Steel's Performance in the Northridge Earthquake

by John Shipp
Immediately after the Northridge Earthquake, damage surveyors found a surprising number
of connection failures in steel moment-frame buildings that had been designed for seismic
loads. Further investigation is revealing even more of these steel structures with connection
damage that, in many cases, is not readily apparent. A massive research effort will soon be
underway to study, retrofit, and design steel moment-frame buildings.

Fig 1. Fracture of a column flange and web at a moment connection.

Introduction
The magnitude 6.7 Northridge Earthquake of January 17, 1994, was the most significant
earthquake to occur in the United States since the 1906 San Francisco event. Besides being one of
the most costly natural disasters in the nation's history (current loss estimates are as high as $15
billion), this earthquake raises many questions regarding the state of knowledge and practice in
earthquake-resistant design.
The Northridge Earthquake caused extensive structural damage to more than 100 modern, steel
moment- frame buildings. These structures were designed as special moment-resisting-frame
buildings and apparently met the stringent detailing requirements of the current building code,

which were intended to ensure ductile performance during major earthquakes.

Although independent testing agencies had performed special inspection during construction, in
some cases it was evident that poor welding practices were partly to blame for the observed
damage. Faulty welding was not observed at all locations, however. Another reason for the extent
of observed damage was the intensity of ground accelerations (both horizontal and vertical) at
these sites-in some cases, as much as twice those anticipated by the building code. Intense ground
shaking and faulty welding in themselves, however, do not adequately explain the observed brittle
behavior.
The most alarming aspect of the post-earthquake steel building failures is that structural damage is
not necessarily obvious. The Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC), the Applied
Technology Council (ATC), and the California Universities for Research in Earthquake
Engineering (CUREe) are joining forces in a multimillion-dollar project to address this and other
related issues.
Ductile Steel Frames
Ductile steel frames have long been considered one of the premier lateral-force-resisting systems.
The Northridge Earthquake, however, suggests that there are many areas in which we must
improve the performance of these steel-frame systems.
In a number of steel-frame buildings affected by the Northridge Earthquake, failures in the boltedweb, welded-flange connections in the seismic moment frames were reported (see the bottom
figure at left). Despite the careful (or in some cases, not too careful) detailing and inspection,
damage to moment frames included brittle failures of the beams' flange weld connections, and
fracture of column flanges including portions of the column web. Permanentdrift (displacement of
one floor relative to another) was observed, but in some cases required surveyors to detect.
These failures did not result in any building collapses, and in many instances, the accompanying
nonstructural damage was slight enough to make the subsequent discovery of extensive connection
damage a genuine surprise. Nevertheless, the poor performance of these connections merits careful
scrutiny regarding the repair of damaged joints and careful consideration regarding the continued
use of bolted-web, welded-flange connections.
Because steel-frame connection failures have not been widely reported after other earthquakes and
such failures in Southern California were only recently discovered, opinions are currently evolving
about joint failures' causes, significance, and solutions.
Description of Connection Failures
Although other types of steel connection failures have been discovered, this article focuses on
those in bolted-web, welded-flange moment connections. These connections are the most prevalent
in steel buildings and therefore provide the largest pool of failure data. Based upon a review of
available information, joint failures included cracks across the column-flange thickness, weld
metal fractures, fractures at weld-metal/column-flange interfaces, cracks in fillet welds at shear
connection plates, and cracks in beam shear connection plates along the bolt line or in the plate at
the end of the fillet welds.
There is a broad range of building characteristics in structures reporting connection failures.
Building location varies greatly, up to 25 km from the epicenter. Building height is from one to 22
stories, and it appears that most of the failures occurred in the upper half to two-thirds of tall
buildings and at all levels in low-rise buildings (fewer than six stories). Connection failure rates
range from less than 10% to as high as almost 100% over a large number of floors or in specific

compass directions.
Failures occurred in connections with and without column-flange stiffeners as well as connections
with and without return welds on the shear connection plates. Both wide-flange columns and builtup box sections appear to have been affected. Failures have been noted in buildings with a
relatively small number of frame bays in each direction as well as in buildings where nearly every
girder line is part of a moment frame. It is interesting to note that many of the affected buildings
appear to be fairly new, with most having been completed in the 1980s. Some of the buildings
damaged were under construction when the earthquake struck.
From a materials standpoint, it appears that most of these frames were welded according to
theStructural Welding Code of the American Welding Society (AWS). Several of the recently
completed buildings and those under construction were field-welded using an AWS-approved arcwelding process; it is not known if this was the case in the older buildings affected. Steel for
beams and columns was of acceptable stock. Selected toughness testing of steel and weld metal
showed that toughness exceeded the lower limits of acceptability.
Possible Causes of Connection Failures
As more and more cases of ductile-frame connection failures were reported, a systematic search
for possible causes began. This search led to a recent meeting sponsored by the American Institute
of Steel Construction where a panel of design, welding, and research experts listened to findings
presented by a number of engineers investigating connection failures in Southern California.
An emerging consensus suggests that these highly stressed joints are extremely sensitive to even
minor imperfections in the welds. At least at the bottom flange, the presence of the backing bar in
the final connection appears to permit cracking to initiate at levels of strain that, taken for the
section as a whole, are less than those required to develop significant plastic rotation in the section.
The figure at right illustrates the areas of fused metal when the backing bar is left in place. In this
figure, one can see the presence of a potential stress riser at the face of the backing bar and column
flange below the area that is fused by the initial welding. Fracto-graphic examination of several
failed welds suggests that cracking initiated at this point. The tendency of the stress riser to initiate
cracking may be aggravated by the slag, or inclusions in the weld material.
Additional research will be required to clearly describe the parameters that led to the different
observed failures.
Repair and New Design Concepts
Because the causes of the connection failures are not precisely known, the most effective repair
strategy also is uncertain. Nevertheless, structural engineers are being called upon to recommend
both repair details for existing buildings and revisions to moment-frame connection details for new
building construction. Suggestions include the following.
Return to a fully welded connection (welded flange and welded web).
Remove the backing bar (and run-off tab), gouge out the weld root, and reinforce the weld
(figure below).
Use weld metal with a specified toughness and alter weld-preparation procedures to
include more thorough preheating and controlled cooling.
Reduce the level of stress present in the weld itself with the intent to render less critical any

imperfections in the weld. The figure following illustrates two approaches in using this technique:
triangular ribs and cover plates.

A limited testing program is in progress at the University of Texas. This testing is partially funded
by the owner of a damaged building that was under construction at the time of the Northridge
Earthquake. Consequently, the program focuses on finding a solution for one particular project.
Preliminary results from these tests indicate that suggestions 1 through 3 above are not sufficient
to obtain the required ductility. In addition, tests using cover plates did not achieve satisfactory
performance until column-flange stiffener (continuity) plates were included in the repair detail and
a weld filler material with increased notch toughness was used.
Conclusions
The number of buildings discovered with weld connection failures continues to increase as more
building owners and engineers become aware of this problem. Undoubtedly, there are other
buildings that are yet to be discovered. In many structures, damage may not be obvious, so
judgment will have to be used to develop the appropriate inspection and repair program for each

building.
It is clear that a comprehensive test program of large-member, bolted-web, welded-flange frame
joints is required. SEAOC, ATC, and CUREe are working together to organize, acquire funding,
and direct a test program to determine the cause of observed failures. The goal is to develop
professional practices and recommend standards for the repair, retrofit, and design of steel
moment-frame buildings so that they provide reliable, cost-effective seismic performance in future
earthquakes.
The Northridge Earthquake has given the building industry the opportunity to thoughtfully assess
the causes of unacceptable performance and suggest effective solutions to improve joint reliability.
It is essential that the current concern of the engineering profession and the steel industries be
maintained and translated into effective action until acceptable solutions are developed.
A technical paper entitled "Northridge Earthquake, 17 January, 1994: Seismic Performance of
Steel" was presented at the American Iron and Steel Institute 1994 General Meeting.

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