Weld Design and Specification

Jim Glancey, PE Depts. of Bioresources Engineering & Mechanical Engineering University of Delaware jglancey@udel.edu http://udel.edu/~jglancey

I cant explain everything . . .

1000 ft
4 in

6 in

1/4 Inside weld entire length

Factors in Weld Design

I Strength (static and/or fatigue) I Material and the effects of heating I Cost I Distortion I Residual Stresses I Easy to Weld

Static Strength
I Stress

- strain diagram
F A

Stress () = F A yield ultimate (tensile)

F

Strain () =

L L

Shear Strength
I In

general, material fails in shear due to distortion (at a molecular level) I Criteria for failure:
Ductile: Shear Strength ~ 0.5 Tensile Strength Brittle: Shear Strength ~ 0.75 Tensile Strength
I Weld

strength analysis is generally based on Shear Strength

Static Strength of Welds

Butt F
1/8 3/8

Normal = Shear =

F w*h F w*h

Fillet
1/4

75o

2F

F F

F Max Normal = 0.618w * h Max Shear = F 0.707w * h

h = throat size!

Weld Size vs. Throat Size

Butt
h = plate thickness = weld size
1/8

Fillet
1/4

75o

3/8

h = 0.707 * plate thickness 0.707 * weld size

Fatigue Strength
Static Tensile Strength

Fatigue Strength
Low Cycle High Cycle

Endurance Limit

Infinite Life

1000

1,000,000

Cycles of Loading

Endurance Limit
I For Steel:

Endurance Limit = 0.5 * Tensile Strength or 100 kpsi, which ever is lower.
I For Aluminum:

No endurance limit (cannot have an infinite life)

Factors for Fatigue Stress Analysis

Type of Weld Butt Weld Transverse Fillet Parallel Fillet T-butt with corners

Stress Increase 1.2 1.5 2.7 2.0

Strength Considerations
I Try

to minimize the stresses in welds; make the parent materials carry highest stresses. I Butt welds are the most efficient I Avoid stress concentrations I Intermittent weld length should be at least 4 times the fillet size I Minimize weld size to reduce potential for fatigue failure

Effects of Welding on Metallurgy

I Depends on the alloy and welding process I In general, cracking is promoted by:

stress concentrations brittle parent material after welding (low carbon steels) hydrogen in the weld metal impurities in the weld metal

Reducing Distortion
I Prevent

overwelding I Intermittent welding I Minimize number of passes I Place welds near the neutral axis of the part I Balance welds around the neutral axis I Anticipate shrinkage forces I Residual stress relief

Neutral Axis
I The line (plane) where bending stresses are

zero.