CE 316: DESIGN OF STEEL
STRUCTURES
5. CONNECTIONS
DESIGN OF WELDED CONNECTIONS
(see section 6.7 BS 5950-1:2000)
General
Welding produces neat, strong and more
efficient joints than bolting.
However, welding should be carried out
under close supervision which is possible
only in workshops.
Site Joints are usually bolted.
Electric arch welding is the main system
used in structural steel design.
Processes in structural arch welding
The main processes in structural steel design
are:-
i. Manual arc welding
ii. Automatic arc welding
Possible Defects in welding:
1. Over reinforcement and under cutting
2. Incomplete penetration and lack of side wall
fusion
3. Slag inclusion and porosity
Quality assurance in Welded joints.
All welded fabrication must be checked,
tested and approved before being
accepted. Tests that can be applied are:
i. Visual inspection for uniformity of weld
ii. Surface tests for cracks using dyes or
magnetic particles
iii. X-Ray and ultrasonic tests to check for
defects inside the weld.
Types of welds:
Butt Welds
Types of welds:
Butt Welds
Types of welds:
Fillet Welds
Types of welds:
Fillet Welds
Details for Fillet welds (see clause 6.7.2)
i. End returns: At ends or sides of parts fillet weld
should be returned continuously around the corners for a
distance of at least twice the leg length (s) of the weld
Details for Fillet welds (see clause 6.7.2)
ii. In lap joints the lap length should not be less
than 4t where t is the thickness of the thinner
plate.
iii. Where the end of an element is connected by
longitudinal fillet welds, the length L of each
weld should not be less than the traverse spacing
Tw see figure 27 of BS 5950
Design of Fillet welds (see
clause 6.8)
Effective length of a weld:
This is a Length over which the fillet is full
size. This is equal to the overall length, less
one leg length s for each end that does not
continue around a corner. Any fillet weld
with a length less than 4s or less than 40mm
should not be used to carry any load
Design of Fillet welds (see
clause 6.8)
Throat size:
The effective throat size a of a fillet weld is
the perpendicular distance from the root of
the weld to a straight line joining the fusion
faces that lies just within the cross section
of the weld.
Fig. 29: Bs 5950
Design Strength (see clause 6.8.5)
The design strength pw of a fillet weld
should be determined from table 37 BS
5950 corresponding to the electrode
classification and steel grade, or the
lower grade for connections between
different steel grades
Table 37: BS 5950
Design Stress (clause 6.8.6)
The force per unit length transmitted by a fillet
weld at a given point should be determined from
the applied forces and moments, using the elastic
section properties of the weld or weld group,
based on effective throat sizes.
The design stress in a fillet weld should be
calculated as the force per unit length transmitted
by the weld divided by the effective throat size a
Capacity of a fillet weld (see clause 6.8.7)
The capacity of a fillet can be considered
to be sufficient if throughout the length of
the weld the vector sum of the design
stresses due to all forces and moments
transmitted by the weld does not exceed
the design strength pw
Torsion Joint With Load in the Plane
of the weld
e P
Torsion Joint With Load in the Plane
of the weld
e P
Y
A
X
r
X
O
Y
Torsion Joint With Load in the Plane
of the weld
The weld is in in direct shear and torsion
The Direct shear stress is assumed to be
uniform throughout the weld
The Shear Stress in the weld due to torsion
is assumed to be directly proportional to the
distance from the centroid.
Torsion Joint With Load in the Plane
of the weld
Let FT be the maximum shear stress caused
by the torsional moment and rm the distance
from the centre of rotation to the point with
maximum stress
Let si be the shear stress caused by the
torsion at a point which is at a distance ri
from the center of rotation.
Torsion Joint With Load in the Plane
of the weld
Y
dA
rm Fmax=dA.FT
X O
ri
Y Fi = dA.si
M Pe r F r s dA
i i i i
si FT
We have assumed
ri rm
FT FT
s i ri P e ri 2 dA
rm rm
P e rm P e rm
Hence FT
ri dA I x I y
2
Torsion Joint With Load in the Plane
of the weld
Thus, the Shear Stresses in the weld
group due to combined torsion and
direct shear are estimated by the
following formulae:
Torsion Joint With Load in the Plane
of the weld
Per
Shear stress due to torsion FT
I x I y
P N
Direct Shear stress Fs
Length of weld mm
FR F F 2 Fs FT cos
s
2
T
2
Bracket Connection
Bracket Connection
l1
d l2
l1
Weld Group
Bracket Connection
The bracket is connected by fillet welds
to the flange of the column.
Let The flange welds have a throat
thickness aw and the web welds a throat
thickness qaw where q is a specified
fraction.
weld area Aw aw 2 L1 2qL2
L1d 2 qL32
Moment of inertia of the weld group I x aw
2 6
P
Direct shear Fs
Aw
M ped
Load due moment FM
Z 2I x
Re sul tan t load FR FM2 Fs2
Bracket Connection
Requirement: F 2
M Fs
2
p w
N.B: minimum size recommended for fillet welds is 6mm
