Investigation and determine of impact toughness of groove welds and comparing with seismic provisions of weld connections

Preventing brittle fracture in the connection welds of the steel members is one of the most important issues in the performance of steel structures. Bitter experiences of Northridge earthquake in the case of “demand critical” welds such as complete-joint-penetration (CJP) groove welds in the connections of steel moment frames forced researchers to conclude that for preventing decrease in ductility and preventing brittle fracture of welds, it should be that impact toughness of welds must be provided at the determined temperature. Seismic Requirements of AISC and following of it the 10th topic of Iranian national building Requirements for the mentioned welding recommends Charpy-v-notch toughness at the determined Test temperature . In this research , to ensure impact toughness of preformed welds in the common conditions of Iran, the Charpy Test in the specimens of multiple thicknesses and common electrodes has been done with Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) and Submerged Arc Welding (SAW) and the conclusions of them compared with the 10th topic requirements. It has been shown that impact toughness of groove weld in SMAW process with E6013 electrode and groove weld in SAW process doesn’t matched with requirements of present Codes, but for other electrodes there was no contradiction.