Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Module 4 - Welded Connections PDF
Module 4 - Welded Connections PDF
P. S. Lakshmi Priya
LAKSHMIPRIYA@IITM.AC.IN
STR 303
WELDED CONNECTIONS
26-02-2023
Method of connecting two pieces of metal by heating to a plastic/ fluid state to enable fusion
Welding may be electric (for structural applications) and sometimes gas (acetylene + oxygen)
Electroslag welding
Stud welding
Manual process and most common – low capital cost & flexibility
Automatically feeds the electrode from large coils, distributes the flux
ahead of the weld area, and also gathers and reuses unused flux
In ship and bridge building, where long straight welds are common
Gas Shielded Metal Arc Welding (GMAW)/ Metal-active gas Welding (MAG) or
Metal-inert Gas Welding (MIG)
Low-hydrogen, manually operated, great range of electrode strengths
Welding equipment is more expensive, less portable than SMAW, difficult to use in tight quarters
26-02-2023
Structure and chemical composition of the FCAW electrode wire differentiates FCAW and GMAW
Low-hydrogen, semi-automatic, great range of electrode strengths, can be used in all positions
Great penetration, groove angles as narrow as 30º,saving as much as 50% of filler metal as SMAW
Easier to carry out than SMAW, high deposition rates (>11.3 kg/hr)
Unlimited thicknesses can be joined with multiple passes, and can use in all positions
Generates large volumes of fumes and smoke, requiring additional ventilation indoors and reducing
visibility for welders
Process starts with an arc, but then continued by the heat generated from flow of electrode current
through the molten slag
Permits rapid attachment of studs used in composite construction, without piercing structure metal
Insert a stud into the stud gun, and position gun perpendicular to the structure
Eliminates holes
Problems
Members may distort
with Connections prone to
Welding? cracking
Costly equipment
Large residual stresses
Fillet welds
Slot welds
Plug welds
Groove Welds
Connect structural members aligned in the same plane and often used in butt joints, Tee connections
Groove welds transmit the full load of joining members: should have
same strength as the members (Usually only full penetration welds)
Backing for full penetration Backing may or may not be removed after welding, not to be used
and sound weld when root face is provided
26-02-2023
Fillet Welds
Require less precision in fitting up 2 sections unlike groove welds due to overlapping of pieces
Not used extensively in steel construction: when impossible to use fillet welds or when the length of
fillet weld is limited
Plug welds occasionally to fill holes in construction (e.g. temporary erection bolts)
Useful to prevent
overlapping parts from
buckling
26-02-2023
Weld metal is a mixture of parent metal and steel melted from electrode
Solidified weld metal has characteristics of cast steel (has higher yield/ ultimate ratio, low ductility)
Parent material near joint is subjected to heating and cooling cycles and the metallurgical structure here
will be different: HEAT AFFECTED ZONE (HAZ)
Change in structure in HAZ can be considered by selecting a suitable Charpy V-Impact value for the
electrode (greater than parent metal), or preheating joints
Weld Defects
Slag inclusion: slag gets trapped in rapid cooling; multi pass welds
Cracks: most harmful weld defect. May extend from line of weld to the
base metal or may appear entirely in base metal in the HAZ.
Prevent by uniform heating, slow cooling, low-hydrogen electrodes
26-02-2023
Weld Defects
Porosity
Spatter
Lamellar Tearing (From Tensile Stresses in the Through-Thickness Dir’n of Base Metal)
Brittle fracture in the base metal beneath the weld (Poor ductility in parent metal in through-thickness)
Occurs in T-butt and fillet welds parallel to weld fusion boundary and plate surface
Surface of the fracture is fibrous and woody with long parallel section
Transverse strain – shrinkage strains on welding must act in dir’n of plate thickness
Material susceptibility
1. Full penetration butt welds will be more susceptible: use two fillet welds instead
2. Double sided welds rather than single-sided welds and balanced welding
4. Redesign joint such that fusion boundary is more normal to the susceptible
plate surface
Butt Joints
Does not have the eccentricity of a lap joint, also more aesthetic: full/ partial penetration welds
Face reinforcement plates makes connection stronger under static loads, but stress concentrations
under cyclic loads and potentially failure
If unequal plates: wider or thicker part should be reduced at the butt joint by a slope of 1 in 5.
Lap Joints
Utilize fillet welds, suited for both shop and field welding
Tee Joints
Plates at right angles: T-shapes, I-shapes, plate girders, hangers, brackets and stiffeners
Corner joints used to form built-up rectangular box sections, which may be used as columns or beams
Edge joints not used in structural applications: used to keep two plates in a given plane
26-02-2023
While weld cools, it contracts both along and transverse to its axis: tensile residual stress
Shrinkage forces may be reduced by proper welding practices. Balance shrinkage forces by:
Symmetry in welding Scattered and intermittent welds Peening Clamps to force cooling
weld to stretch
26-02-2023
Weld Symbols
Weld Symbols
26-02-2023
FILLET WELDS
BEHAVIOUR AND DESIGN
Failure of Welds
Failure of a weld = fracture of weld metal Strength of a weld (load to cause fracture):
= (effective area of weld) x (stress at fracture)
P
P Effective area = effective throat thickness (te) x
Fracture along throat of the weld length of weld (Lw)
Stress distribution is complex: most critical is the direction of loading on the weld
Parts are connected by the welds are rigid and their deformation is neglected
Only stresses due to external forces are considered. The effects of residual stresses, stress
concentrations and the shape of the weld are neglected. (residual stresses are considered in member
design, not in weld design)
All loads on fillet welds are assumed to be carried as pure shear stress on the effective area of the weld.
Thus, the failure of a fillet weld is defined as the shear fracture through the effective throat thickness
Pdw L wKsfu
3 mw , s = weld size (Table 21 of IS 800: 2007), K (Table 22 of IS 800), γmw (Table 5 of IS 800)
Design of slot/ plug welds uses same equations. In addition, see below: (IS816: 1969)
Width or diameter of the weld should be less than max (three times the thickness , 25 mm)
Corners at enclosed ends of slots should be rounded with radius ≥ max (1.5 times thickness, 12 mm)
Distance from edge of slot to edge of part or between adjacent slots ≥ ( twice the thickness, 12 mm)
26-02-2023
Fracture of weld
Design strength of weld based on fracture through throat of weld: = (0.707w). Lw (fuw 3)
For shear fracture of base metal to control: = fu ≤ 0.707fuw ; never satisfied for “matching” weld metal
= 676 kN
= 875 kN
Increase in strength = 875 – 676 = 199 kN
2. Equate design strength of the weld to external factored load and calculate effective length of weld
If only longitudinal welds are provided, perpendicular distance between welds must be greater than the
length of individual welds
Problem 2: A 75mm x 8mm tie member is to transmit a factored load of 145 kN. Design
fillet welds necessary overlaps for the cases shown. The steel grade is E250. Gusset
plates are 12mm thick
For E 250 steel, fu = 410 MPa, fy = 250 MPa Shop welding, γmw =1.25 Field welding, γmw =1.5
Min. size of weld for 12mm thick plate = 5mm Min. size of weld for 8mm thick plate = 8 – 1.5 = 6.5 mm
lw= 220 mm
Provide 5mm fillet size of length 110 mm on two sides. End returns = (2s) = 2x 5 = 10mm each
Problem 2: A 75mm x 8mm tie member is to transmit a factored load of 145 kN. Design
fillet welds necessary overlaps for the cases shown. The steel grade is E250. Gusset
plates are 12mm thick
Design weld strength, Pdw LwKsfu 3mw 145 lw 3.5 410
3x1.25 103 lw= 220 mm
Provide 5mm fillet size of length 73 mm on two sides. End returns = (2s) = 2x 5 = 10mm each
Used when required strength < than strength of a continuous weld of smallest practical size
Not economical unless smallest size weld is used (weight of weld metal increases with square of size)
Difficult when automatic process is used, more difficult to maintain, not suitable for dynamic/ repetitive
loads
Procedure:
Assume weld size, and calculate required total length of fillet weld
At ends, length of int. fillet weld > width of member. If not, transverse welds must
be provided. Then total length (long + transverse) should not be less than twice
the width of the member
Combination of Stresses
2Ys 2 (f11 f22 )2 (f22 f33 )2 (f33 f11 )2 6(f122 f232 f312 )
l1
Treat each weld as a line element
C.G li = length of weld
l2
xili or xi li w i wi = size of weld
x x x
li li xi = distance to c.g. of weld i
l3
26-02-2023
Once P1,P2 and P3 are calculated, fillet weld length can be designed
Weld must transmit load 222.3 kN P1 = 222.3 x (80-27.3)/80 = 146.4 kN P2 = 222.3 x 27.3/80 = 75.9 kN
GROOVE WELDS
BEHAVIOUR AND DESIGN
The unwelded portion of incomplete penetration welds, welded from both sides must be ≤ 0.25 (thinner part thk)
Groove welds with thickness less than specified here (in butt welds due to accessibility) should be considered as
non-load carrying
26-02-2023
Groove welds subjected to axial/ bending tension or compression & sometimes shear
In CJP , weld strength at joint = strength of member (no design calculations are required)
In PJP , find effective throat dimension, and required effective length to make weld strength = member strength
Use equations (1) or (2) above appropriately
Problem 4: Two plates of 16mm and 14 mm thickness are to be joined by a groove weld
as shown. The joint is subjected to a factored tensile force of 430 kN. Due to some
reasons, the effective length of the weld that could be provided was 175 mm only.
Check the safety of the joint if (joints are shop welded)
(a) Single-V groove weld is provided
(b) Double- V groove weld is provided
For E 250 steel, fu = 410 MPa, fy = 250 MPa
Strength of the weld, Tdw = lwtefy/γmw = 175 x 8.75 x 250/1.25 = 306.25 kN < 430 kN
Strength of the weld, Tdw = lwtefy/γmw = 175 x 14 x 250/1.25 = 490 kN > 430 kN
(Complete penetration)