CAN/CSA-S16-01 S.F.

Stiemer

Weldments
The study of connections should be related
to the CSA S16.1-01 Limit States Design of
Steel Structures. In particular refer to the
Code section, the Commentary and the
tables and graphs that allow for quick
design and analysis. Welding is a process
used for joining structural steel members.
Welding produces a simpler, more compact
connection than bolting, and is more
economical for shop fabrication. During
the welding process two pieces of steel are
fused together by melting them at the joint.
After solidifying, the welds will transfer
shear, tensile and compressive forces.
They are used occasionally to stitch
components together or to seal edges of
surfaces against moisture. During shop
fabrication small tack welds may be
applied to hold pieces in place prior to final
bolting or welding.
The following diagram illustrates the
benefits of welding versus the traditional
(1950) methods of riveting using plates and
angles.
 
It can be seen that welded structures provide more direct paths for the transmission of forces through the structure
whereas the riveted structures required much extra material for the connection of plates and angles to accomplish the
same thing. Riveting required much more material, many more holes to be punched and rivets to be placed.

Table of Contents
Welding Processes ......................................................................................................................................................... 2 
Electric Arc Welding ................................................................................................................................................. 2 
Resistance Welding ................................................................................................................................................... 2 
Oxyacetylene Gas Welding ....................................................................................................................................... 2 
Electroslag Welding .................................................................................................................................................. 2 
Distortions and residual stresses .................................................................................................................................... 2 
Weld Types .................................................................................................................................................................... 3 
Butt Welded Joints..................................................................................................................................................... 3 
Fillet welds ................................................................................................................................................................ 6 
Welded Tension Splice .......................................................................................................................................... 6 
Welded Moment Connection - Flange supported .................................................................................................. 7 
Revision to Weld Configuration above.................................................................................................................. 8 
Shear and Tension Weld ........................................................................................................................................ 8 

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Welding Processes
We distinguish between three types of welding processes for structural steel:
Electric Arc Welding – fusion process with heat from electric arc
Resistance Welding – pressure process with heat from flow of current
Oxyacetylene Gas Welding – fusion process with heat from acetylene burning in the presence of oxygen
Other types of welding (induction-type welding, thermit welding, welding with optical or mechanical energy, and
solid state bonding) are not commonly used in structural steel fabrication. Erection costs of field riveted connections
was extremely expensive compared to the use of the high strength bolts , however, this is where welding, although
efficient in producing smaller and more efficient connections, there was always the problem of welders being
unable to work in the field if the weather was not dry. No statistics have been found that compares the relative cost
of welding compared to bolting in the field.

Electric Arc Welding

Electric arc welding is the most important welding process, both in the shop and in the field. It is performed
manually (hand or stick welding) with a coated metal electrode (stick), or automatically with a continuously fed bare
wire electrode.
The manual process is referred to as shielded metal arc welding. An electric arc is produced between the end of the
electrode and the steel components to be welded. The arc heats the metal parts until they melt. As the arc is moved
along the line to be welded, the molten material solidifies and bonds the components together. The electrode
coating contains flux which purifies the molten metal and produces a shielding gas, which protects the molten metal
from oxidization. The coating remains on the weld surface in the form of slag, which is removed before painting, by
chipping or scraping.
An automatic process, known as “submerged arc welding”, is generally used in the shop. It is similar to the shielded
arc welding. Here the flux is delivered to the molten metal in granular form and the bare electrode is continuously
fed by a machine. Welds of consistently high quality and deeper penetration can be produced at a faster rate than
would be possible manually. sometimes machines are set up to apply welds at several locations between the
components at the same time in order to avoid distortion owing to shrinkage during the cooling process. Both
manual and automatic processes can be modified by shielding the weld with a special gas, usually carbon dioxide.
Depending on the type of gas and electrode polarity, a wide range of materials can be welded and many different
weld penetrations are possible.

Resistance Welding
In resistance welding the heat is produced by resistance of the parts to an electric current. When the components
reach their melting temperature at the contact surfaces they fuse, and bond on cooling. this type of welding is
usually used in the fabrication of lighter steel components, such as open-web steel joists, and for the application of
steel cladding (spot welds), or in a production line to manufacture hollow sections from plate material. Generally,
no material is added to form the weld seal.

Oxyacetylene Gas Welding

Gas welding is popular for minor repair work of difficult-to-reach structural components, because it requires only
relatively light equipment and no electric power source, unlike the methods described above.
Generally, oxyacetylene torches are used to cut holes and to cut edges. When they are carefully guided or
automatically controlled they cut clean contours along straight lines by following templates or numerically input
geometries. Great skill is needed to produce satisfactory results, i.e. to avoid irregular surfaces, when the cutting is
done by hand.

Electroslag Welding
Two wide, thick plates are best joined by an electroslag welding process. The weld is made vertically from bottom
to top in the weld cavity, to form a butt joint. Water-cooled copper slides confine the molten slag and weld metal on
each side of the joint as the weld is formed. The heat is supplied by electric arcs and the weld electrodes are
automatically fed in as the weld progresses. This type of welding is preferred for applications requiring minimum
distortion of the joined members.

Distortions and residual stresses

The high heat input and the uneven cooling of the welded material is a major source of distortions and residual
stresses in welded members. The parts to be joined are often pre-heated, especially when heavy welds are involved
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and special heat treatments afterwards are commonly done for members that have tight tolerance requirements or are
subjected to cyclic loadings and fatigue conditions.

Weld Types
Welds are distinguished by their cross section. Approximately 20% of all structural welds are groove welds. They
are used when ends, edges and/or surfaces of two parts must be joined together. The components to be joined are
usually prepared by cutting of machining them to provide square, vee, bevel, U-, or J-shaped grooves which are
filled in by the weld material. We further distinguish between complete and partial penetration welds, depending on
the extent of fusion throughout the depth of the joint. Nomenclature and particular types of groove welds are listed
in the figures.

Fillet welds are the most common type of weld (nearly 80% of all welds) because they require little or no
preparatory work. Their typical cross section is triangular. The leg of the triangle designates the weld size. The
root of a weld is at the intersection of the legs. A line perpendicular to the weld face and passing through the root is
called the weld throat, and the length of this line is the throat size. More detailed explanation will be found in the
figures accompanying this section.

Plug or slot welds are usually used in lap joints to transmit shear loads or to prevent buckling. They are similar to
fillet welds but their maximum shear capacity is limited by the projected slot area.

Butt Welded Joints

Design is straightforward with checks of weld strength and the base metal strength at the contact of the weld
between the pieces being joined.
Shop and field problems with the application of heat to a small location of the material which upon cooling can
cause distortions that lock in residual stresses. This can be mitigated by preheating the weld location or estimating
the deflection to be caused and. Welding shops are well aware of how to counteract heat distortion problems.

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Fillet welds

This is the most commonly used type of weld. Although most fillet welds
are used to connect two pieces of steel at right angles with fillet welds made
by fusing two pieces of material with a triangular piece of weld metal, it is
possible to make connections at other angles. The governing strength is
based on the “throat” of the weld through the smallest dimension of the
triangle which is equal to D times root 2.
Because the geometry of the weld is fixed – as a triangle, and the strength
can be assigned through the selection of the electrode strength, Tables are
available to make the design a simple procedure. See HSC Table 3-23, p. 3-
40 and Table 3-25, p.3-41 for values.

Welded Tension Splice

The bolted splice above is to be redesigned to use welds with narrower splice plates to allow space for longitudinal
welds at each side.
To use HSC Table 3‐28, p.3‐46 for the design of the plate support on the flange of a W column it is necessary to 
make some assumptions about the dimensions of the bracket. Note that the difference between Table 3‐28 and 3‐
29 is in the location of the weld centroid with respect to the applied load. 

Material:
Fy = 350 MPa
Fu = 450 MPa
Fuw = E4900X = 490 MPa Table 3-22 p.3-40

Maximum fillet weld size at the edge of the splice plate = 0.75 (12) = 9 mm Use 8 mm fillet weld.

From Table 3-25 p.3-25, an 8 mm fillet weld develops 1.62 kN/mm ( 90 degrees to the force) so the end welds
develop:
End welds = 2 (1.62)110 = 356.4 kN
Side welds must develop 1053 – 356.4 = 696.6 kN this will be 4 – 8 mm fillet welds
Longitudinal welds have a strength that is less than the end welds = 1.24 kN/m

Length of the longitudinal welds on the splice plate = 696.6/(4 * 1.24) = 140.5 mm, say 145 mm.

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A second calculation should be made to verify that the strength of the fusion face of the plate is at least equal to the
weld strength. See Cl. 13.13.2.2 p.1-40 for details

For the base metal   
Vr = 0.67 φw Am Fu  = 0.67 * 0.67 * [2 (110+145+145)*8]* 450/1000 
= 1292 kN     O.K. 
 
 
 

Welded Moment Connection - Flange supported

 
The column is
W250 x 67 See p. 6 - 52, 6 - 53 for
dimensions:
b = 204 mm 250 mm Pf = 900 kN
t = 15.7 mm
Try a bracket made from a plate 16 mm thick
welded to the column flange with 8 mm welds.
To use HSC Table 3-28, p.3-46 for the design of
the plate support on the flange of a W column it is
necessary to make some assumptions about the
dimensions of the bracket. Note that the L
difference between Table 3-28 and 3-29 is in the
location of the weld centroid with respect to the
applied load. aL

Assumptions: a 16 mm thick plate is attached xL

with an fillet weld in the form of a “[” kL
Weld length L = 340 mm (assumption)
Weld leg length kL = half width of the
column flange = 102 mm
k = 102/340 = 0.30 Flange moment Connection
Eccentricity of weld centroid
xL = 0.056 * 340 = 19.24mm (Bottom of Table 3-29)
Eccentricity of Load to centroid of weld
aL = 250 – 19.24 = 230.76 mm
a = 230.76/340 = 0.68
The intersection of parameters k = 0.30, a = 0.68 show the coefficient C = 0.136
Three equations are given:
P = C D L, where D is the size of the fillet weld and L is the length of weld height required.
Solving for minimum
C = P/DL
Weld size
D = P/CL with minimum L = P/CD
Weld size for this application
D = 900/(0.136*340) = 19.5 mm ??? too large.

Check 8 mm weld capacity in the moment connection P = CDL = 0.136*8*340 = 369 kN <<900 kN

As an alternative with a 16 mm plate and using a 12 mm weld the following resistance will be found
P = 12/8 *369 =553 kN still not adequate.

Revising the weld length to find

L = P/CD and using a 12 mm weld gives 900/(0.136*12) = 552mm.
This can be rounded off to
L = 555 mm.

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Can other solutions be found? What questions can be asked of the designer? Is the plate thick enough? Is the column
adequate for a moment applied = 900 * 250 mm/ 1000 = 225 kN-m? What other solutions could be found?

Revision to Weld Configuration above

The weld configuration can be changed to hollow rectangle by
aL Pf = 900 kN
running a weld up the flange of the column on the back of the
plate. There can be some question about the strength of the weld 250 mm
which comes from the front of the plate as shown, to the back
(with the dotted line) however, the weld is fusing the to
elements – plate and flange – together so continuity can be
assumed. 16
What is the size of the weld? mm
From HSC, Table 3-30, p. 3-38,
D = P/CL
aL = 250 mm thus, a = 250/375 = 0.667
kL = 204 – 10 = 194 mm, so kL=194 mm
k = 194/375 = 0.517
Interpolation in Table 3-30 to find C . From the table the
following can be noted: Welded Bracket
a  k‐>  0.5  0.517  0.6 
The values of C increase over k from left to
0.6  0.297    0.328  right for all values of k and decrease from top to
bottom for all values of a. The problem is to do
0.667    C?    an interpolation to find the values of a = 0.667
and k = 0.517. Unless a computer programme is
available that describes the actual value for the
0.7  0.268    0.296 
joint, a quick method would be to choose the
lowest value of C in the matrix of values
surrounding the required value. Alternately, one could average the diagonal values from top left to bottom right and
get C = 0.296, or from bottom left upward right to get C = 0.298. The conservative designer might choose the
smallest value C = 0.268 knowing that the true value will probably be a larger value, or make a two way
interpolation horizontally and vertically. We will choose C = 0.268. The weld size is D = P/CL = 900/(0.268*375)
= 8.955 or 9 mm.
If there are only a few connection of this type then the overstrength of the connection can be justified. If there are to
be hundreds of similar welds then there is a benefit in making a more accurate evaluation of the weld size.

Shear and Tension Weld

The HSC gives equations for the parameters that describe the weld shown in HSC p. 3-53 ff. Consider the bracket
with the configuration shown below.
From HSC Table 3-34, p.3-55 P = C’L
P = 400 kN aL
=8
0m
The distance between the two vertical welds is 16 mm the
m plate thickness. Guess L to find D, or given D find L.
P = 400 Assume that the weld size will be 6 mm
kN

16 Since aL = 80 mm and P = C’L. Therefore L = 80/a, and L

mm L = 400/C’. Equating these values gives,
400/80 =c’/a, so C’ = 5a. From HSC Table 3 – 34 p.3-55
L
     a 5a C’ 
0.2 1.0 1.68 
0.293 1.465 1.461 
0.3 1.5 1.44 
 
Solving equations gives 5a = C’ = 1.461 so the length of the bracket would be L = P/C’ = 400/1.461 = 273 mm say
275 mm.

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