Brittle fracture of beam-column welded joints containing defects

The 1994 Northridge and 1995 Kobe earthquakes revealed that beam-column connections in steel moment resisting frames are susceptible to brittle fracture. There has been a large world-wide research effort aimed at improving this type of connection and predicting brittle behaviour. This paper presents details of a test program on beam-column models that aim to reproduce the types of stresses and loads applied to full-scale beam to column connections without the associated costs of full-scale testing. The test program aims at examining several factors affecting the resistance of beam-column connections to brittle fracture.