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Cracking in the Welds in Wide Flange Column Connections in Structural Steel

A steel fabricator/erector initially hired APTECH to determine the disposition and remediation of cracks in stainless steel wide flange column webs. Following a few site visits and meetings, a remediation plan was implemented which comprised of hole drilling at the continuity plate web weld terminations (for currently fabricated columns) and use of a larger cope for new column fabrication. Subsequently, APTECH was contracted by the fabricator's legal counsel to determine the root cause(s) of the column web cracking. Using finite element modeling and mechanical property testing, APTECH's investigation showed that the most significant causes of cracking were related to: 1) a detail design that resulted in excessive restraint and constraint; 2) a detail design that required a complete penetration weld to join the continuity plate-to-column web tee joint; and 3) column steel with highly variable and location-dependent notch toughness. APTECH's technical support and expert witness testimony lead to resolution of this issue via mediation.

Satish Almaula		Plant failure and root cause analysis; process and design engineering analysis; process technology development and testing; plant engineering, operations, maintenance and safety management; plant and process control system management.

Eric Sullivan, P.E.		Metallurgy, welding, failure analysis, fire and explosion investigations, equipment, piping.

Geoffrey Egan, Ph.D.		Engineering mechanics, welding engineering, stress and fatigue analysis, risk analysis, nondestructive examination, project management.

Steve Paterson		Metallurgy, welding, boiler pressure part and machinery failure analysis.

Michael Cronin, P.E.		Stress analysis, design evaluation, engineering mechanics

Jeffrey Grover, P.E.		Mechanical engineering, failure analysis, civil engineering.