Static and fatigue testing of partial penetration groove welds in aluminum structures**

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Canadian designers of aluminum structures are encountering a challenge in the economical design of truss structures, because of restrictions that the Canadian design codes place on the use of partial joint penetration (PJP) groove welds in these structures. In Canada, these welds are currently strongly discouraged by design codes through specific language or penalties in the design strength calculations. A review of international codes reveals that more economical designs would result from using these foreign standards. This has raised some doubt concerning the harsh penalties imposed by the Canadian codes. Against this background, the current project aims to test connections containing PJP welds to investigate the validity of these penalties, and to begin to establish better models for use in design. The main research challenge will be to improve our understanding of the static and fatigue performance of PJP welds in aluminum plate and tubular structures and relate it to the conflicting provisions in the various relevant international structural and weld design codes. 40 laboratory tests are planned to investigate the behaviour of PJP welds in direct tension, as well as in tubular connections. These tests will consider the influence of various factors, such as wall thickness and degree of penetration of the weld, and will also include cyclic (fatigue) loading, which is crucial in bridge applications. The experimental program will be supported with a parallel finite element (FE) analysis study, which will result in a model that can be used in the future to extend the findings to other joint geometries. In order to link the two, digital image correlation (DIC) measurements will be obtained during the structural tests. It is expected that the results of this research will translate to immediate benefits for the industry partner and the local, Canadian-owned aluminum fabricators who fabricate their designs. The results will also be disseminated to benefit others in the Canadian aluminum industry.**********