Abstract
Crack-like defect occurs in the weld region or heat-affected-zone of beam-to-column connections widely. They may cause unexpected serious damage in the steel welded buildings. Most of these place at the connection where the column flange meets the beam bottom flange. The assessment of these defects is entirely related to the reliability of the whole structure. In this study, the fracture behavior of the welded steel structure including the defects subjected to loading has been investigated, and the conditions free from brittle fracture hive been tried to carried out using the SINTAP Defect Assessment Procedure. The effects of the weld electrodes on the fracture behavior of the structure have been observed.