3]. In the
same study the welding procedures in the US (flux core
metal arc weldingFCAW) and Japan (gas shielded
metal arc weldingGMAW) are compared. It suggests
that that GMAW is more costly, but it may provide
greater toughness. Nakashima et al. [4] tested 86 full
scale beam-column subassemblies, with the type of con-
nection, type of weld access holes, type of run-off tabs,
and type of loading as major variables. The results of
40 specimens applied to shop-welding connection were
summarized, and the primary findings indicated that the
type of run-off tabs affected significantly the ductility
capacity, and dynamic loading showed no detrimental
effect on ductility compared to quasi-static loading.
El-Tawil et al. [5] studied the effect of local geometric
details and yield-to-ultimate stress ratio on the inelastic
behaviour of the pre-Northridge connections through
finite-element analysis. Results highlighted the detrimen-
tal effect of using steel with high yield-to-ultimate stress
ratio and showed that enlarging the size of the access
hole to facilitate welding increases the potential for duc-
tile fracture at the root of the access hole.
The experimental programme of Dexter et al. [6]
focused mainly on the through-thickness strength and
ductility of the column flanges. Forty tee-joints were
tested. The results have shown that, despite the high
strain rate, high heat-input welds and several details
designed to trigger fractures, the through-thickness
strength or ductility of the column flanges is not a poten-
tial failure mode for welded moment connections.
Mao et al. [7] studied the inelastic behaviour of unre-
inforced, flange-welded moment connections in steel
seismic moment resisting frames by 3D finite-element
analysis. Several issues were addressed in this study: (1)
geometry and size of weld access hole, (2) control of
inelastic panel zone deformation, and (3) benefit of a
welded beam web. The recommendations include using
a groove welded beam web attachment with supplemen-
tal fillet welds along the edges of the shear tab and a
modified weld access hole geometry. The results indicate
that a strong panel zone enhances inelastic connection
performance, suggesting that they be used in design.
An excellent historical review of strain rate effect
studies is presented in [8], and summarised hereafter.
The loading-rate effect during an earthquake was con-
sidered negligible, especially for earthquakes that
occurred before the Northridge and Kobe events, where
moderate velocities were recorded. However, after these
very important and special earthquakes, when the
recorded velocities have been very high, many special-
ists consider that the loading-rate may be a possible
cause of the unexpected poor behaviour of steel struc-
tures. The first research work concerning the effect of
strain rate on the behaviour of metals was performed by
Morrison [9], Quinney [10] and Manjoine [11]. Man-
joines tests were conducted at room temperature for
strain rates ranging from 9.5 10-7/sec till 3 102/sec,
with testing duration between 24 h till a fraction of sec.
These results indicated a very important increasing of
the yield stress with an increase of strain-rate, especially
for strain-rate greater than 101/sec. The increase of ulti-
mate tensile strength is moderate, the influence of strain
rate being less important than the yield stress. Conse-
quently, the yield ratio defined by the ratio between yield
stress and tensile strength, increases as far as the strain-
rate increases, with the tendency to reach the value of
one. A reduction of material ductility occurs, especially
for strain-rate greater than 101/sec. More recent results
have confirmed the previous results of Manjoine. More
detailed research works have shown that the modulus of
elasticity is not influenced by the strain-rate variation
and the upper yield stress is more strain-rate sensitive
than the lower stress.
2. Tests on beam-to-column joints
In order to study the seismic performance of beam-to-
column joints in steel moment-resisting frames, several
series of experimental tests on frame sub-assemblies
have been conducted at the laboratory of the Faculty of
Civil Engineering and Architecture of the Politehnica
University of Timisoara, Research Centre for Mechanics
of Materials and Structural ReliabilityCEMSIG
 D. Dubina, A. Stratan / Engineering Structures 24 (2002) 14311440
http://ceft.utt.ro/cemsig (see Fig. 2). The tests were per-
formed under monotonic and cyclic loading, which was
applied symmetrically (gravitational loading) and anti-
symmetrically (seismic loading).
The experimental tests showed the importance of the
type of loading on the performance of beam-to-column
joints. The joint component that affects most the behav-
iour of the joints is the panel zone, which behaves differ-
ently under symmetrical and anti-symmetrical loading.
The most important consequences of anti-symmetrical
loading of the beam-to-column joints are reduced initial
stiffness and moment capacity, and increased ductility
with respect to the same joints under symmetrical load-
ing.
X-shaped columns (see Fig. 2) make possible a con-
venient design of spatial moment-resisting frames. Also,
the cruciform cross-section improves the performance of
anti-symmetrically loaded joints, with respect to joints
with I-shaped columns. The column flanges parallel to
the sheared panel zone contribute to its shear resistance,
reducing the drop in moment capacity and stiffness due
to anti-symmetrical loading. At the same time, ductility
of X-shaped column joints is relatively high.
The cyclic loading of the beam-to-column joints
affects their failure mode. The monotonically loaded
joints failed mainly by bolt failure and excessive defor-
mation of the end plate and column flange, while the
cyclically loaded specimens failed by brittle rupture of
the beam-to-end plate welds.
Two types of welds have been used for two series of
joints: fillet and bevel-1/2V (see Fig. 2). It was not poss-
ible to make a direct comparison between the two types
of welds, due to global differences between the two
series of tests (materials, cross-sections, etc.) However,
important differences have been observed between the
two types of welds.
The 1/2V bevel welding was done in a downward pos-
ition, simulating site welding. The root of the bottom
beam flange weld is thus prone to cracking, due to high
stresses in a zone with possible weld defects [12]. This
Fig. 2. Detailing of the tested joints.
1433
observation was confirmed by the tests, the bottom
flange weld being the one to crack first (see Fig. 3a). In
the case of the upper beam flange, detailing of the weld
access hole is more important, the most common type
of failure here being rupture of the upper beam flange
at the corner of the weld access hole.
The fillet welds used in the second series of tests [13]
behaved very poorly, being the weakest component in
the case of cyclically loaded specimens (see Fig. 3b).
This fact has led to a detailed investigation of the failures
in these welds. Tensile tests and chemical analysis of
specimens extracted from the end plate material revealed
a different steel quality than the one required to the
manufacturer (S275 instead of S235, according to SR
EN10025). Macroscopic observations showed in general
a lack of fusion of the weld into the base metal,
especially into the end plate (see Fig. 3c). The micro-
scopic examination of the end plate material showed a
reduced degree of purity, some non-metallic inclusions
being observed in the middle of the end plate cross-sec-
tion. These inclusions have led, in several cases, to fail-
ures by lamellar tearing, but which initiated from cracks
in the fillet welds.
3. Experimental programme on welded joints
3.1. The programme purpose and presentation
The importance of welded connections on the behav-
iour of beam-to-column joints led to a new experimental
programme focused on the detailed behaviour of some
common types of welds. A number of 54 specimens have
been prepared, that would simulate as closely as possible
conditions met in beam-to-column welded joints. The
specimen represents a T assembly, and is composed of
an end plate (t=20 mm) and two flanges (t=12 mm). The
dimensions of the welded specimens are presented in
Fig. 4a.
1434 D. Dubina, A. Stratan / Engineering Structures 24 (2002) 14311440

Fig. 3. Failure modes of beam-to-column joints.

Fig. 4. Welded specimens (a) and edge preparation (b).

The following parameters were to be studied in this
experimental programme:
Steel grade: S235 and S355.
Strain rate: e1=0.0001 s1; e2=0.03 s1; e3=0.06 s1.
The first value represents a quasi-statical loading,
while the other two strain rates are characteristic for
steel elements under seismic conditions.
Welding type: fillet weld, double bevel butt weld
K type, and single bevel butt weld1/2V type, see
Fig. 4b. The three types of welds have been chosen
from the following points of view: the fillet weld is
the simplest and cheapest one, the double bevel was
considered to be the most reliable one, and the single
bevel because it is commonly used for site welding
as it can be realised from one side only.
Type of loading (monotonic and cyclic pulsating).
Cyclic loading was considered in order to study the
low-cycle fatigue phenomenon. Alternating pulses
were not possible to apply due to the grips of the
testing machine.
Metal active gas (MAG) welding was used, reference
number 135 according to ISO 4063-92 [14]. The welding
equipment was a MIG-MAG type GLC 450-C, produced
by CLOOS. The welding wire was of type G3Si1, mark
IS-10, and protection gas type M21, mark CORGON 18.
The welding procedure has been verified for the three
 D. Dubina, A. Stratan / Engineering Structures 24 (2002) 14311440
Table 1
Experimental programme on welded specimens
Base metal and deposited metal
Material/weld type t=12 mm, t=20 mm, weld
Strain rate [s1] e1=0.0001 e2=0.03 e3=0.06
Steel grade S235, S355
Loading monotonic (1 or 2 specimens)
Total specimens 18
types of welds and two types of base metal, using the
same welding material, in order to qualify the welding
procedure.
Tensile tests were performed on base metal (flanges
and end plate), and deposited metal (see Table 1). A
global view of the experimental programme could be fol-
lowed in the same table.
Testing was performed on a 250kN universal testing
machine UTS RSA 250 (see Fig. 5). The universal test-
ing machine built-in transducers, as well as external
transducers were used for data acquisition.
3.2. Tensile tests on component materials
Tensile tests were performed on the base metal and
on the deposited metal in order to determine the charac-
teristics of the materials. It was found that the flange
material (steel plate of nominal thickness of 12 mm) was
not delivered according to the specifications (grades
S235 and S355). Instead, the flange material turned out
to be of S275 steel grade, according to SR EN10025.
Only the end plate material (t=20 mm) was delivered as
required. The deposited metal showed a resistance close
Fig. 5. The test set-up.
1435
Welded specimens
Fillet, K, 1/2V
monotonic (1 specimen) and cyclic (2 specimens)
54
to the S355 steel (570 N/mm2), but a higher yield
strength (469 N/mm2).
The upper yield strength (ReH) increases for higher
strain rates (535% for e2) and (1024% for e3). The
maximum increase in the upper yield strength was found
out for the mild steel (S235). The ultimate tensile
strength (Rm) increases too for higher strain rates (08%
for e2) and (58% for e3). The maximum influence is
again observed for the mild steel (S235). Variation of
these two parameters can be observed in Fig. 6, where
on the ordinate are presented normalised values of the
parameters with respect to the quasi-static loading. Typi-
cal values of the ratio between the tensile strength and
the yield strength (SGV=Rm/ReH) are 1.21.55, and the
ratio is decreasing for higher strain rates (220% for
e2) and (013% for e3). The total elongation at rupture
(Lar) is not influenced by strain rate, implying that strain
rates of the magnitude of 0.030.06 s1 does not reduce
the ductility of the base and deposited metals.
3.3. Tests on welded specimens
The parameters used to evaluate the behaviour of
welded specimens were basically the same used for
analysis of component materials, with small exceptions.
The upper yield strength (ReH) has been replaced by the
conventional yield strength (Rp02), determined according
to [15] for an offset elongation of 0.2%, and the total
elongation at rupture (Lar)by the total deformation at
rupture (Der).
It was not possible to analyse in the intended extent
the influence of the steel grade, due to delivery of differ-
ent base metal grades than the required ones (S275
instead of S235 and S355 for flanges). The differen-
tiation of the steel grades was only in the steel grade of
the end plate.
High strain rate caused an increase of the conven-
tional yield strength (Rp02) of about 618% for e2 and
1019% for e3 (see Fig. 7). It can be observed that the
yield strength of welded specimens is less sensitive to
the influence of high strain rate than is the yield strength
of component materials. The ultimate strength of the
welded specimens (Rm) increases slightly with higher
strain rate for the monotonically loaded specimens (4
8% for e2 and 610% for e3). An exception is the 5VM
1436 D. Dubina, A. Stratan / Engineering Structures 24 (2002) 14311440

Fig. 6. Variation of upper yield strength (ReH) and ultimate tensile strength (Rm) for the component materials (note: MDdeposited metal).

Fig. 7. Variation of conventional yield strength (Rp02) and of the ultimate strength (Rm) for the monotonically loaded specimens. Denomination
of welded specimens is as follows: 3OL37, 5OL52; Cfillet weld, Vsingle bevel weld, Kdouble bevel weld; Mmonotonic loading,
Ccyclic loading.

specimen, which failed by brittle fracture in the weld
and is characterised by an important increase of Rm (40%
for e3). In the case of cyclically loaded specimens, the
ultimate strength is less sensitive to the strain rate (1 to
+5%). Strain rate affects the ultimate strength of welded
specimens approximately in the same extent as observed
in case of component materials. The ratio of
Rm/ReH=SGV is characterised by values of 1.51.6 for
e1, and decreases for higher strain rates (111% for e2
and 410% for e3), with the exception of 5VM specimen.
The total deformation at rupture (Der) diminishes for
higher strain rates (exception 5CM). Contrary to compo-
nent materials, a higher strain rate does imply a reduction
of the ductility for monotonically loaded welded speci-
mens (see Fig. 8). In the case of cyclic loading, high
strain rate leads generally to an increase in the connec-
tion ductility, but also a decrease of Der was observed
in several cases. The results are rather scattered. The
trend of increase of ductility under high strain rates in
cyclic loading could be attributed to the specimen heat-
ing, as noted elsewhere [16]. Scattered results have been
obtained for the ductility of welded specimens monoton-
ically tested by Beg et al. [17]. However, the problem
is a matter of controversy and further research seems to
be necessary.
It is not possible to make a direct comparison of the
three types of welds from the point of view of type of
welding, due to certain defects of the welds (the fillet
weld size was smaller than the specified one5.5 mm
instead of 8.0 mm, while the single bevel weld was
characterised by incomplete penetration at the root of the
weld). It could be observed that generally, double bevel
weld specimens were characterised by higher values of
ultimate strength (see Fig. 9) and ductility, in compari-
son with fillet and single bevel welds.
Two failure types were observed for the welded speci-
mens: rupture in the base metal and rupture in the weld.
Generally, rupture occurred in the base metal (BM); the
overview of failure types could be observed in Table 2.
Failure of double bevel weld specimens was located
in the base metal of the flanges (see Fig. 10), for both
types of loading, and for all three strain rates. Ruptures
in the base metal were accompanied with substantial
plastic elongation and necking. They were ductile, pro-
duced by sliding in planes at 45 with respect to speci-
men faces, typical for ductile ruptures of usual carbon
steel used in constructions. Detachments in planes paral-
lel to the plate faces have been identified in the ruptured
cross-sections. These detachments are due to structural
non-homogeneities of the hot-rolled plates, resulting
from stratification of non-metallic inclusions (sulphides,
silicates, oxides), that can occur on hot-rolling of low
carbon steels. Tests showed detachments of the
deposited metal from the base metal at the weld corners
 D. Dubina, A. Stratan / Engineering Structures 24 (2002) 14311440 1437

Fig. 8. Variation of ductility (elongation at rupture) with strain rate for the component materials (a) and monotonically loaded welded speci-
mens (b).

Fig. 9. Influence of the weld type on the ultimate strength of the welded specimens.

Table 2
Failure type of welded specimensa

Specimen Failure type Specimen Failure type Specimen Failure type

3CM1 BM 3CC11 BM 3CC12 BM

3CM2 BM 3CC21 BM 3CC22 BM
3CM3 BM 3CC31 W 3CC32 N/A
3KM1 BM 3KC11 BM 3KC12 BM
3KM2 BM 3KC21 BM 3KC22 BM
3KM3 BM 3KC31 N/A 3KC32 N/A
3VM1 BM 3VC11 BM (weld cracking) 3VC12 BM
3VM2 BM 3VC21 W 3VC22 BM
3VM3 BM 3VC31 N/A 3VC32 N/A
5CM1 BM 5CC11 BM 5CC12 BM
5CM2 BM 5CC21 W 5CC22 BM
5CM3 BM 5CC31 W 5CC32 N/A
5KM1 BM 5KC11 BM 5KC12 BM
5KM2 BM 5KC21 BM 5KC22 BM
5KM3 BM 5KC31 N/A 5KC32 N/A
5VM1 W 5VC11 W 5VC12 W
5VM2 W 5VC21 W 5VC22 BM
5VM3 W 5VC31 N/A 5VC32 N/A

a
Note: BMfailure in base metal; Wfailure in connection (weld or Heat Affected ZoneHAZ); N/Atest was stopped before specimen
failure due to problem at the grips

as well, and growth of some weld defects, such as lack superior properties of the deposited weld metal, so that
of fusion between beds, observed on the lateral faces of final rupture occurred in the base metal.
the welded connections. It is estimated that growth of Rupture of all monotonically loaded fillet weld speci-
weld defects in double bevel welds was inhibited by the mens occurred in the flange base metal (see Fig. 11a),
1438 D. Dubina, A. Stratan / Engineering Structures 24 (2002) 14311440
Fig. 10. Typical rupture in the base metal of double bevel welded
specimens.
while during cyclic loading, three specimens ruptured in
the welds (see Fig. 11b). Ruptures in the base metal at
monotonic loading occurred with high plastic defor-
mations, but smaller than those observed at double bevel
weld specimens. The rupture aspect was also ductile,
typical for low-carbon steel. Detachment of material in
ruptured cross-sections was observed, similar to the dou-
ble bevel weld specimens. Tests on fillet weld specimens
showed also such phenomena as growth of the gap
between the end plate and flanges, crack initiation from
the corners of the gap, initiation of detachments of the
deposited weld metal from the base metal, and crack
initiation at the weld corners. Weld defects (detachments
of weld metal and cracks) had a limited growth under
applied loading, due to inhibition of crack growth by the
deposited weld metal. The rupture in the weld zone was
caused by the undersized fillet welds, as well as by the
reduced deformation capacity under cyclic loading of the
HAZ, where crack initiation occurred.
Single bevel weld specimens failed both in the base
metal (see Fig. 12a) and in the welds (see Fig. 12b).
Failures of specimens marked 3occurred mainly in the
base metal, at high deformations, close to the ones
observed for the fillet weld specimens. At the same time,
Fig. 11. Failure of fillet weld specimens: in the base metal (a), and in the weld (b).
growth of weld defects (such as lack of fusion between
beds [18]) was observed during the load application.
Specimens marked 5were characterised by failure in
the weld. Failures were initiated either from the defects
of incomplete penetration at the root of the weld,
observed along the width of specimens, or from HAZ
due to reduced ductility and strength. The dimension h
of the defect type partial penetration [19] varied for these
specimens between 3 and 6 mm, which is not admissible
according to the above standard. Fig. 12b shows the rup-
ture of the 5VC11 specimen. It can be observed that rup-
ture initiated at the incomplete penetration at the root of
the weld, and continued into the HAZ, extending into
the weld through fragile structures and internal weld
defects (lack of fusion between beds). Different types of
failure of single bevel weld specimens marked 3and
5under monotonic loading reveal the fact that there
were some variations of technological parameters during
specimens manufacture. These parameters could be: the
welding speed, amperage, and the gap between the end
plate and flanges.
As can be observed in Table 2, cyclic loading
increases the probability of failures in welds, contrary to
failures in the base metal for fillet weld and single bevel
specimens. In the case of fillet weld specimens, the cor-
relation between the type of failure (base metal vs weld)
and the type of loading (monotonic vs cyclic) is not so
evident, due to small dimensions of the fillet weld speci-
mens that failed in the welds (see Fig. 13). Failures of
single bevel weld specimens were mainly due to weld
defects at the root of the weld.
4. Conclusions
The experimental tests performed in the frame of the
present research showed once again the importance of
quality of welding. From the three types of welds studied
(double bevel, fillet, and single bevel), the ideal behav-
iour (rupture in the base metal) was observed for the
double bevel welds. This fact is attributed to the lack of
 D. Dubina, A. Stratan / Engineering Structures 24 (2002) 14311440
Fig. 12. Failure of single bevel weld specimens: in the base metal (a), in the weld (b), types of observed defects (c). Note: LTSlack of fusion
between beds, Saoblong sulphides, PIincomplete penetration.
Fig. 13. Correlation between failure in welds (full markers) and weld
size for fillet weld specimens.
defects for this welding procedure, in comparison to the
other two procedures. Fillet weld specimens were
characterised by an intermediary behaviour, the main
cause of failures in welds being the undersized welds.
This fact demonstrates one of the disadvantages of this
type of welding, which is the difficulty to control and
verify the weld size, particularly at the building site. Sin-
gle bevel weld specimens had in general an unsatisfac-
tory behaviour, due to defects of the type incomplete
penetration at the root of the weld, which initiated cracks
in the weld region.
The behaviour of the three weld types should be ana-
lysed in conjunction with the technological and econ-
omical aspects of welding. Single bevel and double bevel
welds require supplementary mechanical operations
(edge preparation), while double bevel and fillet welds
require overhead position in the case of site welding.
The following recommendation are proposed for the
particular case of beam-to-column joints in moment-
resisting steel frames:
Double bevel and fillet welds are recommended for
shop welding of the subassemblies, with the condition
1439
of strict verification of weld size in the case of fil-
let welds.
Single bevel welds are adequate for site welding, but
rewelding of the root is compulsory in order to elim-
inate defects at the root of the weld.
A strain rate in the range of 0.030.06 s1 (typical for
steel members yielding under seismic action) has as
effect the increase in the yield strength and, to a lower
extent, of the ultimate strength of welded connections;
for structural steel this phenomenon is known in general.
Additionally, a reduction of ductility (up to 27%) is
present in the case of high strain rates for monotonic
loading, which is an essential characteristic for an
adequate seismic performance of beam-to-column joints.
However, a decrease of ductility due to high strain rates
is not straightforward for cyclic loading, were the results
are rather scattered.
Cyclic loading increases the probability of weld frac-
ture for partial resistant joints (undersized fillet welds in
the present study), and for welds with defects (single
bevel welds). It should be noticed that the alternating
cyclic loading, which has not been possible to be applied
in the research, could have a different influence on the
behaviour of welded connections.
It is to be stressed that weld defects such as undersized
fillet welds and incomplete penetration single bevel
welds were observed both for beam-to-column joints
tests, as well as for welded connection tests. This fact
shows the need for strict control of welding quality.
Acknowledgements
The present research was performed with the support
of the Romanian National Education MinistryWorld
Bank C/16 Grant Reliability of Buildings Located in
Strong Seismic Areas in Romania.
1440 D. Dubina, A. Stratan / Engineering Structures 24 (2002) 14311440
References
[1] SAC. Connection test summaries. SAC Joint Venture, Report No.
SAC-96-02, Sacramento, CA; 1995.
[2] SAC. Interim Guidelines Advisory No. 1. Supplement to FEMA-
267 Interim Guidelines: Evaluation, Repair, Modification and
Design of Welded Steel Moment Frame Structures. SAC Joint
Venture, Report No. SAC-96-03, Sacramento, CA; 1997.
[3] Nakashima M, Roeder CW, Maruoka Y. Steel moment frames
for earthquakes in United States and Japan. Journal of Structural
Engineering, ASCE 2000;126(8):8618.
[4] Nakashima M, Tateyama E, Morisako K, Suita K. Full-Scale test
of beam-column subassemblages having connection details of
shop-welding type. Structural Engineering Worldwide, Elsevier
Science (CD-ROM), Paper Ref. T158-7; 1998.
[5] El-Tawil S, Mikesell T, Kunnath SK. Effect of local details and
yield ratio on behaviour of FR steel connections. Journal of Struc-
tural Engineering, ASCE 2000;126(1):7987.
[6] Dexter RJ, Melendrez MI. Through-thickness properties of col-
umn flanges in welded moment connections. Journal of Structural
Engineering, ASCE 2000;126(1):2431.
[7] Mao C, Ricles J, Lu LW, Fisher J. Effect of local details on
ductility of welded moment connections. Journal of Structural
Engineering, ASCE 2001;127(9):103644.
[8] Mazzolani FM, Gioncu V. Ductility of seismic-resistant steel
structures. London: SPON PRESS, 2002 pp. 464.
[9] Morrison JL. The influence of rate of strain in tension tests.
Engineer 1932;158:183.
[10] Quinney H. Time effect in testing metals. Engineer
1934;157:332.
[11] Manjoine MJ. Influence of rate of strain and temperature on yield
stress of mild steel. Journal of Applied Mechanics
1944;11:2118.
[12] Dubina D, Ciutina A, Stratan A. Cyclic tests of double-sided
beam-to-column joints. Journal of Structural Engineering
2001;127(2):12936.
[13] Dubina D, Stratan A, Ciutina A. Cyclic tests on bolted steel dou-
ble-sided beam-to-column joints. NATO Advanced Research
Workshop. The paramount role of joints into the reliable response
of structures. from the rigid and pinned joints to the notion of
semi-rigidity. Ouranoupolis, Greece, 2123 May 2000.
[14] Moisa T, Romanu R, Dragoi S. Experimental study of welded
specimens from steel structures under seismic action - preparation
of specimens, Report No. 25/2000. Institute of Welding and Test-
ing of Materials Timisoara - ISIM (in Romanian).
[15] SR EN 10002-1. Metallic materialsTensile testingPart 1:
Method of test (at ambient temperature). 1990, European Com-
mittee for StandardisationCEN (in Romanian).
[16] Suita K, Nakashima M, Morisako K. Tests of welded beam-col-
umn subassemblies. II: Detailed behaviour. Journal of Structural
Engineering, ASCE 1998;124(11):124552.
[17] Beg D, Plumier A, Remec C, Sanchez L. Cyclic behaviour of
beam-to-column bare steel connections: Influence of strain rate,
Chapter 3.1. In: Mazzolani FM, editor. Moment Resistant Con-
nections of Steel Building Frames in Seismic Areas. London: E&
FN SPON; 2000.
[18] Moisa T, Pascu R, Romanu R. Study on causes of weld fractures
in extended end-plate connections under cyclic loads, Report No.
409/1999. Institute of Welding and Testing of Materials Timi-
soaraISIM (in Romanian).
[19] SR EN 25817. Arc-welded joints in steel. Guidance on quality
levels for imperfections. 1993, European Committee for Stan-
dardisationCEN (in Romanian).