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Design - TWI
Design - TWI
Design - TWI
DESIGN PART 5
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
penetration butt welds. The final three weld types to be dealt with in this
series on weld design are the edge weld, the spot weld and the plug weld.
The edge weld is a specialised weld that has limited fields of application and
is mostly used for the joining of sheet metal components although it may be
used for the fabrication of tube to tubesheet welds. The edge weld is
components together a weld can be made along the edge. Sealing the lid on
a can is one ideal application as the lid can be pushed in to the can, resulting
in a minimal gap and a self jigged joint (Fig.1). The weld size and penetration
using methods such as TIG, plasma TIG or the power beam welding
processes.
This type of edge weld may also be used for tube to tubesheet welding
where, by machining a pintle onto the tubesheet, the tube can be inserted
through the tube hole and an edge weld made, (Fig.2) This has the advantage
that the heat sink is more evenly balanced when attempting to weld a thin
metal round the tube hole. This ring may then be machined to provide the
pintle so that the residual stresses are reduced and the tube/tubesheet weld
Alternatively, if PWHT is required the tubesheet and its weld rings can be
the tube/tubesheet welds made in the thin section, removing the need for a
second PWHT cycle. Because of the accuracy of these machined joints the
The spot weld, Fig.3, is normally associated with resistance welding where
two thin sheets are overlapped and held in close contact by pressure from
the welding electrodes during the welding cycle. The resistance spot weld
could therefore be regarded as self jigging. Spot welding with the arc welding
processes also uses a lap type joint but presents a more difficult problem in
that the joint must be firmly clamped together such that there is no gap
between the two surfaces. Failure to do this means that the weld metal may
spill into the gap and full fusion to the underlying plate may not be achieved.
Applications of this joining method include sheet metal work and the lining
greatest strength of the welds is developed when the welds are in shear
As mentioned earlier, penetration into the parent metal from the various arc
10mm with activated flux TIG), 10mm with plasma-TIG and 6mm with MAG
welding. The thickness of the upper plate that must be fully penetrated to
with MAG welding is that the filler wire is fed continuously into the weld pool
so that a large lump of excess weld metal may be deposited on the plate
surface. Autogenous TIG or plasma-TIG will give a weld flush with or slightly
below the plate surface. The process can be partially mechanized. Special
torches are available that, when held against the plate surface, give the
hole may be machined through the top plate, enabling either a plug or a slot
weld to be made by filling the hole with weld metal. Whilst this may seem
tobe a simple and easy process the strength of this type of joint depends
upon full fusion of the weld metal with the vertical wall of the hole cut into
the upper plate, see Fig.4. As with a fillet weld, lack of fusion in this area will
essential that the welder directs the welding arc into the bottom corner of
the joint and does not simply puddle the weld metal into the hole. With small
diameter plug welds this can be a difficult and skilled operation and welders
need to be adequately trained to ensure that they can achieve full fusion.
Since the strength of the plug or slot weld is determined by the throat it may
not be necessary to fill the hole completely unless the weld must be flush
with the surface of the plate for cosmetic reasons. Besides being unnecessary
from the point of view of joint strength, a completely filled hole will have high
residual stresses. These may cause unacceptable distortion and will increase
This brief series of Job Knowledge articles has concentrated on the design of
joints for welding. The designer also needs to remember that, not only must
the joints be suitable for welding, they must in addition enable any non-
destructive testing required by the contract or specification to be carried out.
possible. The designer must therefore take into account the possibility of
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