Simulation of Welding Residual Stress to the Fracture Strength of Steel Moment-Resist Frame Connection

Abstract

Inspection made for moment-resist frame connection assembled by welding found that most failures occurred in weld zone between beam and column flange connections, and these failures were caused by cracks initiated at the root of weld. The main reason for the crack initiation is not plastic deformation as expected, and the evaluation results indicated that the major failure mechanism for the brittle failure behavior of moment-resist frame (MRF) connection is caused by the residual stress induced by welding. This paper use finite element method to simulate welding residual stress, and apply them into 3D fracture models. With fracture parameters calculated in finite element analysis, information about fracture strength of MRF connection is acquired.