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DESIGN PART 2

 
 

The article in the last issue of Connect introduced the fillet weld, the least

costly weld type to make since the components to be joined do not require

flame cutting or machining of a weld preparation, the pieces can be propped

against each other and the welder can then deposit a single pass of weld

metal against a solid metal backing.

Whilst this sounds simple there are some aspects of making a fillet weld that

must be taken into account (in addition to those already mentioned in the

previous article Design part 1).

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Cooling rates in a fillet weld are greater than in a similar thickness butt joint.

There are three paths by which heat will be lost from the weld. This fact

means that lack of fusion/cold start defects are more likely, particularly in

high thermal conductivity metals such as aluminium and the risks of cold

cracking are increased in carbon and low alloy steels. What may be

acceptable in terms of heat input and/or preheat temperature for a butt weld
may therefore not be acceptable with a fillet weld configuration. This point

has sometimes been overlooked, particularly when welding on temporary

attachments such as strongbacks, where quality control may be somewhat

lax. This has led to major cracking problems for some fabricators.

Unlike a butt weld where the required weld throat is generally the thickness

of the parent metal, the size of a fillet weld is determined by the loads that it

is expected to carry. It can therefore be of any size that the designer specifies

although there are practical limitations with respect to both minimum and

maximum throat thickness.

With the conventional arc welding processes it is difficult to deposit a fillet

weld with a throat less than some 2mm. This is in addition to the possibility

of the lack of fusion/cold cracking mentioned above due to the rapid cooling

rates experienced by small fillet welds. The maximum size of fillet weld is

generally that of the thickness of the thinner of the two items being joined

but very large fillet welds may cause unacceptable distortion and/or

extremely high residual stresses. In addition, above a certain size it may be

more economical to make a T-butt, rather than a fillet weld.

Although the throat thickness is regarded as being the most important

dimension for design purposes it is a fact that mechanical failure of fillet

welds is often along the fusion line or through the parent material itself. One

reason for this in carbon or low alloy steels is that the weld metal is mostly

substantially stronger than the parent metal.

As mentioned in Connect article No. 90 there are a variety of fillet weld

shapes that make the accurate measurement of the throat thickness a little

more difficult than may be first thought.

The throat is the shortest distance from the root to the face of the weld. To

measure this dimension in a regular mitre or flat faced fillet weld is relatively

simple. The shape is that of an isosceles triangle, the throat being 0.7 of the

leg length. Convex, concave and deep penetration welds, however have

throat thicknesses as illustrated in Fig.1.

a) mitre fillet weld

b) convex fillet weld

 c) concave fillet weld

d) deep penetration weld

Fig.1.Throat dimensions in fillet welds

It is apparent then, that measurement of either leg length or actual throat

thickness alone is not reliable in determining the design throat thickness of a

weld but that the weld shape must be taken into account. The excess weld

metal of the convex weld gives no benefit with respect to design strength

and, from a cost point of view, the fillet weld face should be as flat as

possible.

The deep penetration weld is a very cost effective way of increasing the joint

strength as only a proportion of the weld metal is from deposited filler metal.

However, it is not possible to measure the throat of a deep penetration weld.

To guarantee that the minimum design throat has been achieved it is

necessary to control welding parameters and fit-up within very tight

tolerances. This type of weld is therefore generally made using an automated

or mechanised welding process (submerged arc or spray transfer MIG/MAG)

in order to achieve sufficient and consistent control of the welding

parameters.
When deciding on the size of a fillet weld it should be remembered that a

small increase in throat thickness will result in a large increase in deposited

weld metal as the cross sectional area of a fillet weld is a function of the

square of the leg length (area = z2/2). Increasing the throat from, say, 5 to

6mm results in an increase in area and therfore weld metal of around 45%.

This equates to almost 0.1kg extra weld metal per 1 metre length of weld.

There are thus substantial cost and weight penalties to be paid if the joint is

either over-specified by the designer or over-welded by the welder. There are

no hard and fast rules about the point at which it is more economical to

change from a fillet weld to either a double sided fillet weld or a partial

penetration butt weld. Areas quoted in Fig.2 are worth bearing in mind when

deciding on fillet weld sizes.

Fig.2. Relative cross sectional areas

For a fillet weld loaded in shear (the load parallel to the weld) the calculation

of stress on the weld is simple; it is the load divided by the area of the weld

throat.
 Fig.3. Calculation of fillet weld throat

It is assumed for design purposes that fillet welds fail through the throat and

it is therefore a simple matter to calculate the cross sectional area capable of

carrying this applied load when the strength of the weld metal is known.

Note that the shear strength of a metal is generally around 70% to 80% of the

tensile strength. This figure is often factored to give an acceptable margin of

safety. In the UK for plain carbon steels a shear strength of 115N/mm2 is

frequently used, enabling the throat thickness to be calculated from the

simple formula throat:- throat 'a' = P/(L x 115).

The throat dimensions of a double fillet weld T-joint loaded in tension can be

determined using the same approach. Note, however, that this is a very

simplistic calculation and does not take into account any other stresses

(bending, torsion etc) that the weld may experience. It is however beyond the

scope of these brief articles to cover in any depth the stress analysis of welds.

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5
This article was written by Gene Mathers.

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