A Beginner's Guide to the Steel Construction Manual, 13th ed.

(old)

Chapter 5 - Welded Connections

© 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 T. Bartlett Quimby

Introduction to
Welding Section 5.6
Finding Forces
in Welded Designing Welds
Connections Last Rev ised: 11/04/2014

Effective Areas The principle design variables for designing welds are:
and Size
Limitations of weld size (a),
Welds length (Lw),
electrode type (FEXX), and
the layout of the weld.
Effective Areas
of Base Metal Another factor that affects weld strength is the strength of the base
metal. However, for purposes of this discussion we assume that the
connected parts have already been chosen so the applicable thicknesses
Strength Limit
and material strengths are fixed.
State
It is possible to have multiple weld sizes and segment lengths a weld
Designing Welds group. There are an infinite number of combinations of the design
variables.
Chapter
Summary The objective of the design is to ensure that you have the least cost
weld that satisfies the applicable limit states.
Example
Problems Selecting Fillet Weld Size

Homework Fillet weld size selection is limited by both strength and stipulated limits
Problems in the specification. When selecting a leg size, a, you should determine
three different numbers:
References
Minimum ALLOWED size
Maximum ALLOWED size
Report Errors or
Largest EFFECTIVE size
Make
Suggestions The limit MINIMUM ALLOWED SIZE was presented in Section 5.3. The
Purchase Hard minimum allowed size is found in SCM Table J2.4.
Copy
The MAXIMUM ALLOWED SIZE is based on the geometric area available
to accommodate the weld. The discussion on this topic can be found in
Make Donation
Section 5.3.

If the weld metal's strength exceeds the base metal strength then
increasing the weld's size further will not increase the strength of the
connection. The weld size for which the weld base metal strength
equals the base metal strength is known and the LARGEST EFFECTIVE
size. This was discussed in Sections 6.3 and 6.5. Rounding up to the
nearest 16th of an inch results in the largest effective weld size.

The weld size, a, then must satisfy the following criteria:

min allowed size < a < min[max allowed size, largest effective size]

When selecting the weld size, you should be aware that any fillet weld
with a leg size, a, over 5/16" will require a minimum of three passes to
complete. This adds substantially to the cost of the weld. If you have
the choice (i.e. not limited by the above equations or by connection
geometry) choose fillet welds that are not larger than 5/16".

Concentrically Loaded Weld Groups

When designing weld groups, it can be advantageous to design the weld

layout such that the center of resistance of the welds aligns with the
center of force of the connected member. Doing so prevents the need
to analyze the welds as eccentrically loaded weld groups. A weld group
whose center of resistance aligns with the center of force is said to be
"balanced".

Note that experience and research has shown that balancing welds is
usually not necessary for single and double angle members due to the
very small eccentricities involved (See SCM J1.7).It would appear that
the assumption that allows you to neglect balancing is that there are
parallel welds on either side of the faying surface which result in a small
eccentricity between the center of gravity of the weld group and the
center of gravity of the angle section. By doing enough eccentrically
loaded connection computations it is easy to show that the practice of
ignoring weld balancing for single and double angle members is
justified as long as the eccentricities are kept small. Regardless, the
basic principles for designing balanced welds are presented here on the
chance that you may encounter a situation where the eccentricity is
significant.

To determine the center of resistance of a weld group we use principles

of statics.

The sum of forces (i.e. resistance of the weld group) equals the
applied force, in the direction of the applied force.
The sum of moments (due to the applied force and resistance of
the welds) in the plane of the faying surface is made to equal zero.

Consider the connection shown in Figure 5.6.1.

Figure 5.6.1
Welded Connection
Click on image for larger v iew
This connection is made with three fillet welds as shown. Each weld,
potentially, has a different weld size and a different length. Each weld
provides a portion of the resistance to force T as shown in Figure 5.6.2.

Figure 5.6.2
Weld Forces
Click on image for larger v iew

The relative magnitudes of the weld forces can be expressed in relation

to their capacities.

R1 = Fnv te1 L1 = 0.60FEXX (0.707a1) L1

R2 = Fnv te2 L2 = 0.60FEXX (0.707a2) L2
R3 = Fnv te3 L3 = 0.60FEXX (0.707a3) L3

The resultant reaction is

RT = R1 + R2 + R3

The eccentricity of the force to the weld group will be the perpendicular
distance between the applied force T and the resultant reaction RT.

To eliminate the eccentricity, the forces must be colinear. That is the

forces act upon the same line of action. Relative point "A" in Figure
5.6.2, this means that YF equals the dimension from "A" to the line of
action of RT. Using the terms defined in Figure 5.6.2, the balanced
condition occurs when:

Substituting in the expression for R1, R2, and R3:

Assuming the same electrode for all welds, the expression simplifies to:

If all the welds are the same size (i.e. a1= a2 = a3), then all the leg size
terms can be eliminated as well.

The objective of the weld layout design now is to select weld sizes (a1,
a2, and a3) and lengths (L1, L2, and L3) such that the center of the
reaction force (i.e. the right side of the equation) equals the center of
the applied force and the strength of the weld group exceeds the
demand.

Eccentrically Loaded Weld Groups

Eccentricity may be either in plane with the weld group, out of plane of
the weld group, or both.

The design of eccentrically loaded weld groups is primarily a trial and

error method. For every combination of design variables considered an
analysis using methods of Section 5.2 must be performed to determine
the internal forces on the weld group. The worst case force per unit
length is then compared to the weld capacity.

If there is significant reserve capacity then the designer might chose to

reduce the amount of weld and try another combination.

If the weld does not provide sufficient strength, then either additional
weld is needed or the configuration of the welds may be changed to get
acceptable results.

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