Campbell / Symbols Feature - Part 11.

qxp_Layout 1 7/24/19 3:24 PM Page 12

Feature By J. P. Christein and Richard D. Campbell

Typical and Common Errors and

Misuse of Welding Symbols
Are you correctly applying welding symbols?
The last ten articles of this series in weld symbol identifies the specific welding symbol have specified loca-
Inspection Trends were geared to edu- type of weld (e.g., fillet, groove, plug, tions where they are placed on the
cating the reader about groove weld slot). The welding symbol is the weld welding symbol. The placement of the
symbols; fillet weld symbols; spot, symbol with all the additional element weld symbol, when used, is always on
seam, and projection weld symbols; information (e.g., size, pitch, length) the reference line — Fig. 2.
plug and slot weld symbols; edge weld applied to it — Fig. 1. Another possible misinterpreta-
symbols; stud, back, backing, and sur- tion is the location of the weld sym-
facing weld symbols; supplementary Weld Symbol Placement bol on the reference line. The weld
welding symbols; welding symbols to symbol should be within the length
support T- and corner joints as well as In the AWS system, elements (e.g., of the reference line but not at the
seal welds; symbols for nondestructive weld symbol, size, pitch, length) of the ends— Fig. 3.
examination; and symbols for brazing.
Those articles completed a review
of welding symbols in AWS A2.4:2012,
Standard Symbols for Welding, Brazing,
and Nondestructive Examination.
This article continues the theme of
improving the communication of
welding symbols but with a different
twist. This article will cover typical and
common errors and misuse of welding
symbols.
Welding symbols, when done cor-
rectly, provide a system for placing
welding information on drawings, pro-
cedures, and data sheets for the pur-
pose of relaying information to fitters,
welders, fabricators, and inspectors.
Welding symbols quickly indicate the
type of weld joint needed to satisfy the Fig. 1 — Distinction between weld symbol and welding symbol. The weld symbol indicates
requirements for the intended service the type of weld and, when used, is a part of the welding symbol.
conditions.
There are a number of standards
throughout the world that relate to
welding symbols; however, AWS A2.4
is the standard most widely used. The
data and definitions in this article are
referenced from AWS A2.4:2012 and
AWS A3.0M/A3.0:2010, Standard
Welding Terms and Definitions.

Weld Symbol versus

Welding Symbol
A very common error is the misuse
of the terms weld symbol and welding
symbol. Both terms have important Fig. 2 — Location of the weld symbol. The weld symbol shall be drawn in contact with the
meanings in the AWS system. The reference line.

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Specific Weld Symbol
Orientations
Weld symbols for fillet, bevel-
groove, J-groove, and flare-bevel-
groove have a specific orientation.
These weld symbols shall be drawn
with the perpendicular leg always to
the left — Fig. 4.
cluded from the requirement regard-
ing changes in direction and do not re-
quire the weld-all-around symbol to
specify a continuous weld. However,
use of the weld-all-around symbol for
these circumferential joints is accept-
able — Fig. 9.
A common error in using the weld-
all-around symbol is with matching-
size square and rectangular tubing.
There are two different joint configura-
tions. To use the weld-all-around sym-
bol, the weld joint configuration shall
be consistent with the elements of the
welding symbol for all locations where
a single weld-all-around symbol ap-
plies — Fig. 10.

Location Significance of
the Arrow
The elements of the welding symbol
are placed on the reference line. The
arrow is used to point to the joint. In-
formation applicable to the arrow side
of the joint is placed below the refer-
ence line. Information applicable to
the other side of the joint is placed
above the reference line. The arrow al-
ways points to a joint, not to an indi-
vidual member. Thus, it is the arrow or
other side of the joint, not of the Fig. 3 — Location of the weld symbol. Weld symbols shall be contained within the length of
member or members — Fig. 5. the line and shall not be placed at either end of the reference line.

Application of the Location

Significance of the Arrow
It is useful to address a couple of
examples on the rights and wrongs of
placing information on the reference
line in relation to the arrow — Fig. 6.

Misunderstanding of the
Break in the Arrow
The broken arrow is used — when
necessary — to specify which member
is required to have a bevel-groove, J-
groove, or flare-bevel-groove edge
shape for single- or double-bevel-, J-,
or flare-bevel-groove welds. However, Fig. 4 — Orientation of weld symbols. Fillet, bevel-groove, J-groove, and flare-bevel-groove
a straight arrow can be used if it is ap- weld symbols shall be drawn with the perpendicular leg always to the left.
parent which member is to be beveled
or when either member may have the
desired edge shape — Fig. 7.

Combination Weld Symbol

For joints requiring more than one
weld type, a symbol is used to specify
each weld. However, this does not
mean two separate welding symbols —
a combination weld symbol is used —
Fig. 8.

Weld-All-Around Symbol
Welds extending around circumfer-
ential joints with no abrupt change in
direction (e.g., pipe, round bar) are ex-
Fig. 5 — Location significance of the arrow. Information applicable to the arrow side of the
joint shall be placed below the reference line. Information applicable to the other side of a
joint shall be placed above the reference line.

August 2019 / Inspection Trends 13

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abbreviated “TYP”) in the tail of the

Improper Welding Symbol welding symbol is probably the most
Misuse of “TYP”
for Application misused symbol. The misuse of the “TYP” cannot be used to imply that
“TYPICAL” designation has caused all items to be welded on a drawing are
Sometimes there is nothing wrong many instances of confusion and fabri-
with the welding symbol but the appli- to have that weld, for example, the 12⁄ -
cation errors by failing to completely in. double-fillet welds — Fig. 18. They
cation is not correct — Fig. 11. identify all applicable joints or by iden-
In other cases, omitting the size of are not identical items. Possible joint
tifying joints that might be similar but types and member thicknesses vary.
the fillet weld does not provide enough not identical. Its use requires repeti-
information on the welding symbol — To use “TYP,” joints must be identical
tions of identical welding symbols on a in orientation, type, and thickness in
Fig. 12. drawing — Fig. 17.
The practice of not providing a fillet all details — Fig. 18.
weld size is strongly discouraged. The
engineer or designer applying the weld-
ing symbol should know the loading on
the weld joint and needs to provide a
weld size to transfer the load from one
member to the other. The weld size
does not need to be designated on the
welding symbol if specified elsewhere
such as a drawing note. The key is not
to put the decision on the size of the fil-
let weld on the welder who may not
know the loading condition.

Improper Dimensioning of
Fillet Welds
As with all weld symbols, the fillet
weld size is to be specified to the left
of the weld symbol — Fig. 13. Double-
sided fillet welds are to have the size
specified on each side whether the di-
mensions are identical or different —
Fig. 14.

Location of Dimensions
Dimensions are required to be on
the same side of the reference line as
the fillet weld symbol — Fig. 15.

Complete Joint
Penetration versus
Complete Joint
Fig. 6 — Examples on the rights and wrongs of placing information on the reference line in
Penetration Groove Welds relation to the arrow.
Requiring Backgouging
A groove welding symbol without
designating any dimensions requires a
groove weld that extends through the
thickness of the joint. However, if
backgouging to sound metal is re-
quired, then the terms backgouging or
backgouge need to be added to the tail
of the welding symbol. In most cases, a
back weld is needed and the term back
weld needs to be added to the tail of
the welding symbol as well — Fig. 16.

“Typical” Designation
The use of “TYPICAL” (usually Fig. 7 — Break in the arrow.

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Misuse of the Field Weld
Symbol
One symbol that appears to have
essentially no rules is the field weld
symbol. This symbol is a flag placed at
Fig. 8 — Combination weld symbols.
Fig. 9 — Circumferential welds.
Fig. 10 — Use of weld-all-around symbol for matching-size square and rectangular tubing.
a right angle to the reference line at
the junction with the arrow. The flag
may be on either side of the reference
line and may point to the left or the
right. Some people incorrectly believe
the orientation of the flag has signifi-
cance, but it does not — Fig. 19.
August 2019 / Inspection Trends 15
Some drawings may show a flag
that is not filled in. When early CAD
programs using inkjet or dot-matrix
printers first came out, some of them
apparently were not capable of filling
in the flag on the field weld symbol. As
a result, people thought the unfilled
field weld symbol was proper, and it
apparently evolved into being accepted
by some people and companies to be
left unfilled. However, this is not ad-
dressed in AWS A2.4, as it is not a
standard symbol — Fig. 20.
Incorrect Application of
Supplementary Symbols
An example of a misused supple-
mentary symbol is mixing of the “M”
symbol to indicate machining used to
remove a backing bar. The “M” symbol
is used to identify that machining is
used to produce a weld contour by
postweld finishing using machining. If
a backing bar is to be removed, the let-
ter “R” is placed inside of the backing
symbol. If it is required that machin-
ing is to be used to remove the back-
ing, that should be identified in the
tail of the welding symbol, in addition
to use of the “R” within the backing
symbol — Fig. 21.
Summary
This article provided a review of
typical errors or misuse of welding
symbols. This article is a follow-up to a
series of articles that provided a foun-
dation of basic welding symbol re-
quirements per AWS A2.4. It is essen-
tial that proper use be made of AWS
A2.4. The final article in this series will
cover a comparison of AWS A2.4 and
ISO 2553, Welding and allied processes
— Symbolic representation on drawings
— Welded joints.
— Figures continue on page 16
J. P. CHRISTEIN (jpc00@verizon.net) is
chair of the AWS A2 Committee on
Definitions and Symbols as well as chair
of the A2C Subcommittee on Symbols. He
is also a member of the AWS Technical
Activities Committee.
RICHARD D. CAMPBELL
(rdcampbe@bechtel.com) is with Bechtel
Corp. and has taught AWS CWI seminars
for more than 21 years. He also developed
a seminar on welding symbols that he
teaches for AWS at FABTECH shows and
in-house seminars. He is also a member of
the AWS D1 Structural Welding Committee.
Campbell / Symbols Feature - Part 11.qxp_Layout 1 7/24/19 3:24 PM Page 16

Incorrect

2-6
1
⁄4

Correct

1
⁄4 2-6

Fig. 11 — Improper welding symbol callout.

Fig. 15 — Location of dimensions.

Fig. 12 — Fillet weld size omitted. The fillet weld size shall be specified to the left of the weld
symbol.

Incorrect Incorrect

1
⁄4

Correct Correct

1
⁄4

Fig. 13 — The fillet weld size is to be Fig. 14 — Double-sided fillet welds are to Fig. 16 — Complete joint penetration
specified to the left of the weld symbol. have the size specified on each side. versus a backgouged groove weld.

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Fig. 17 — Welding Symbols Designated “TYPICAL.”

Fig. 19 — Field weld symbol.

Incorrect

Fig. 20 — Unfilled flag on field weld

symbol.

⁄2
1 Incorrect

⁄2
1

Correct
Correct
⁄2
1

⁄2
1

Postweld Finishing by Machining

1
⁄2
1
⁄2

⁄2
1

⁄2
1
Removal of Backing Bar

Fig. 21 — Incorrect application of

Fig. 18 — The misuse of “TYP” in the tail of the welding symbol. supplementary symbols.

August 2019 / Inspection Trends 17