The welds must meet the requirements of demand critical welds in the AISC Seismic Provisions, as well as the detailing and quality control and quality assurance requirements specified in Chapter 3. These beam flange-to-column flange weld requirements reflect the practices used in the test specimens that form the basis for prequalification of the WUF-W moment connection and reflect what are believed to be best practices for beam flange groove welds for SMF and IMF applications.
A key feature of the WUF-W moment connection is the use of a special weld access hole. The special seismic weld access hole has specific requirements on the size, shape, and finish. This special access hole was developed in research on the WUF-W moment connection (Ricles et al., 2000, 2002) and is intended to reduce stress concentrations introduced by the presence of the weld access hole. The size, shape, and finish requirements for the special access hole are specified in AWS D1.8/D1.8M, clause 6.11.1.2 (AWS, 2021).