Chapter

Welding Joints,
Positions, and
Symbols

Objectives
Identify the five basic welding joints.
Identify and describe the various welds that may be
used in each welding joint.
Label the parts or areas of a grooved butt weld and
a fillet weld.
Locate and apply required weld and joint
information from an AWS welding symbol.
List and describe the four welding positions.

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Basic Weld Joints

A welder should understand the type and location of
welds needed by reading the welding symbols
A weld joint refers to how the parts are assembled
prior to the welding
The item to be joined is base metal or base material

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Basic Weld Joints

There are five types of joints used in welding

Butt
Lap
Corner
T-Joint
Edge

(American Welding Society)

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Butt Joint
Butt joints are used when parts are joined edge-toedge
Edge preparation refers to how the edges are
shaped prior to welding
A groove weld is made by fusing molten filler metal
into a butt joint

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Butt Joint
The various parts of a groove joint have names

Groove face
Groove angle
Bevel angle
Weld root
Root face

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Butt Joint
Various terms are used to describe a completed
groove weld

Weld face
Face reinforcement
Weld toe
Root reinforcement
Joint penetration
Weld size

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Lap and Corner Joints

A lap joint is formed by two overlapping pieces of
base metal
A corner joint is formed by placing two pieces of
base metal perpendicular or at an angle to one
another
Inside corner joints are welded along the inside of the
joint
Outside corner joints are welded along the outside edge
of the joint

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T- Joint
A T-joint is formed by two pieces of base metal that
are at an angle of approximately 90
The edges may be prepared as a square, bevelgrooved, J-grooved, or flare-bevel-groove joint

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Edge Joint and Flange Joint

An edge joint is formed when the surfaces of two
pieces are in contact and their edges are even
A flange joint is formed when the edge of one or
more pieces is bent to form a flange

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Flare-Groove Joint
Flare-groove joints are formed when the flanged
edges of one or both pieces are placed together to
form a single-flare-bevel or a double-flare-groove

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Types of Welds
A weld is a fused joint between two or more pieces
of metal or nonmetal
Fillet welds are made at the intersection of a
surface and an edge or in a corner where two
surfaces meet
A groove weld is made in a groove or gap between
two pieces of metal

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Types of Welds
A fillet weld is made up of three primary dimensions
Weld size
Effective throat
Leg

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Bead Welds and Weld Passes

A weld bead is one weld pass of filler metal that is
added to a weld joint
The first weld pass is the root pass
The second weld pass is the filler pass
The final weld pass is the cover pass
Generally, a weld bead should not be thicker than
1/4

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Bead Welds and Weld Passes

Three weld passes are used in this example
The cover pass is a weave bead

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Stringer Bead and Weave Bead

A weld bead may be a stringer bead or a weave
bead
A stringer bead is used when a standard bead width
is acceptable
A weave bead is used to create a wider weld pool
The crescent motion is a popular pattern for a
weave bead

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Joint Geometry
Joint geometry is defined as the shape and
dimensions of a joint, in cross section, prior to
welding
Joint geometry is generally determined by a welding
engineer or designer
The joint geometry design should provide space for
the welder to reach near the bottom of the weld
joint

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Preparation
The edges of thick metal are prepared for welding
Flame cutting
Gouging
Machining

Preparation allows the weld to penetrate as deep as

required

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Joint Alignment
The alignment of a joint before
welding is very important
A tack weld is a small weld
used to hold pieces in alignment
Parts may also be held
mechanically using clamps or
other devices

(Bessey Tools North America)

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Penetration
A completed weld joint must be as strong as the
base metal
The weld must penetrate deeply into the base metal
to be strong
Penetration is the depth of fusion of the weld below
the surface

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Welding Positions
Welds may be made in various welding positions

Flat welding position

Horizontal welding position
Vertical welding position
Overhead welding position

Welding positions are determined by the positions

of the weld axis and weld face

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Welding Positions
The weld axis is an imaginary line running
lengthwise through the center of a weld

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The Welding Symbol

Welding symbols are used on drawings of parts and
assemblies that are joined together by welding
A complete welding symbol contains all the
information about a welded joint
Dimensions may be in SI Metric units or in US
Customary units

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Reference Line, Arrowhead, and Tail

The reference line is always drawn as a horizontal
line
The arrow may be drawn from either side of the
reference line
The tail is used only when necessary to give
additional information

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Weld Symbols
Weld symbols may be part of the complete welding
symbol and indicate the type of weld

(American Welding Society)

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Arrow Side and Other Side

On the drawing of a weld part, the arrow touches
the line to be welded
The side of the metal that the arrow touches is
called the arrow side
The opposite surface is called the other side
The arrow side information is always shown below
the reference line

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Root Opening and Grove Angle

The root opening is the space between the pieces
at the bottom, or root, of the joint
Prior to welding, the two pieces will be spaced apart
the distance indicated by the root opening
The root opening size appears inside the weld
symbol

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Contour and Finish Symbols

The shape of contour of the completed weld bead is
shown in the welding symbol
Straight or curved line
Placed between the weld symbol and the finish symbol

If the weld is not to remain in an as welded

condition, a finish symbol is used

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Depth of Bevel and Groove Weld Size

The S position on the welding symbol
Indicates the depth of the bevel
May indicate the size or strength of welds
May show the size of each leg in a fillet weld

Groove weld size

Is the depth to which the weld penetrates into the base
metal
Is given in parentheses in the E position on the welding
symbol

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Depth of Bevel and Groove Weld Size

This illustration shows the depth of the edge shape
and groove weld size

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Length and Pitch of Weld

Intermittent welding

Short sections of the weld are spaced across the joint

Used when full strength is not needed
The length dimension indicates the length of each weld
The pitch dimension indicates the distance from the
center of one weld to the center of the next weld

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Length and Pitch of Weld

Intermittent fillet welds may be required on both
sides of a joint
With chain intermittent welds, welds begin and end at the
same spots
With staggered intermittent welds, the welds are offset
This is shown on the welding symbol by offsetting the fillet
weld symbols

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Length and Pitch of Weld

This illustration shows a staggered weld
Notice the staggered fillet symbols

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Backing Welds and Melt-Through Symbols

Weld joints that require complete penetration may
be welded from both sides
A stringer bead or a cover pass may be all that is
required
In such cases, a backing weld symbol is used
The melt-through symbol is used when 100%
penetration is required on one-side welds

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Weld-All-Around and Field Weld Symbols

The weld-all-around symbol indicates that the same
type weld joint is to be used on all edges of a box or
cylindrical part
When welds are to be
made away from the shop,
a field weld symbol is used

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Multiple Reference Lines

Two or more reference lines may be used when a
sequence of operations is to be done
The reference line nearest the arrow indicates the first
operation
The reference line furthest from the arrow indicates the
last operation

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Plug and Slot Welds

A plug weld is a weld made in a hole that is round
A slot weld is a weld made in a hole that is not
round
The pitch is the center-to-center distance in a series
of plug or slot welds

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Spot Welds
A spot weld is a method of joining two or more
pieces together with a weld not at the edge of a part
The spot weld symbol is a small circle
Projection welding is another process used to
produce spot welds

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Spot Welds
The following information is given for a spot weld

Size
Strength
Spacing
Number of welds
Welding process

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Seam Welds
A seam weld is another method of joining two or
more pieces together
Lap joint
Butt joint

No hole or slot is cut into any parts

The size and strength of the weld are shown to the
left of the weld symbol

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Review of Welding Symbols

This illustration shows
examples of various
types of welds in
various positions

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Electrode Angles
Two terms are used to describe the electrode angle,
or position, in relation to the material being welded
Travel angle
Work angle

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Travel Angle
The travel angle is measured from a line
perpendicular to the weld axis in the plane defined
by the weld axis and electrode axis

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Travel Angle
Backhand welding

Forehand welding

The top of the electrodes

leads the welding end of
the electrode
The welding arc is
pointing back toward the
weld bead
The travel angle is called
a drag angle or drag
travel angle

The welding end of the

electrode points
forward in the direction
of travel
The travel angle is
called a push angle or
push travel angle

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Work Angle
The work angle is measured from a line
perpendicular to the major or nonbutting surface to
the plane containing the weld axis and the
centerline of the electrode

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Commonly Used Angles

For a butt weld, the work angle is usually zero

For a fillet weld, the work angle is often 45
Drag or push angles usually range from zero to 40
A large push angle, up to 85, is used for gouging

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