C-4.

7 Joint Configuration and Details

C-4.7.1 General Considerations. In general, details should minimize constraint which would
inhibit ductile behavior, avoid undue concentration of welding, as well as afford ample access for
depositing the weld metal.
C-4.7.3 Base Metal Through-Thickness Loading. The rolling of steel to produce shapes and
plates for use in steel structures causes the base metal to have different mechanical properties in
the different orthogonal directions. This makes it necessary for the designers, detailers and the
fabricators to recognize the potential for laminations and/or lamellar tearing to affect the
integrity of the completed joints, especially when thick base metal is involved.
Laminations do not result from the welding. They are a result of the steel manufacturing
processes. They generally do not affect the strength of base metal when the plane of the
lamination is parallel to the stress field, that is, stressed in the longitudinal or transverse
direction. They do have direct effect upon the ability of base metal at T- and corner joints to
transmit through-thickness forces.
Lamellar tears, if and when they occur, generally are the result of the contraction of large weld
metal deposits under conditions of high restraint. Lamellar tears rarely occur when the weld size
is less than about 3/4 in to 1 in [20 mm to 25 mm] . Lamellar tears rarely occur under fillet
welds. Lamellar tears do not occur in the absence of restraint to contraction of hot solidified weld
metal; however, in large welds, the solidified initial weld passes deposited in the root area of the
weld, can provide an internal rigid abutment to tensile contraction strains of the subsequently
deposited weld passes.
Because lamellar tears are caused by solidified weld metal contraction that is forced to be
accommodated within a short gage length by localized balancing compressive restraint, the unit
through-thickness direction strains in the base metal can be many times larger than yield point
strain. Lamellar tears may result. The localized strains that can produce lamellar tears occur upon
cooling during fabrication and constitute the most severe condition that will be imposed upon the
base metal in the vicinity of the joint in the life of the structure. Because the compressive and
tensile stresses within or, in close proximity to, the joint are self-equilibrating, and because the
strains associated with applied design stresses are a small fraction of those associated with weld
shrinkage, externally applied loads do not initiate lamellar tears; however, if tears have been
initiated by the welding, existing lamellar tears may be extended.
The design and detailing of T- and corner joints establish the conditions which may increase or
decrease the potential for lamellar tearing, and make the fabrication of a weldment a straight
forward operation or a difficult or virtually impossible one. Therefore, attention on the part of all
members of the team, designer, detailer, fabricator and welder is necessary to minimize the
potential for lamellar tearing.
Definitive rules cannot be provided in the code to assure lamellar tearing will not occur; hence,
this commentary isn’t ended to provide understanding of the causes and to provide guidance on
means to minimize the probability of occurrence.
The following precautions have been demonstrated in tests and experience to minimize the risk
of tearing:
(1 ) Base metal thickness and weld size should be adequate to satisfy design requirements;
however, designing joints on basis of stresses lower than the code allowable stresses, rather than
providing a conservative design, results in increased restraint and increased weld size and
shrinkage strain that will need to be accommodated. Therefore such a practice increases rather
than diminishes the potential for lamellar tearing.
(2) Use low-hydrogen electrodes when welding large T- and corner joints. Absorbed hydrogen is
not deemed to be a principal cause for lamellar tearing initiation, but the use of low-hydrogen
electrodes on large joints (longitudinal, transverse or through thickness) to minimize the
tendency for hydrogen-induced cold cracking is good practice in any case. Use of nonlow-
hydrogen electrodes may invite trouble.
(3) Application of a layer of “buttering” weld passes approximately 1 /8 in to 3/16 in [3 mm to 5
mm] thick to the face of the base metal to be stressed in the through thickness direction prior to
assembly of the joint has been demonstrated in tests and experience to reduce the likelihood of
lamellar tearing. Such a “buttered” layer provides tough weld metal with cast grain structure in
lieu of the fibrous anisotropic rolled steel grain structure at the location of the most intense weld
shrinkage strains.
(4) In large joints, sequence weld passes in a manner that builds out the surface of base metal
stressed in the longitudinal direction prior to depositing weld beads against the face of the base
metal stressed in the through-thickness direction. This procedure allows a significant part of the
weld shrinkage to take place in the absence of restraint.
(5) On corner joints, where feasible, the beveled joint preparation should be on the base metal
stressed in the throughthickness direction so that the weld metal fuses to the base metal on a
plane into the thickness of the base metal to the maximum degree practical.
(6) Double-V and double-bevel joints require deposition of much less weld metal than single-V
and single bevel joints, and therefore, reduce the amount of weld shrinkage to be accommodated
by approximately one-half. Where practical, use of such joints may be helpful.
(7) In weldments involving several joints of different thickness base metal, the larger joints
should be welded first so that the weld deposits which may involve the greatest amount of weld
shrinkage may be completed under conditions of lowest restraint possible. The smaller joints,
although welded under conditions of higher restraint, will involve a smaller amount of weld
shrinkage to be accommodated.
(8) The area of members to which large welds will transfer stresses in the through-thickness
direction should be inspected during layout to assure that joint weld shrinkage does not apply
through-thickness strains on base metal with preexisting laminations or large inclusions (see
ASTM A578).
(9) Properly executed peening of intermediate weld passes has been demonstrated to reduce the
potential for lamellar tearing. Root passes should not be peened in order to avoid the possibility
of introducing cracks in the initial thin weld passes which may go undetected and subsequently
propagate through the joint. Intermediate passes should be peened with a round nosed tool with
sufficient vigor to plastically deform the surface of the pass and change the tensile residuals to
compressive residual stresses, but not so vigorously to cause a chopped up surface or overlaps.
Finish passes should not be peened.
(10) Avoid the use of over-strength filler metal.
(11 ) When practical, use base metal with low (< 0.006%) sulfur or base metal with improved
through-thickness properties.
(12) Critical joints should be examined by RT or UT after the joint has cooled to ambient
temperature.
(13) If minor discontinuities are detected the Engineer should carefully evaluate whether the
discontinuities can be left unrepaired without jeopardizing the suitability for service or structural
integrity. Gouging and repair welding will add additional cycles of heating and cooling and weld
contraction under restraint conditions that are likely to be more severe than the conditions under
which the joint was initially welded. Repair operations may cause a more detrimental condition.
(14) When lamellar tears are identified and repair is deemed advisable, the work should not be
undertaken without first reviewing the WPS and an effort made to identify the cause of the
unsatisfactory result. A special WPS or a change in the joint detail may be required.

C-5.4.1.6 and C-5.4.2.5 Corner Joint Preparation. The code allows an alternative option for
preparation of the groove in one or both members for all bevel- and J-groove welds in corner
joints as shown in Figure C-5.2. This provision was prompted by lamellar tearing considerations
allowing all or part of the preparation in the vertical member of the joint. Such groove
preparation reduces the residual tensile stresses, arising from shrinkage of welds on cooling, that
act in the through-thickness direction in a single vertical plane, as shown in prequalified corner
joints diagrammed in Figures 5.1 , 5.2, and 5.4. Therefore, the probability of lamellar tearing can
be reduced for these joints by the groove preparation now allowed by the code. However, some
unprepared thickness, “a,” as shown in Figure C-5.2, should be maintained to
prevent melting of the top part of the vertical plate. This may easily be done by preparing the
groove in both members (angle β).