Effect of Beam Tension on Cyclic Performance

of WUF-W Steel Moment Connection

Hyoung-Bo Sim 1; Graeme Ballantyne 2; Albert Chen 3; and Chia-Ming Uang 4
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Abstract: The effect of axial force on the flexural strength of steel members, not connections, has been extensively researched for nonseismic
loading conditions. To address the latter for seismic applications, four nominally identical beam-column subassemblies with a welded
unreinforced flange-welded web (WUF-W) moment connection were cyclically tested. The specimen design included built-up I-shape beams
(db ¼ 1,118 mm) and built-up I-shape columns (dc ¼ 1,219 mm). Because the member sizes and weights significantly exceeded those permitted
by current standards for use as a prequalified WUF-W connection, all except one specimen had flared beam flanges with the goal of protecting the
beam flange complete-joint-penetration CJP groove welds. A constant axial tension force in the beam (16% of nominal beam yield strength) was
applied to three specimens, whereas one flared specimen did not have axial tension. When tension was present, testing showed that beam local
buckling drastically diminished. A higher flexural strength was developed in the plastic hinge, indicating that the Cpr value in current standards for
capacity design is nonconservative when tension is present. Fracture in the beam web instead of flange CJP welds dominated the failure mode
because of a change in the load transfer mechanism. More stringent beam web welding requirements than those specified in current standards were
shown to improve connection performance. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)ST.1943-541X.0001833. © 2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
Author keywords: Connections; Cyclic tests; Seismic design; Steel; Metal and composite structures.

Introduction
Based on the observed failure after the Northridge, California,
earthquake in 1994, a number of field-welded steel moment con-
nections such as the reduced beam section (RBS) and connections
with beam flange reinforcements for applications in special mo-
ment frames (SMFs) have been developed by the SAC Joint Venture
(FEMA 2000) and adopted into AISC 358 (AISC 2010a). The in-
tent of most of these connections is to move the plastic hinge lo-
cation in the beam away from the face of the column, but this is not
the case for the welded unreinforced flange-welded web (WUF-W)
connection. Although the configuration of this connection is similar
to that of the welded flange-bolted web pre-Northridge connection,
the former uses several design and detailing features to prevent con-
nection fractures. This is achieved through special detailing require-
ments associated with the welds joining the beam flanges to the
column flange, the welds joining the beam web to the column
flange, and the shape and finish of the weld access holes.
The WUF-W connection was mainly developed based on two
research projects (Ricles et al. 2002; Lee et al. 2005a, b). Fig. 1
shows the details of a typical WUF-W connection (AISC 2010a),
which is an all-welded connection in that both beam flanges and
web are welded directly to the column flange. The beam flanges
are connected to the column flange using complete-joint-penetration
1
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, In-
cheon National Univ., Incheon 22012, South Korea. E-mail: hbsim@inu.ac.kr
2
Senior Project Engineer, Thornton Tomasetti, San Francisco, CA
90017. E-mail: GBallantyne@ThorntonTomasetti.com
3
Associate Principal, Thornton Tomasetti, Los Angeles, CA 90017.
E-mail: AChen@ThorntonTomasetti.com
4
Professor, Dept. of Structural Engineering, Univ. of California, San
Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093 (corresponding author). E-mail: cmu@ucsd.edu
Note. This manuscript was submitted on June 22, 2015; approved on
February 28, 2017; published online on May 31, 2017. Discussion period
open until October 31, 2017; separate discussions must be submitted for
individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Structural Engineer-
ing, © ASCE, ISSN 0733-9445.
(CJP) groove welds. The beam web is first bolted to a shear plate
for erection purposes. The beam web is then attached to the column
flange using a CJP weld between weld access holes. The shear plate
serves as a backing bar for this CJP weld between the beam web
and the column flange. A special weld access hole (Ricles et al.
2002; AWS 2009) that is longer than that commonly used in pre-
Northridge connections and has a special profile is required, where
the shear plate is fillet-welded to the column flange and the beam
web. Two beam sizes (W36 × 150 and W24 × 94) were tested.
Therefore, AISC 358 permits the WUF-W connection to be used
for beam sizes up to W36 × 150 and column sizes no deeper than
914 mm (or 610 mm for built-up columns). A statistical analysis
(Roeder 2000) of the tested WUF-W moment connections sug-
gested an expected plastic rotational capacity of 0.041 rad, and this
suggestion is reflected in ASCE 41 (ASCE 2013).
The WUF-W moment connection was chosen for the construction
of the Transbay Transit Center in downtown San Francisco. The
structural design called for very large sizes of built-up I-shape beams
(depth ¼ 1,118 mm) and columns (depth ¼ 1,016 mm), which
significantly exceeded the section dimensions and weight limitations
permitted by AISC 358. Furthermore, the unique configuration of the
frame layout created tension in the beams due to gravity loads. In
support of the design and construction for this project, a full-scale
moment connection test program was conducted. The objective
was to (1) evaluate if the WUF-W connection, with some modifica-
tions if needed, could be used for the much larger beam and column
sizes, and more significantly (2) evaluate the effects of beam tension
on connection performance.
Test Program
Test Matrix
Four full-scale moment connection specimens with the same beam
and column sizes were cyclically tested. Table 1 shows the test ma-
trix. Specimen 1 served as the reference specimen, in which no

© ASCE 04017102-1 J. Struct. Eng.

J. Struct. Eng., 2017, 143(9): -1--1

 axial tension was applied, whereas the remaining three specimens
all had constant axial tension in the beam. Flared beam flanges
were used in all but Specimen 2 in order to evaluate if flaring
the flanges, i.e., widening the flange width near the column face,
CJP beam web to
column flange weld
Single plate to
beam web weld
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was necessary to protect the beam flange CJP welds. Because the
beams were built up from steel plates, flaring was introduced while
cutting the flange plates.
Specimen Configuration and Connection Details
The dimensions of the built-up beam and column sections are pro-
vided in Table 2. Fig. 2 shows the overall geometry of the speci-
mens; the flared beam flange profile is also shown. A572 Gr. 50
steel was specified for all the plates; the mechanical characteristics
of the steel are summarized in Table 3.
The connection details are shown in Fig. 3. Simulated field

Single plate to welding of the beam-to-column moment connections was done

column flange weld by the flux-cored arc welding (FCAW) process using an Innershield
Erection bolts in standard holes
NR-305 [American Welding Society (AWS) E70T-6] electrode for
or horizontal short slots are
permitted as needed for
erection loads and safety Table 3. Steel Material Characteristics

Fig. 1. WUF-W moment connection Specimen Beam Yield Tensile Elongationa

number component stress (MPa) strength (MPa) (%)
2 Flange 341 515 19.9
Web 354 518 50.5
Table 1. Test Matrix
1 and 3 Flange 341 515 19.9
Specimen number Beam flange flare Beam axial tension force Web 381 552 47.1
4 Flange 335 460 31.5
1 Yes No
Web 381 552 47.1
2 No Yes
a
3 Yes Yes Elongation based on a 51-mm gauge length.
4 Yes Yes

BACK 25
BEAM WEB
GOUGE 8 .
Table 2. Member Cross Section Dimensions TO COLUMN
DEMAND
Depth Web thickness Flange width Flange CRITICAL 51
Member (mm) (mm) (mm) thickness (mm)

OVERLAP
Beam 1,118 25 610 51

6
Column 1,016 76a 762 51 CONTINUITY
a PLATE
Reduces to 25 mm in Zone A (Fig. 2).

19
30°

16 TYP IN
16 ZONE A 28
610
762

SHEAR TAB
.
22 TO COLUMN
SPECIMEN 2
TAPER WEB PLATE
(a)
R610

@ TRANSITION 152
51 mm CONTINUITY PL

ZONE A (N) 6x25x25 RUNOFF TAB

25
610
762

FLANGE 762x51
REMOVE THE (N) RUNOFF TAB &
WEB 914x25
GRIND OFF WELD & SHEAR TAB
TYP

SPECIMENS 1, 3, 4 TO TOP OF ACCESS HOLE

SECTION C-C 51
127

C C
OVERLAP
1118

16
6

CJP
16
127

BUILT UP BEAM
19
30°

ZONE B FLANGE 610x51

FLANGE 762x51 WEB 1016x25
WEB 914x76
CJP
TYP IN 28
ZONE B
ZONE A SHEAR TAB
.
1016 22 TO COLUMN

(b)

Fig. 3. Beam web CJP details: (a) Specimens 1, 2, and 3; (b) Specimen
Fig. 2. Specimen configuration (unit: millimeter) 4 (unit: millimeter)

© ASCE 04017102-2 J. Struct. Eng.

J. Struct. Eng., 2017, 143(9): -1--1

 PIN
N SUPPORT ASSEMB
BLY (TYP.)

2340
AM
BEA
BEAM
M ACING
BRA
BRAC
CING

COLUMN BEAM TENSION FRAME

3830 BRACING
R DETAILS
SEE FIG.5 FOR

630
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7665

3830 REACTION WALL

THREE 2224-KN
ACTUATORS

RETE BLOCK
CONCR

STRONGG
FLOOR

478
80
(a)

(b)

Fig. 4. Test setup: (a) elevation; (b) overall view

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J. Struct. Eng., 2017, 143(9): -1--1

 SPECIMEN
COLUMN 51-MM DIA. STRESS ROD an axial tension force of 4,893 kN (16% of the beam nominal ten-
(4 TOTAL)
W12X152 STRUT sile yield strength) to the beam. To simulate the restraining effect
38-MM PL.
provided by both the beam bottom flange lateral bracing and
composite concrete slab, two pairs of lateral bracing systems were
used to brace the beam. A pair of steel guide columns was provided
on both sides of the beam via a cross beam and braced laterally with
diagonal members. The column was also laterally braced near the
SPECIMEN ATTACHMENTS 1334-KN JACK
BEAM TO BEAM (4 TOTAL) top continuity plate level of the moment connection. The cyclic
ELEVATION loading sequence specified in Chapter K of AISC 341 (AISC
W12X152 STRUT
2010b) was used for testing. The prescribed displacement was im-
76-MM PL. (TYP.)
posed to the end of the beam with three 2,224-kN actuators until the
specimens failed.
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Test Results
PLAN

Fig. 5. Configuration of beam tensioning frame Global Response

flat welding and an Innershield NR-232 (Lincoln Electric, Cleve-
land, Ohio) (AWS E71T-8) electrode for vertical and overhead
welding. Steel backing for the beam bottom flange was removed,
and a reinforcing fillet was added after the root pass was
backgouged. Although not required by AISC 358, the same treat-
ment for the steel backing was also applied to the top flange weld.
The WUF-W connection requires the use of a special weld access
hole profile as specified in AWS D1.8 (AWS 2009). AISC 358 also
requires the full length of the beam web between weld access holes
to be welded to the column flange, but weld tabs are not required;
however, the observed failure mode in the first three specimens
clearly showed the importance of beam web CJP welding. There-
fore, for Specimen 4, it was decided to use weld tabs, which were
removed after welding.
Test Setup and Loading Scheme
Fig. 4 depicts the overall geometry of the test setup. A self-
equilibrium loading system, as shown in Fig. 5, was used to apply
Moment at Column Face
Fig. 6 shows the global response of the specimens. All four spec-
imens met the acceptance criteria of AISC 341 by sustaining more
than one complete cycle at an interstory drift angle of 0.04 radian,
and the required flexural strength of the connection, determined at
the face of the column, was greater than 80% of the nominal plastic
moment of the beam. The cyclic performance of the flared connec-
tion specimens (Specimens 1, 3, and 4) was improved as compared
to nonflared Specimen 2 (Fig. 7). The presence of beam tension
in Specimens 2, 3, and 4 also showed a significant effect on the
deformation and energy dissipation capacities of the specimens.
The improvement in performance from Specimens 3 to 4, which
is discussed subsequently, was mainly due to the use of weld tabs
for beam web CJP welding.
Failure Mode
Fig. 8 shows the tested specimens with the beam tensioning struts
removed to provide an unobstructed view of the beams. Without
beam tensioning (Specimen 1), the beam showed local buckling
at 4% drift, and the panel zone also yielded. Lateral-torsional buck-
ling of the beam was observed at 6% drift. Fig. 8(a) shows the

Moment at Column Face

20 1.5 20 1.5
1.0 0.8 Mpn 1.0
(x1000 kN-m)

(x1000 kN-m)

10 10
0.5 0.5
M/Mpn

M/Mpn

0 0.0 0 0.0
-0.5 -0.5
-10 -10
-1.0 -1.0
-20 -1.5 -20 -1.5
-8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8
Story Drift Ratio (%) Story Drift Ratio (%)
(a) (b)
Moment at Column Face

Moment at Column Face

20 1.5 20 1.5
1.0 1.0
(x1000 kN-m)

(x1000 kN-m)

10 10
0.5 0.5
M/Mpn

M/Mpn

0 0.0 0 0.0
-0.5 -0.5
-10 -10
-1.0 -1.0
-20 -1.5 -20 -1.5
-8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8
Story Drift Ratio (%) Story Drift Ratio (%)
(c) (d)

Fig. 6. Comparison of global response: (a) Specimen 1; (b) Specimen 2; (c) Specimen 3; (d) Specimen 4

© ASCE 04017102-4 J. Struct. Eng.

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 0.08
mode, as shown in Fig. 8(a), was not observed. Instead, fracture

Interstory Drift Angle (rad.)

in the beam web CJP weld shown in Figs. 8(b–d) occurred in these
0.06 specimens. The fracture started from the top and bottom ends of the
CJP weld and then propagated toward the midheight of the beam.
0.04 The fracture started at 4, 4, and 5% drifts in Specimens 2, 3, and 4,
respectively. With a diminishing shear transfer capacity in the beam
web once fracture occurred, beam flanges were overloaded by the
0.02 additional shear, which in turn caused fracture in the beam flanges.
Fig. 9(b) shows the fracture in the beam web CJP weld and the
0.0 shear plate fillet weld of Specimen 2, which eventually led to frac-
1 2 3 4 ture at the CJP weld of the beam bottom flange. Fig. 9(c) shows the
(a) Specimen No. fractures in both flanges of Specimen 3; these fractures initiated
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30 from the end of the weld access holes.

Based on the observed failure mode of Specimens 2 and 3, it be-
25 came obvious that the detailing and workmanship of the beam
Dissipated Energy)

20 web CJP weld were critical. Although not required by AISC 358,
the weld procedure of Specimen 4 was modified as shown in
(MN-m)

15 Fig. 3(b). Weld runoff tabs were used at both ends of the beam
web CJP weld, and after welding, the runoff tabs were removed.
10
The shear plate as well as the beam web weld at both the top
5 and bottom ends were ground flush to the weld access hole (Sim
and Uang 2012). With this modification, the initiation of the beam
0
1 2 3 4 web weld cracks was delayed, and cyclic performance improved.
(b) Specimen No. Testing was stopped after completing two cycles at 6% drift. A small
crack was observed in the top flange weld access hole. It was specu-
Fig. 7. Comparison of cyclic performance: (a) interstory drift angle; lated that the same fracture mode as in Specimen 3 might have oc-
(b) dissipated energy curred if the testing were to continue to a higher drift level.

Effects of Beam Tension

deformed configuration after the specimen completed three cycles
at 7% drift. Fig. 9(a) shows that a crack developed at the end of the
weld access hole.
The failure mode changed when beam axial tension was present
in the other three specimens. The conventional beam buckling
Buckling Mode
Fig. 10(a) shows the recorded beam flange flexural strain response
of Specimen 1; the strain gauge was placed at a distance of 76 mm

Fracture Area

(a) (b)

Fracture Area
Fracture Area

(c) (d)

Fig. 8. Comparison of failure mode (tension struts removed for specimens with beam tension): (a) Specimen 1; (b) Specimen 2; (c) Specimen 3;
(d) Specimen 4

© ASCE 04017102-5 J. Struct. Eng.

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 Normalized Strain
Crack -15 -5 0 5 10 15

Applied Load (MN)

2

-2

(a) -4
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-0.02 0.0 0.02

(a) Strain (mm/mm)

Applied Load (MN)

2

-2

-4

Beam Web Side Shear Plate Side -0.02 0.0 0.02

(b) (b) Strain (mm/mm)

Fig. 10. Beam bottom flange strains (up to 4% drift cycles):

(a) Specimen 1; (b) Specimen 4

4
Applied Load (MN)

2
Top Flange Bottom Flange
(c) 0

Fig. 9. Fracture pattern: (a) Specimen 1; (b) Specimen 2; (c) Specimen 3 -2

-4

from the column face. Such a symmetric response pattern under 0 5 10 15 20

positive and negative loading was changed to a ratcheting pattern
toward the tensile direction when beam tension was present.
Fig. 10(b) shows a representative response from Specimen 4; this
pattern was observed in all the strain gauge and rosette readings
from the beam flanges and web when beam tension was applied.
The measured elongation of the beam in the plastic hinge region
within a distance of 1,370 mm from the column face, as shown
in Fig. 11, corresponds to this ratcheting effect in the tensile direc-
tion. This lengthening effect also explains the lack of local buckling
in the tensioned beam of Specimens 2, 3, and 4. The effects of a
concrete slab, which was not included in the test specimens, on
beam lengthening is likely to be less in actual construction.
Flexural Strength and Cyclic Hardening Ratio
The specimen beams at the plastic hinge region were subjected to
combined bending moment, shear, and axial tension. Assuming no
buckling, the effect of beam axial force, either in compression and
tension, on the plastic moment strength at the section level is well
established (Joint Committee of the Welding Research Council
and ASCE 1971). When the axial load is larger than 15% of the
yield axial strength (Py ), the reduced plastic moment (Mpc ) can be
computed by the following:
Axial Deformation (mm)
Fig. 11. Specimen 4 beam elongation
 
P
M pc ¼ 1.18 1 − Mp ð1Þ
Py
With an axial force equal to 15% of Py in the beam, the reduc-
tion of plastic moment was minimal (about 1%) for Specimens 2 to
4, and thus its effect can be ignored, but the presence of tension
would increase the lateral-torsional buckling strength of a beam
(Tomás et al. 2013).
With the presence of a shear, theoretical solutions for the re-
duced plastic moment are also available; however, testing from past
research consistently showed the significant effects of strain hard-
ening, and therefore, the Joint Committee of the Welding Research
Council and ASCE (1971) suggests that the plastic moment need
not be reduced if the shear does not exceed the plastic shear
strength (V p ) of the beam web. This is the case for all the specimens
tested; Specimen 4 experienced the largest beam shear (0.88V p ).
For shear links under cyclic loading, Kasai and Popov (1986) also
reported that the interaction between moment and shear is weak.

© ASCE 04017102-6 J. Struct. Eng.

J. Struct. Eng., 2017, 143(9): -1--1

 2.0
Fig. 12 shows all four specimens’ cyclic strain hardening ratio,

Strain Hardening Ratio

1.4 which is defined as that between the maximum moment applied at
1.5 the column face and the unreduced plastic moment calculated based
on the measured yield stresses. For capacity design, AISC 358
1.0 specifies a hardening ratio (Cpr ) of 1.4. Without beam tension,
Specimen 1 had a ratio very close to 1.4. The ratios of the remaining
0.5 three specimens varied from 1.33 to 1.64. Specimens 2 and 3 had
lower hardening ratios because of premature fracture in the beam
0.0 web CJP welds. With the improved weld detailing, Specimen 4
1 2 3 4 showed a higher hardening ratio (1.64). Whereas the maximum
Specimen No. flexural strength of Specimen 1 was capped because local buckling
in the beam, strength degradation of Specimen 4 was not observed
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Fig. 12. Beam cyclic strain hardening ratio
Kusuda and Thurlimann (1958) developed lower-bound solu-
tions for the reduced plastic moment due to the combined action
of shear and axial load. Under monotonic loading, testing of three
W10 × 29 specimens, in which the reduced plastic moment deter-
mined from testing was defined as that when the measured response
started to deviate significantly from the elastic response, showed a
good correlation; however, the actual strengths were significantly
higher than the reduced plastic moments thus defined. Although
this definition is conservative if the objective is to determine the
design strength, it is not conservative from the capacity design
point of view.
-15 -10
600
-1% Drift
400 -2% Drift
-3% Drift
Beam Depth (mm)
up to 6% story drift ratio (Fig. 6) because the lengthening effect mi-
tigated local buckling. Therefore, it is prudent to use a higher Cpr
ratio when beam tension is present.
Weld Fracture Mode
Although the effect of axial force or shear on the flexural strength
of a member has been extensively researched, research on its cyclic
effect on the member end connection is very limited. This test pro-
gram showed that the presence of a small-to-moderate amount of
axial tension in the beam changed not only the buckling mode but
also the weld fracture pattern, which indicates that the force transfer
mechanism was also altered.
Beam webs were instrumented with strain gauges along the
beam depth. Fig. 13 shows the flexural strain profiles of Section 1
(in Specimen 1) and Section 2 (in Specimen 4) near the column
face. For Specimen 1, the entire section was plastified, with the
Normalized Strain outer fibers experiencing larger strains. The more uniform flexural
-5 0 5 10 15 strain profiles along the beam depth of Specimen 4 indicate that a
higher proportion of the beam tension was transmitted to the col-
umn through the beam web; this is consistent with the more uni-
form and longer flaking region of the whitewash in the web shown

200 -4% Drift in Fig. 8(d). When the beam remained in the elastic region, it was
expected that the beam tension would be distributed to the beam
0 flanges and web based on their relative axial stiffnesses (EAi ).
Section 1 As the beam flanges near the column started to yield because of
460 mm flexure, the Young modulus (E) reduced significantly, and therefore
-200 Beam Depth
(+) a larger share of the beam tension was redirected to the beam web.
-400 At the column face, the combined effect of beam flexural yielding

-600
-0.03 -0.02 -0.01 0.0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.06
(a) 30
Strain (mm/mm)
Normalized Strain 0.04
-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20
600
-1% Drift
Normalized Strain
0.02 10
Strain (mm/mm)

400 -2% Drift

-3% Drift
Beam Depth (mm)

200 -4% Drift 0.0 0

0 76 mm
Section 2 -0.02 -10
560 mm
-200 Specimen 2
Beam Depth
(+) Specimen 3
-0.04 -20
-400 Specimen 4 Location of Strain
Measurement
-600 -0.06 -30
-0.03 -0.02 -0.01 0.0 0.01 0.02 0.03 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4
(b) Strain (mm/mm) Story Drift Ratio (%)

Fig. 13. Strain profiles along beam depth of flared specimens: (a) at Fig. 14. Effect of beam flange flare on beam top flange strains
Section 1 of Specimen 1; (b) at Section 2 of Specimen 4 (tensioned specimens)

© ASCE 04017102-7 J. Struct. Eng.

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 and higher normal stresses from beam tension tended to overload
and fracture the beam web CJP weld, especially at the top and
bottom ends.
Effects of Beam Flange Flare on Cyclic Performance
The measured flexural strains in the beam top flange near the CJP
weld of three tensioned specimens are presented in Fig. 14. Flaring
flanges in Specimens 3 and 4 did help to reduce the tensile strains in
the beam flanges and the associated CJP welds somewhat; however,
the connection failures were caused by an overload in the CJP weld
of the beam web, not flanges, because of the change of stress flow
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when axial tension was present. That is, flaring the beam flanges
appears to play a secondary role in the observed performance of the
connections.
Conclusions
Four full-scale steel beam-column subassemblies with WUF-W
moment connections were tested. Beam and column sizes signifi-
cantly exceeded those permitted by AISC 358 for use as a WUF-W
connection. All except one specimen had flared beam flanges.
A constant axial tension force in the beam (16% of nominal beam
yield strength) was applied to three specimens. Based on the test
results, the following conclusions can be made:
1. The presence of beam tension significantly altered the local
buckling mode of the beam in the plastic hinge region. Whereas
Specimen 1 without beam tension showed a typical local buck-
ling mode, such buckling diminished in the other three ten-
sioned specimens (Fig. 8).
2. Conventional plastic analysis theory predicts that the presence
of an axial force would reduce the plastic moment capacity. For
the level of axial force applied, all four specimens were able to
reach and exceed the unreduced plastic moment, computed
based on the actual yield stresses, owing to cyclic strain hard-
ening. Because the flexural strength of three tensioned speci-
mens was not degraded by local buckling, the maximum
flexural strengths of the tensioned specimens were higher.
The measured Cpr value from Specimen 1 was consistent with
that specified in AISC 358 (1.4), whereas the measured Cpr va-
lues for the tensioned specimens were higher than 1.4 (Fig. 12).
It is prudent to use a higher Cpr value for capacity design when
beam tension is present.
3. Conventional plastic analysis theory addresses the effects of ax-
ial load on the strength of members, but not connections. With
no tension force applied, it is expected that the beam flange CJP
groove welded joints are more vulnerable to fracture than that of
the beam web. Testing showed the opposite trend when beam
tension was present (Fig. 8). In the elastic range, the beam ten-
sion was distributed to the flanges and web based on their re-
lative areas. Once flanges yielded because of flexure, a much
higher percentage of the beam tension was transmitted to the
column through the beam web because it was stiffer. The com-
bined effect of beam flexural yielding and higher normal stres-
ses from beam tension tended to overload and fracture the beam
web CJP weld, especially at the top and bottom ends. Improved
welding requirements beyond that specified in AISC 358 for
the beam web CJP weld, such as the use of weld runoff tabs and
grinding smooth at weld ends as implemented in Specimen 4,
were useful to enhance the cyclic performance of the
connection.
© ASCE 04017102-8
J. Struct. Eng., 2017, 143(9): -1--1
4. Flaring the beam flanges helped to reduce the strain demand in
the beam flange CJP welds, but because no fracture was ob-
served in these welds, beam flange flaring played a secondary
role; improving the beam web CJP weld was more critical when
subject to axial load.
5. Assuming no significant tension in the beam, AISC 358 prequa-
lifies the WUF-W connection for beams up to W36 × 150 and
columns with a depth up to W36. This test program showed that
much heavier beams, such as that of Specimen 1, performed
well when the beam flanges were flared. Because only one spe-
cimen was tested, more testing is needed to prequalify this detail
for member sizes larger than those permitted in AISC 358. This
study also showed that beam tension, when present, can signif-
icantly affect moment connection performance, a factor that is
ignored in AISC 358.
Acknowledgments
Funding for this project was provided by the Transbay Joint Power
Authority (TJPA).
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