Welding Calculations

Design Rules for calculating the strength of butt and fillet welded joints
subject to Direct, Bending and Torsional loadings. Plus guidance on
calculating centroids and second moment of area.

Just touch the F and B labels with the mouse pointer, don't click them.

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• Basics
A basic introduction into stress / strain relationships &
weld design.

• T Fillet Weld
Formula for calculating the stresses in a fillet weld.

• Lap Fillet Weld

Formula for calculating the stresses in lap fillet welds
subject to shear.

• Cantilever
Fillet welded cantilever subject to bending and shear

• Lap Joint Subject To Torsion

Fillet welded lap subject to Torsion and shear

• Rectangular Block Subject To Torsion

Rectangular and fillet welded and subject to Torsion

• T Butt Weld Subject To Torsion

Full Penetration T Butt welded Cantilever subject to
Torsion

• Lap Joint Subject To Bending and Shear

This calculation method is one I came up with.
Unfortunately I couldn't find a similar joint in any
technical reference to verify it.

• Back Ground Information

 Useful revision and helpful for understanding some of
the above calculations.

• Calculating Volume Using Solids Of Revolution

I came across this method when I was trying to calculate
the volume of a dished head on a pressure vessel and
found it useful to know.

• Bibliography
Sources of my information and some useful references.
Welding Calculations
T Fillet Welds
Lap Joint

Weld subject to longitudinal shear only

Cantilever

Welds Subject to both bending and shear

Lap Joint Subject To Torsion

Welds Subject to both bending and shear

Rectangular Block Subject To Torsion

In this case Torsion is the same as an applied moment

T Butt Weld Subject To Torsion
Butt Weld With Offset
Lap Joint Subject To Bending and Shear
This is a lap joint with an offset. I could not find a calculation for this in any reference so I
put this together. I have assumed that there will be a vertical shear force caused by the offset
load creating a moment about the mid point between the welds (marked with the red dot), as
well as a horizontal shear force.
Back Ground Information
Calculating Volume Using Solids Of
Revolution

Some Properties of plane areas

FIGURE CENTROID MOMENT OF AREA
Bibliography
J.G.Hicks
Welded Joint Design Second Edition Abington Publishing 1997
Welded Joint Design Third Edition Abington Publishing 1999

Welding In The World Volume 14 No 5/6 1976

(Design Rules For Welded Connexions In Steel Subject to static loading)

Warren C Young
ROARK’S Formulas for stress & Strain 6th edition McGraw Hill

The Steel Construction Institute

Steel Designers Manual Fifth Edition Blackwell Scientific

G.H.Ryder
Strength Of Materials Macmillan

The Institute of Welding

Handbook For Welding Design Volume 1 Pitman

Procedure Handbook 13th Edition

The James F. Lincoln Arc Foundation.

The best book is the Procedure Handbook, it covers a wide range of welding topics
including calculations. Its a must for any one seriously interested in welding. It cost £16
Inc. Postage in 1999, its available from :-
The James F. Lincoln Arc Foundation.
Mansfield Road. Aston,
Sheffield. S26 2BS
ENGLAND. Tel 0114 287 2401

Anybody seriously interested in engineering calculations should consider a copy

of ROARK’S Formulas for stress & Strain, its available from most decent book shops for
around £20.

I would also recommend the J.G.Hicks book, it covers the calculation requirements for the
European Welding Engineer syllabus. Its available from Abingdon Publishing, Abington
Hall, Cambridge, England.

The Steel Designers Manual is another good book covering a wide range of structural
engineering topics