Brittle Fracture of Beam-to-Column Welded Connections in Tall Buildings

Abstract

Full-scale fracture test was done for beam-to-column welded connections which were fabricated on the basis of current practice of tall buildings in Japan. Three different modes of brittle fracture were observed, which are named divot pull-out fracture of column flange, scallop root fracture of beam flange, and web-fillet root fracture of beam flange. The cumulative ductility prior to the fracture is greater than 20 which seems enough to resist a severe earthquake. Such satisfactory ductility is attributed to low yield-ratio, rich ductility, and ample notch-toughness of the steel newly specified in JIS-1994 as well as to good quality control in welding process.