Topic:WeldJointFitUp 9/2/14

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Excessiveweldjointrootopeningisacommonsituation/problemmosteverywelderoperatorhashadtodeal
withatonetimeoranother.But,whatarethelimitationsandcorrectiveactionsestablishedbyAWSD1.1,
StructuralWeldingCode?

AWSD1.1,Paragraph5.22.1,FilletWeldAssembly.Thepartstobejoinedshallbebroughtintoclosecontact
rootopeningshallnotexceed3/16

Fillerplatesareanacceptableformofdecreasingthegapbetweentomatingparts,withinthelimitsidentifiedin
AWSD1.1,Paragraph2.11,FillerPlates.Whereveritisnecessarytousefillerplates,thefillerplateand
connectingweldsshallconformto

Paragraph2.11.1,ThinFillerPlates.Fillerplateslessthanthickshallnotbeusedtotransferstress.
fillerplateslessthanorgreaterthan,butnotusedtotransferstress,thefillerplateshallbekept
flushwiththeoutsideedge(s)andthesizeoftheweldshallbeincreasedbytheamountofthefiller
plate.RefertoFigure2.9below.

Paragraph2.11.2,ThickFillerPlates.Whenthethicknessofthefillerplateisadequatetotransfer
stress,thefillerplateshallextendbeyondtheedgesofthebasemetal.Theweldsjoiningthebase
metaltothefillerplateshallbesufficienttotransfertheappliedforceRefertoFigure2.10below.

Paragraph2.11.3,ShopDrawingRequirements.Jointsrequiringfillerplatesshallbecompletelydetailed
onshopdrawings.
ThinFillersflush ThickFillersextend
withedges. beyondedges.


Topic:WeldJointFitUp 9/2/14
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AWSD1.1,Paragraph5.22.4,GrooveDimensionsand5.22.4.1,NontubularCrossSectionalVariations.forroot
openingsinexcessofthoseallowedinFigure5.3shallbereferredtotheEngineerforapprovalandcorrection.

ThegrooveweldedjointtolerancesshownabovearedirectlyrelatedtoSpecsysWPSscurrentlyinuse.For
example;GMAWSS10,2G,.045,SingleVGroove,specifiesarootopeningand45includedangle.Using
Figure5.3(B)above,arootopeningcanvaryfrom3/16toandtheanglemayvaryfrom40to55without
anycorrectiveactionorapprovalfromtheengineer.Anydeviationfromthesetolerancelimitationswillrequire
requalificationoftheWPSand/orapprovalfromtheengineer.

Tomyunderstanding,thereisnoindustrywidestandardthatgovernsthecorrectiveactionsforthistypeofout
oftolerancefitupsituation.AWSD1.1clearlyprohibitsrootopeningsgreaterthan3/16forfilletweldsin
materialslessthan3inthickness.However,thecodedoesnotprovideinstructionsastohowtocorrectthe
situation.

Followingareafew,whatIconsideracceptablewaystocorrectfitupproblems:

1) Weldbuildupofseparatedmemberstoapointwheretherootopeningislessthan3/16.
2) Changingthejointdesign(oronlythoseportionsofthejointwithexcessiverootopening)toaCJP
(CompleteJointPenetration).
3) Usingathinorthickfillerplateandincreasingtheweldsizeaccordingly.