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Welding High Strength Bolts Pages

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Question: Can welding be performed on high strength anchor bolts and About
fasteners? Ask a Question

Answer: The short answer is that in most cases,

Categories
welding high strength bolts is not allowed. In the Anchor Bolts (9)
fastener industry, the term “high strength” typically Application (10)
refers to any medium carbon or alloy material ASTM (41)
which undergoes a heat treating process to Bolt Industry (16)
develop the strength properties necessary to meet Certification and Testing (9)
the requirements of a given specification. These Galvanizing Bolts (10)
ASTM specifications include A449, A325, A193 Manufacturing (9)
grade B7, F1554 grade 105, A354 grades BC and BD, and A490 among others. When Nuts (4)
heat is reapplied to a bolt that has been heat treated, it is probable that the physical Portland Bolt (11)
properties (strength) of the bolt may be altered. When heat is applied in an Technical (36)
uncontrolled environment, it is impossible to determine what effect this application of Video (1)
heat has had on the fastener. Therefore, welding to high strength bolts is not Washers (4)
recommended.

Three references occur to back up this statement.

Section 4.5.1 of the AISC Design Guide 21 addresses most ASTM anchor rod specifications individually and prohibits the
welding of all quenched and tempered grades.

On page 4-4 of the Ninth Edition of the AISC Manual (American Institute of Steel Construction), the following statement
occurs:

“Anchor bolt material that is quenched and tempered (heat treated) should not be welded or heated.”

The third reference prohibiting the heating of high strength bolts (which would occur during welding) can be found in
the ASTM F1554 specification. Section 6.4.3 of the ASTM F1554 specification states:

“Hot bending performed on heat-treated bar stock shall not have the temperature come within 100°F (56°C) of the
tempering (stress relieve) temperature of the heat-treat process at any location during hot bending and shall be
allowed to air cool after bending.”

Although this statement refers to hot bending, it implies that any process (including welding) that applies heat approaching or
exceeding the tempering temperature to a high strength bolt may potentially alter the mechanical properties of the fastener
and should therefore be avoided.

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The issue of reheating high strength bolts when welding can be avoided by performing the welding operation prior to the
fastener undergoing the heat treating process. In other words a plate, nut, or other component can be welded to a bolt prior to
the fastener being heat treated. However, this must be performed by a fastener manufacturer and eliminates the ability for
high strength bolts to be welded in the field or by another company once the bolts have been tested and certified to meet a
particular ASTM specification.

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Posted by Greg Lindsay

Phone: (800) 599-0565 Email: greg@portlandbolt.com
View other posts by Greg Lindsay

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Posted on Friday, November 4th, 2011 by Greg Lindsay. Filed under Technical. Follow comments with the RSS 2.0 feed.

The below content is submitted by readers and has not been researched or checked for accuracy. It is not endorsed in any way by Portland
Bolt.

10 Responses to “Welding High Strength Bolts”

1. Procyon Systems Inc Calgary says:

Dane McKinnon says

Hello Dane,
My Designers quoted AISC 9th Edition page 588 where it is noted Heat treated and Quenched bolts should not be
heated or welded.

We are Designers in between Client and Engineers. Client sides, “..ah…” but cannot proceed..

Engineer who stamps cannot approve. Please note that these are bolts used for LIFT LUGS of a skid which
weighs more than 200 tons. 10 lifting lugs and 40 bolts.

Thanks
Siva

June 15, 2012 at 3:03 pm

2. Dane McKinnon says:

@Procyon Systems – Common? Perhaps. Prohibited? Likely. Every application will have its own reasons for or
against this procedure. If the fastener is being used in such a way that its being compromised does not adversely
affect its function, then the engineer may decide that it is acceptable in that specific case. Generally speaking
however, the AISC does not condone welding to high strength, heat treated materials. As always, the project
engineer should be consulted.

May 31, 2012 at 8:34 am

3. Procyon Systems Inc Calgary says:

Hi,
It is is said that it is common practice (In western Canada) to weld high strength lifting lug bolts (probably A325)

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1. two tack welds on the bottom

2. seal weld where it comes out of the beam or plate. – and flush grind

this is because the skid under side is sprayed insulation foam.

they want the bolts located and retained before the spray.

two – they want the seal weld to prevent leakage from skid floor.

Is it common?
Is it prohibited?
Thanks
Designer

May 29, 2012 at 2:25 pm

4. Troy C. says:

Can you tell me if an A615 Grade 75 threaded anchor bolt can be heated and straightened without reducing the
strength. We have several bars that are roughly 8′ long which are bent about 1/2″ out of straight over the last 1′-6″
foot of length.

October 22, 2008 at 12:12 pm

5. Adam Oakley says:

@Ted Welti: High strength nuts used with A325 bolts are heat treated and should not be taken past their
tempering temperature (i.e. welding), since this can change the mechanical properties. Although, we often see
engineer’s designs that include high strength nuts welded to plates. The main concern is that it is impossible to
know, without testing, what effect the welding will have on the nut’s strength. Many believe that a few tack welds
will not significantly alter the strength of the nut. We have no engineers on staff and don’t make any
recommendations about this method.

October 8, 2008 at 4:04 pm

6. Ted Welti says:

Is it allowed to weld a nut to the back side of a steel plate for a slip-critical ASTM A325 bolt connection? There
would be no welding done to the bolt itself, just the nut. The nut would be centered over a hole in the steel plate
and welded to the plate in the shop. This is so in the field the bolt could be installed without access to the
backside to hold the nut from spinning when the bolt was tightened. This is for attaching a brick shelf angle to the
outside of a cold-formed steel wall that will be sheathed in the shop before being tilted into place in the field.

October 8, 2008 at 9:04 am

7. Adam Oakley says:

@Soo: A307 grade C is usually made from A36 steel which is weldable. Don’t forget that ASTM has removed
grade C from A307 and replaced it with F1554 grade 36.

July 8, 2008 at 8:09 am

8. Soo says:

what about ASTM A307 grade C..?

is it possible to re-use anchor bolts after welding?

July 8, 2008 at 12:15 am

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9. Adam Oakley says:

@Ben Valdez: Any quenched and tempered bolt that has a minimum tensile strength lower than 150ksi can be
galvanized. There is no problem galvanizing A193 B7. However, any quenched and tempered fastener (A193
grade B7 included) that develops its strength properties through a heat treating process should not be welded. If
you need to weld to the fastener, the highest strength bolt available would be F1554 grade 55.

April 23, 2008 at 8:33 am

10. Ben Valdez says:

I am looking for bolts that are close to ASTM A193

B7 that are weldable and can be galvanized.

April 22, 2008 at 1:22 pm

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