NCBF1-R2: UW Non-Seismic Concentrically Braced Frame (NCBF) with Welded Continuous Shear Tab and Ductile HSS Brace

This specimen consisted of a single-bay one-story concentrically braced frame with single-diagonal bracing. The frame was nominally the same as that of NCBF1-R1, but all elements of the frame were new. As such, the frame had the same connection deficiencies as NCBF1 and NCBF1-R1, including gusset plate yielding of the Whitmore section, gusset plate shear yielding, gusset plate-to-beam and gusset plate-to-shear tab weld fracture, brace net section rupture, brace block shear rupture, and gusset plate block shear rupture. AWS E71T-11 weld metal, which does not meet minimum toughness requirements for demand critical welds, was used except on the brace-to-gusset plate (splice) welds, where notch-tough weld metal was used. The specimen was loaded quasistatically through a load beam bolted to the north beam using a reversed cyclic increasing amplitude loading protocol. Traditional physical sensors and optical sensors were installed on the specimen. Portions of the specimen were whitewashed to detect yielding.