Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 156 views

    Welding

    Uploaded by

    Eman Agius
    Steel Welding, Types of Welding, Welding, Construction, Fillet welds, Butt welds, Joints, University, Research, Paper

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content

    You might also like

    Welding

    Uploaded by

    Eman Agius
    156 views37 pages
    Steel Welding, Types of Welding, Welding, Construction, Fillet welds, Butt welds, Joints, University, Research, Paper

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document
    Steel Welding, Types of Welding, Welding, Construction, Fillet welds, Butt welds, Joints, University, Research, Paper

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf
    156 views37 pages

    Welding

    Uploaded by

    Eman Agius
    Steel Welding, Types of Welding, Welding, Construction, Fillet welds, Butt welds, Joints, University, Research, Paper

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf
    of 37
    Foreword Welding has been developed to such an extent that it is now the predominant method of joining structural steelwork components. It is a highly skilled operation requiring well qualified and competent craftsmen. This publication is intended to give the reader a basic understanding of the various welding processes and materials, how joints are made and how, when necessary, they can be inspected and tested (including non- destructive methods), and means of avoiding or overcoming faults which can and do sometimes occur. There is an extensive bibliography and list of British Standards which will allow a study in depth to be made of the subject and related matters. Contents 1, Welding as aj Page ing process 3 2. Basic arc characteristics 5 2.1 Metal transfer 2.2 Energy input 2.3 Arc blow 3. Welding processes and consumables 6 3.1 Basic requirements 3.2 Manual metal-arc (MMA) welding 3.3 Automatic welding using continuous coated electrodes 3.4 Submerged are (SA) welding 3.5 Carbon dioxide shielded metal-arc (MIG) welding with cored wires 3.6 Electroslag welding 3.7 Stud welding 4. Typical weld details u 5. Some metallurgical factors affecting the 12 soundness of welds 5.1 Weld metal solidification cracking 5.2 Heat affected zone (HAZ) cracking 5.3 Lamellar tearing 6. Residual welding stresses and distortions 14 6.1 Residual welding stresses 6.2 Residual distortions due to welding 6.2.1 Butt welds 6.2.2 Angular rotation of fillet welds 6.2.3 Some typical weld distortions 6.3 Control of distortion 6.4 Some methods of correcting distortion 7. Choice of welding process 19 8. Quality control 20 8.1 Weld defects 8.1.1 Undercut 8.1.2 Porosity 8.1.3 Incomplete penetration 8.1.4 Lack of side wall fusion Page 8.1.5 Slag inclusions 8.2 Visual inspection 8.3 Non-destructive testing 8.3.1 Penetrants 8.3.2 Magnetic particle inspection (MPI) 8.3.3 Xradiography 8.3.4 Gamma radiography 8.3.5 Terms used in radiography 8.3.6 Ultrasonic inspection 84 Physical testing 9. Weld defect acceptance levels 30 10. Site welding requirements 31 10.1 Electrodes and consumables 10.2 Power supply 10.3 Welded connections Appendix A, Weld metal solidification cracking 32 A.1 Material composition A.2 Weld restraint and bead shape Heat affected zone cracking 34 B.1 Carbon equivalent B.2 The role of hydrogen is underbead cracking B.3 Cooling rate B4 Restraint B.5 Electrodes and hydrogen content of weld metals B.6 The application of BSS135 Appendix B. Fracture toughness and defect tolerance analysis 36 C.l Fracture mechanics C2 Fracture toughness tesis for fracture initiation €.3 Defect tolerance analysis Appendix C. Bibliography 39 British Standards on welding 40 1. Welding as a joining process Welding is today used extensively for joining materials together and there is no doubt that it has been a most significant factor in the pheno- menal growth of all industries. Very complex geometries can be effectively joined to give com- plete continuity in the structure and there are very few fabrications which do not somewhere contain a welded joint. Such products range from the very sophisticated space vehicles to simple garden tools. Welding applied to structural steelwork has, in supplanting rivets and/or bolts, resulted in lighter and cheaper fabrications with simpler connections. A welded structure, because of its cleaner lines, is more aesthetically pleasing to the eye and leads to reduced painting costs. Maintenance tosts are also reduced since corrosion traps are mainly eliminated, With the more efficient joints obtained by weld- ing, continuous beams ‘and girders may be of lighter construction and the rigidity inherent in welded connections simplifies the design of build- ings to the plastic theory. Welding also allows greater freedom to the designer in that the method of joining permits-a wider choice in component parts and the geometry of the connection he may require. Welding is used extensively in the production of more efficient components than the standard hot-tolled sections, e.g. castellated beams, open- web girders or bar beams, tapered beams, Vieren- deel trusses and composite floors. An often ignored asset of welding is that of being able, easily and quickly, to alter or add to existing fabrications. There are numerous methods of joining metals including arc welding, gas welding, electron beam and laser beam welding, friction welding, diffusion bonding, spot welding, soldering and brazing. For structural steelwork arc. welding is the predominant method employed and the various arc welding processes are described in Section 3. ‘The clectroslag process, another method used for structural steelwork, is also described in that section but it should be noted that it is not an arc welding process. 2. Basic arc characteristics 2.1 Metal transfer The electrode or filler wire of the Process melts with the passage of the welding current through the filler wire, through the arc conducting path Power eotrode Source Sa D Work tee oe (are plasma) and so back to the power source via the earthed component being welded (Fig. 1). The temperature of the arc can be between 5,000 and 30,000K depending on the process and currents used and it is this heat that melts the tip of the electrode and the parent metal under the arc. Increasing current density (welding current divided by the cross sectional area of the electrode) increases the burm-off rate of the electrode and hence the deposition rate. The mechanism of metal transfer across the arc can be ascribed to several modes viz. pinch effect (necking of a droplet at the end of the electrode), electromagnetic forces generated by the current flow around the droplet and transient high short, circuit currents when a droplet bridges the elec- trode and the earthed work piece. The actual transfer of metal can be in the form of a fine spray, globules or a mixture of both 2.2 Energy input ‘The electrical energy input from the arc may be expressed as follows: Are energy (KJ/mm) _ Ae voltage X Welding current (amps) ©” Welding speed (mm/s) x 10° Not all of this energy is converted into useful heat since there are losses due to weld spatter, convec- tion, conduction and radiation; the efficiency of heat utilisation depends on the process, the sub- merged arc process having the greatest efficiency. The arc energy formula is useful to define the heat input from the arc (neglecting losses) and is used in weldability studies, inasmuch as higher heat inputs give slower cooling rates for a given geo- metry of steel plate being welded and cooling rates can have a significant effect on the metak lurgical changes in the weld and parent metal. 2.3 Are blow Since the current flow through the are produces magnetic lines of force which are concentric to the axis of the current flow (Fig. 2), the resuiting magnetic field can interact with that produced by the earth return current flowing in the work piece adjacent to the arc. This interaction can deflect Melting caren Feld assoeiated current Fa2, the arc sideways and cause an unstable fluctua- ting arc resulting in a poor weld bead shape and lack of fusion. This effect, known as are blow, is much reduced by using alternating current power supplies. In cases where two electrodes are used to form the same weld pool each are’s magnetic field can de- flect the other; in these circumstances it is better tovuse one a.c. arc and one dc. are. Arc blow can be particularly troublesome on high current ares 3. Welding processes and consumables - 3.1 Basic requirements ‘The process and/or consumables must a) supply heat to effect fusion of the parts to be joined; 'b) make a joint such that the properties of the join are adequate to cater for the design load and fracture toughness requirements: this necessarily includes satisfactory metallurgi- cal properties; c) enable the process to be made efficiently in any required position; both vertical and overhead welds may be made by some pro- cesses but not all. 3.2 Manual metal-are (MMA) welding This process, as the title suggest, is a manual opera- tion and is solely dependent on the skill of the operator. it is the oldest of all the processes and is, most widely used by all fabricators. The electrode consists of a core wire with a flux extruded around it (Fig. 3). The Mux can consist of ingredients such as cellulose, silicates, titania, iron oxides, manganese oxides, calcium carbonate, fluoride, ete. These constituents are made into a stiff paste with a sodium silicate binder for ex- trusion around the core wire; the flux must per _-— Hiectrode holder > Core wire Welding current Fig. 3. Manual metal-are welding (MMA) form several functions when it is melted are, viz a) stabilise the arc: b) provide the are and molten weld pool with a gaseous envelope to prevent the pick-up of oxygen and nitrogen from the atmosphere: such contaminants would produce a weld of inferior mechanical and metallurgical pro- perti : €) produce a slag over the hot deposited weld bead to protect it from the atmosphere: d) produce a slag to form the acceptable weld bead shapes in the welding position (fat, horizontal, vertical, overhead) required with adequate slag detachability; ©) add alloys where necessary to the weld metal; 1) provide the reactions: 2) control the deposition rate. the necessary slag/weld metal Manual welding electrodes are classified in BS639: ‘Covered electrodes for the manual metal-arc welding of carbon and carbon manganese steels’. This standard also gives mechanical properties of the weld metal, polarity of welding and the position in which the electrode may be used. A typical circuit set up on a.c. supply is shown in Fig. 4. The are is struck by scraping the end of the Variable tapped choke LL Work piece Fig. 4. Schematic diagram of AC power supply for MMA electrode on the earthed work piece and with- drawing the tip slightly until steady are conditions of current and are voltage are achieved. 3.3. Automatic welding us yous coated electrodes 1g conti The electrode in this process has a core wire simi lar to that of the manual metal-are process with the flux extruded round it; it can be many metres long wound on a drum and is used in automatic welding where a travelling gantry, boom or tractor is used. To prevent the flux breaking away from the wire when it is wound on a drum, continous spin wires are helically formed along the peri- phery of the flux (Fig, 5). Since an electrical pick- up is necessary for introducing the welding current into the core wire and since the continuous flux coating is an insulant, the spin wires also act as conductors to carry the current into the arc, ‘The speed of the motor feeding the wire is con- trolled by a feedback from the arc voltage. Aus | Electrode core wire LA Soin wire Wa Electrode =. seed roters(-f — Drive motor Welaivg current c urtent copper il contact shoes Welding nozzie ae Rim! K\ Rentnets AQ Fig. 5. Continuous coated electrodes Another method of applying this process is to use, in conjunction with the electrode, a carbon dioxide shielding gas; this makes it possible to use an ex- truded flux that will give a better horizontal- vertical fillet more closely approaching that pro- duced by the manual metal-are process and a fused slag formed in a butt weld that will detach more easily than when the shielding gas is not applied. With this process only butt welds in the flat posi- tion and horizontal-vertical fillet welds are possible. 3.4 Submerged arc (S A) welding This is another automatic process employing a gantry (Fig. 6), boom or tractor (Fig. 7). In this process a continuous bare wire is fed froma drum through a welding nozzle into a bed of granulated flux. automatically deposited along the joint to be welded (Fig. 8). The heat of the arc melts some of the flux and, as in the manual metabare process, provides a gaseous envelope around the arc. The fused flux forms a cover to the deposited molten metal which prevents oxidation, or other contam- ination from the atmosphere. ‘The arc being completely enclosed by flux, spatter and radiation losses are minimal and high welding currents can be employed resulting in deep pene- tration welds. The consequent high heat inputs together with the fluid type molten flux, produce weld beads of smooth surface appearance. Fluxes are of three main types, fused, bonded (agglomerated) and mechanically mixed; they con- sist of mixtures of various forms of silicon, metal jes and arc stabilisers, and their particular make-up can decide deposition rates, slag detacha- bility, necessary cleanliness of the plate surface and weld metal non-metallic inclusions. The latter has a significant effect on weld metal fracture toughness and in general, the more basic the flux the fewer the inclusions in the weld metal. ‘The electrode wire can also have alloying elements added to it which transfer to the weld metal when it is deposited. ‘The fact that high input currents can be employed means that this process is capable of high deposition rates. In fact, very high rates can be achieved by the use of multiple arcs for which two' or three electrodes operating from suitable power sources are’ fed into the same joint. It should be noted, however, that the high electrical energy input will naturally result in a decreased rate of cooling of the weld metal which, because of its resultant metallurgical microstructure, can suffer a re- duction in fracture toughness. Submerged arc welding can use either a.c. or d.c. but, as with the previous method, it can only be used either in the flat or horizontal-vertical posi- tion. 3.5 Carbon dioxide shielded metal-are (MIG) weld- 2 with cored wires ‘The metal-are inert gas (MIG) welding process was first introduced into the industry using a bare solid wire electrode automatically fed into the weld with the arc shielded by a stream of carbon dioxide gas. It was mainly used as a semi- automatic process although full automation could be provided. Fig. 7. Submerged are tractor unit welder Curzently, the usual form that this process takes is that using an electrode which contains a flux within its periphery, i.e. a cored wire; the flux contains arc stabilisers, deoxidants and alloying elements. The are and molien pool is shielded by carbon dioxide gas although a mixture of carbon dioxide and argon can be used. The latter is more expensive but better arc charateristics can be achieved The use of carbon dioxide results in a globular type of arc metal transfer which, although leading to some spatter of weld metal from the arc, has good penetration properties. Blectrade Drive feed rollers - motor To ux hopper ‘Current copper eontaet shoes Fig. 8. Submerged arc (SA) ‘The electrode is fed by means of a speed controlled motor through the nozzle or gun and the gas through the gun orifice (Fig. 9). A typical semi automatic process is shown (Fig. 10) with a flexible hose through which the current, wire and shield- ing gas are fed; the necessary controls and feed motor are incorporated in the feed control unit. Bare wire electrode _-— Electrode feed rolls Drive motor Po _= Welding current in |__—Copper contact tube Molten slag Molten weld metal Weid Tax Fig. 11, Prineipals of electroslag welding Electiode sulde tube Moti upwards 3.6 Electroslag welding This process originated from Russia and consists of feeding one or more continuous bare wire elec trodes into the gap between the two plates being, joined (Fig. 11). The edges of the plates are left square, no preparation being required as in other processes. The process is used for welding in the vertical position. ‘The electrode is fed automatically by a feed motor to the start plate at the bottom of the joint being welded and a granulated flux covers the end of the electrode; since the flux is non-conducting in the solid state, the process is initiated by an arc which melts some of the flux. The flux is of the type that 10, Semi-automatic MIG process | Vertical travel Drive motor Bare wire electrode Electrode feed je rollers Copper cooling ny shoes }— Water coolant A View on XX bescones electrically conductive when molten and after certain equilibrium conditions are achieved the we is extinguished and the electrode tip is comiletely immersed in the molten pool; the electode is then ‘burnt-off purely by resistance heatng produced by the current passing through thee dectrode, the conductive slag and the work piece to the earth return. Electrosiag welding is therdore not an are process as the other processes di scused previously. ‘Thre weld seam is enclosed on the two open sides by vater-cooled copper shoes which slide up the sem at such a sate that the weld pool is always coatined by them; as the weld pool solidifies so the shoes advance. Depending on the thickness of tle plate, multiple electrode wires may be fed in-t the same weld pool (Fig. 12). Plate thicknesses up to60 mm may be welded with single electrodes andi up to 200 mm with three electrodes. A more recent innovation in the process is that using a consumable guide (Fig. 13). In this method the velding head feeding the electrodes does not move upwards as the weld progresses; it remains Stationary and feeds the wire down through a consumable guide of compatible ferritic material, The electrode and consumable guide melt off in the weld pool; this process is simpler than that pre- viously described. ‘The dectroslag method of welding is one of very high heat input and therefore very slow cooling rates. This gives rise to low impact toughness in the weld metal and the adjacent parent metal because of the resultant course grain nature of their metallurgical microstructure. Normalising by post-weld heat treatment can improve the tough- ness, normally assessed by the Charpy impact test (see p. 30). Vertical travel t Electrodes Oscilatory mation between copper cooling shoes ee Fig. 12. Three wire electroslag welding Fig. 13, Electroslag consumable guide 3.7 Stud welding This is an arc welding process and is extensively used for fixing stud shear connectors to beams. The equipment consists of a gun hand tool, d.c. power source, auxiliary contactor and controller (Fig. 14). The stud is mounted into the chuck of the hand tool and the conical tip of the stud is held in contact with the work piece by the pres- sure of a spring on the chuck. The weld is initiated by depressing the trigger on the gun when a sole- noid within the hand tool comes into operation and causes the stud to lift about 2 mm off the sur face of the work piece; this gep is ‘preset and can be varied within certain limits. A small current pilot arc is then drawn between the stud tip and the work piece. This is followed by the main power nha tansformer and ete (Jaen Comite J control cable Handtool ("Gun") Work pieee Fig. 14, Schematic circuit for are stud welding 10 are which melts the end of the stud and the adja- cent part of the work piece. Whilst the arc is still burning, the solenoid is de-energised and the spring loaded stud phinges into the molten crater; the duration of the current flow and the timing of the plunge is controlled by a timer in the control unit High transient welding currents, in the region of 2000 amps for a 25 millisecond duration for a 19 mm diameter stud, are used and such high currents necessitate the use of an auxiliary contactor which limits the current rise at the end of the cycle by switching in a resistance in series with the power unit. The stages of the welding operation are shown in Fig. 15. A ceramic ferrule placed around the stud foot is shaped so that an all round fillet is formed. ‘The ferrule also prevents ejection of weld metal and helps to reduce arc glare. To reduce oxidation of the weld metal by the atmosphere, the conical surface at the end of the stud is treated with a deoxidant in the form of aluminium metal spray or a ‘slug’ of aluminium inserted at the tip; this also improves the mechanical properties of the stud weld. ‘Main are Setup Puotare Welded stud Fig. 15. Sequence in welding shear stud connectors Composite beam construction in floors of large buildings often utilises a thin profiled steel deck spanning the girders; this deck, which is invariably galvanised, is used as permanent shuttering and bottom reinforcement to the concrete. To provide for composite action shear stud connectors are welded to the beams and a problem can arise when the studs have to be welded through the galvanis- ed sheet. Zinc will volatilise in the arc drawn be- tween stud and beam and when the weld is made it can exhibit gross porosity and fusion defects. One method of reducing these defects and to produce a satisfactory weld is to increase the arc- ing time of the stud and thus remove the zinc from the arc before the weld is made. Another method, which produces satisfactory welds, is to use a dual current process in which a preliminary arc is made first to burn off the zinc. on the profiled sheet and then a higher arc current is developed to make the stud to beam weld through the sheet. u 4. Typical weld details Some typical weld details are given in BSS135: ‘Metal-arc welding of carbon and carbon man- ganese steels’. Modification of these details is allowed if agreed between the contracting parties; for automatic and semi-automatic welding depart- ure from the published details may be required for the particular process used and in many cases procedural trials to establish the preparation and weld procedure may be necessary. To achieve full penetration in prepared butt welds without backing strips requires the root run of the weld on the first side to be chipped, ground or gouged to clean weld metal before the second side is welded (Fig. 16), The term full penetration butt weld is applied to the type of weld shown in Fig. 16; a partial pene- tration butt weld is shown in Fig, 17. Stress re- quirements for both types are defined in BS153: ‘Specification for steel girder bridges’ and BS449: “The use of structural steel in building’. For fillet welds permissible stresses are based on the throat thickness; this is defined in Fig. 18. Fig. 16. Full penetration butt weld penetration Fig, 17, Partial penetration butt weld. throat thickness vertical leg length horizontal leg length & he Fig. 18, Filet weld size 5.Some metallurgical Factors affecting the soundness of welds 5-1 Weld metal solidification cracking, This phenomenon is widely known as hot crack- irag;2 typical longitudinal hot crack in a fillet weld is slown schematically in Fig. 19. When this oxcus, the crack forms a high weld temperature arn it is characterised by a blue appearance along the srack due to surface oxidation at that high temjerature. Such cracks may be due to material ceamposition and/or weld restrain and bead shape (see Appendix A). Hot crack Fig 19. Hot crack in fillet weld 5.2 Heat affected zone (HAZ) cracking ‘The heat affected zone due to a weld is that area of parent metal immediately adjacent to the weld bed shown schematically in Fig. 20a and in the buit weld macrophotograph, Fig. 20b. It is affect- ed by the heat input from the weld and by the cooling cycle it experiences due to the heat flow through the mass of surrounding parent metal; immediately adjacent to the fusion line of the weld the parent metal has actually melted and then solidified. As one moves away from this portion, the parent metal has a temperature gradient from melting point down to plate ambient temperature and within the HAZ it experiences changes in its micro- structure. Depending on the composition of the steel and the rate of cooling, the microstructure may become hardened and relatively brittle and thus susceptible to HAZ cracking (Fig. 20a) which can occur within minutes of making the weld or even days afterwards. Susceptibility to cracking can also be affected by hydrogen in the weld metal, introduced by the welding consumable, which, by some mechanism not yet fully understood, can induce cracking in a hardened microstructure. However, Appendix E to BS5135: ‘Metaharc welding of carbon and carbon manganese steels’, gives guidance on carbon, equivalents to the steels to be welded, heat input from the process used, thicknesses of the parts to be welded, preheat levels required to reduce the cooling rate of the joint, and the limits on hydrogen levels in the welding consumable to re- duce the susceptibility of the weld HAZ to hydro- gen induced cracking (see Appendix B) 12 Heat affected - HAZ erack Weld bead ~~ Fig. 20(a). Weld heet affected zone Fig. 20(b). Heat affected zone 5.3 Lamellar tearing This type of defect is associated with non-metal lic manganese sulphides and manganese silicate inclusions which occur in steel making; when the billet is formed and rolled into plate material these are extended into thin planar type inclusions (Fig. 21). A typical example is shown in Fig, 22. When a large weld is made such that a fusion boun- dary of the weld runs parallel to the planar inclu- sions, a lamellar tear can result; the tear is initiet- ed and propagated by the considerable contractile stress across the thickness of the plate generated by the weld on cooling. Restraint due to the joint geometry and plate thickness contributes to the level of this through-thickness welding stress. The tears are usually close to the HAZ of the weld and are usually stepped (Fig. 23) as fracture pro- gresses from one inclusion to the nextat a different depth by tearing; the tearing is 2 ductile fracture, generally completely subsurface and undetectable by visual examination. It is very important to note that it is only a small proportion of steel plates that are susceptible to lamellar tearing; the inclusion concentrations, weld shape and plate restraint are the important factors and the critical joints where these can prove to be significant must be recognised when designing a structure, ‘ Inclusions deformed into 2 2) thinplanar-type igetusions ‘phereidal inclusions in ingot lig. 21. Non-metallic inclusions in steel plate Fig. 23, Lamellar tear Utrasonic methods of determining quantitatively the inclusions in the thickness of a plate have been proposed; unfortunately the type of inclusion governs the ultrasonic response and realistic assess- ment of inclusion population cannot readily be made. Ultrasonic inspection to BS5996: ‘Methods of testing and quality grading of ferritic steel plate by ultrasonic methods’, whilst limiting laminations and inclusion cluster defects according to the grade of plate, gives no guide to the susceptibility to lamellar tearing. ‘One effect of inclusions is to reduce the short transverse (ST) ductility of the material; that is, small tensile test pieces taken from across the thickness of the plate will exhibit low values of percentage reduction in cross sectional area (often referred to as the ST % RA). Special material, processed in its manufacture to reduce the inclusion content, can be purchased with guaranteed high levels of ST % RA; this can be employed where a weld detail of high risk of lamellar tearing cannot be avoided but it is ex- pensive. The alternative is to use normal quality steel and test it ultrasonically after welding to de- tect whether lamellar tearing has occurred. This requires a competent operator, since it must be recognised that under strain inclusions sometimes elongate in the direction of the thickness of the plate and, although not connected by cracks, give a combined ultrasonic response that could be mis- taken for a tear. ‘Typical weld details that in the presence of unfa- vourable inclusion orientation and population could result in a lamellar tear are shown in Fig. 24 together with preferred details where possible aim- ed at avoiding tearing. When lamellar tearing does occur, it is generally involved with the use of thick plates (because these plates impose a high degree Of restraint) and the size and geometry of the weld detail; it should be noted, however, that @ thin plate with a high degree of rigidity imposed on it by the joint detail and a large resultant weld stress through its thickness can suffer tearing. One detail that can be aggravated by the insistence of the designer to achieve full penetration is the T butt weld; to achieve full penetration it is, in most cases, necessary to back gouge the weld before depositing the-runs on the gouged side. If the first side is fully welded (or even half welded to reduce the weld residual stress before gouging) gouging ‘Typical large weld details that may lead to Tameliae tearing Load beating siffencr to flange plate Preferred —| ick diaphragm plate ‘0 flange plate Preterres — shew sufTonee towed Preferred — Dox girder corner weld Preferred —=| Preferred weld details Fig. 24,- Large weld details and lamellar tearing ap Q Tay bk can produce a lamellar tear in susceptible material acdjacent to the weld deposited on the first side. This is particularly noticeable when using arc air gouging and could be due to the heat input from the process. Partial penetration welds are pre- feerable where design criteria can be met. ‘Onc method of reducing the risk of lamellar tearing wher an unfavourable detail must be used is that off buttering the plate with low strength weld mactal as shown in Fig. 25. The plastic strains that will occur when welding the joint will be taken up by the buttered weld metal which will be free of unfavourable inclusions. It has recently been established that the hydrogen coontent of the weld metal may have a significant ef fect on lamellar tearing; it is preferable therefore 1 use a low hydrogen deposit by, for example, baking MMA electrodes. To repair an area where lamellar tearing has occurs- ed. it is necessary to excavate the damaged material in, such a way that buttering runs may be depos edi in situ over that area; the subsequent re-welding of the joint detail must be carefully controlled. It is preferable to put a few runs in at a time and wait until the parent metal has cooled to such a temperature that the requirements of BSS135 are met before further runs are deposited; low hy- drogen electrodes are to be used. In this way the through-thickness stress is minimised. Fig. 28. Buttering 6. Residual welding stresses and distortions 6.1 Res jual welding stresses Consider the butt weld shown in Fig. 26. When the weld is completed and begins to cool the hot weld and parent metal contracts longitudinally. This, contraction is resisted by the surrounding cold parent metal so that the weld is subjected to a tensile stress. This is balanced by the compressive stresses induced in the cold regions of the parent plate and the stress pattern obtained for longitudi: nal weld shrinkage is as shown in Fig. 26, Shrinkage stresses set up in the transverse direction of the weld follow the same reasoning. It should be noted that stresses can reach yield point in both cases. 4 A typical residual stress pattem for a welded box girder is shown in Fig. 27. Tension ‘Compression Fig, 26, Longitudinal residual stress due to weld \ { 1 I YN 7 tdeatived 1 are cves \ 2 | Fig. 27. Residual stress due to box corner welds 6.2 Residual distortions due to welding 6.2.1, Butt welds A typical angular rotation of the plates due toa single V butt weld is shown in Fig, 28. This ‘occurs because the majority of the weld is to one side of the neutral axis of the plate and thus induces greater contractile stresses on that side. A double V or double U butt weld preparation teduces this distortion. Also, a double U, because it requires less weld metal than a double V, reduces the shrinkage across the weld. ‘These are typical variations for butt weld prepara- tions and other types are shown in BSS135. It should be noted, however, that the welding se- quence for double preparation has an important influence on the resultant distortion; if a few weld runs are first made on one side, the plate turned teee=: Fig. 28. Angular distortion of butt weld over and then the same number of runs made on the second side, i.e. sequential welding, a ‘balanced’ weld will be produced with little distortion. This will not, of course, be possible in situations where rotation of the plate is impracticable, for example when the plate is part of a larger fabrication. One aspect of butt welding that should denoted is where back gouging is necessary to produce a full penetration weld. This can lead to distortion as shown in Fig. 16 because the back gouging will produce a bigger weld on the second side about the reutral axis of the plate. Such distortion can be seduced by using an asymetrical preparation. Single V butt welds will produce cusping as shown in Fig. 29; whilst this may generally be acceptable, there are instances where a double V must be used ‘to reduce i gE eects Fig. 29. Cusping due to transverse butt weld 6.2.2 Angular rotation of fillet welds ‘Shrinkage across the throat area in a fillet weld can lead to distortion both with single and double fillets (Fig. 30). The latter is important in box or plate girder webs where stiffeners are attached by double fillet welds to one side of the web only; where panel flatness within specified limits is a re- quirement, some difficulty will be experienced in achieving an acceptable flatness when thin web plates are employed (Fig. 31). It will be evident that a thicker plate, being stiffer in bending, will reduce the fillet weld angular distortion. Fig. 30. Angular distortion fillet welds If a fillet weld of a stated size is made up of a large number of weld runs, greater angular distortion will result since the total distortion is the sum of the distortions of each run. The fillet weld size should therefore be the minimum commensurate with design requirements. Where a large fillet weld is required in a T configuration and where only shear stress is being carried, the amount of weld can be reduced by introducing a partial pene- tration butt weld as shown in Fig. 32. x Fill wad ‘Equivalent parilal penetration butt weld Fig, 32. 6.2.3 Some typical weld distortions Fig. 33a shows a typical weld distortion in a T fabrication due to the imbalance of longitudinal weld shrinkage about the neutral axis of the sec- tion. Fig. 33b shows a plate girder with equal flanges and balanced welding; in this case distor- tion should be minimal. If, however, the welds attaching the top flange are different in size to those on the bottom flange (Fig. 33c) then, due to the resulting difference in shrinkage, some cambering of the girder will result. Similarly, if the flange plates are of differing thicknesses (Fig. 33d) the shrinkage will be less on the thicker flange side of the girder when equal welds are employed all round, resulting in some camber. Fig. 34 shows the cambering effect of welding attachments to the top flange of a beam. The same result can ensue when welding a large number of shear connectors to the top flange of a girder; this will alter any purposely induced camber in the girder and must be taken into account when fab- ricating. JL Distortion of web panel with stiffeners on one side Fig. 31 1s Stetion AA, @ Neutral xis of T-section Newral axis o Fig 33, Welds about-neutral axis © 6.3 Control of distortion Since distortion from welding is due to the trans- vere and longitudinal contraction of weldments, methods employed to resist this contraction will help to control the distortion. Thus weld-distortion of a flat plate with a series of stiffeners on one side can be countered by elastically prebending the plates as shown in Fig. 35a, In a similar manner two T sections can be welded, prebent back to back, to prevent final curvature in the web plane (Fig. 35b). The angular rotation due to a single fillet shown in Fig. 30a may be reduced by preset- ting the flange plate as shown in Fig. 36. Sometimes both presetting and prebending may be required, for example in plate girder fabrication where the web to flange welds are made automa- tically. When’ the welds are made manually, it is customary to put the stiffeners into the girder Longitudinal shrinkage Angles welded to top Nange Fig. 34, Camber due to welding of angles to top flange o before the web/flange welds are made; in this way the square profile of the web to flange is maintained. Where automatic welding is employed Prebent phate tee “SS Clamp Spacer (@) Prebent plate clamp Clamp Spacer () Prebent T's Fig. 35, Prebending Aller weld to be deposited lig. 36. Preset for fillet weld ‘he stiffeners cannot be put in first since they vould impede the progress of the automatic xachine; in this case presetting of the flange plates Gig. 36) may be required. Additionally, if the fange plates are relatively thin, cross curvature of ‘the plates may occur due to the angular rotation ‘cused by the fillet welds and it will be necessary tp prebend the flange plates, as well as presetting ‘them, to restore flatness (Fig. 37). It should be ‘zpreciated, however, that in many structures a Sight cross curvature in the flanges may not be

    You might also like