Demand Critical Welds - SCBF

[Nulukkizdin]

Question on Demand Critical Welds for SCBFs. Per AISC341 it seems fairly clear which welds are Demand Critical:

Groove welds at column splices​

Welds at column-to-base plate connections (with exceptions)​

Welds at beam-to-column connections conforming to Section F2.6b(c)​

One quick question/clarification on this. I'm not seeing anywhere in AISC 341 that explicitly says these DCW welds MUST be CJP/groove welds. So as a particular question, is there anything saying we can't use a fillet weld for a column to base plate connection? If we CAN use a fillet weld, presumably it would still need to be a DCW, even if it is not a groove weld, correct?

 

[dauwerda]

Correct, designating a weld as Demand Critical does not mean it has to be a CJP weld (It means it has to use filler metal that meets the requirements of AWS D1.8 as well as follow all of the other processes laid out in D1.8).

Yes, a fillet weld would be acceptable and yes, it would still be designated as a Demand Critical Weld unless it met one of the exceptions.