Stud Welding of Shear Connectors on Steel Bridges

BIOGRAPHY
Clark Champney worked in Nelson Stud Welding for 42 years and is the manager of Applications Engineering department. Clark is an advisor to AWS D1E and D3 committee. Clark is a graduate of Colorado State University. Chris Hsu worked in the welding industry for 22 years. Chris started his career in Sciaky designing laser, electron beam, TIG and resistance welders; and Lincoln Electric designing arc welding equipment and consumables. Chris is the head of global engineering in Nelson Stud Welding. Chris holds a BS in materials science from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and 3 masters degrees: welding engineering from Ohio State University, electrical and computer engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology, and MBA from Cleveland State University.

SUMMARY
The construction of Cooper River Bridge is used as an example to illustrate the use of headed shear connector studs, the stud welding equipment and drawn-arc process in relation to the various designs and practices currently being used in composite construction of bridges. Full depth prefabricated precast deck panels with rebar loops are interlocked with studs and comply with seismic design specifications. Topics include anchoring precast bridge deck panels using shear connectors, panel designs, welding beams on barges, surface preparation, weld inspection, accessories, layout, and procedures. This paper serves as a practical guide and reference source of welding shear connector studs in construction of steel bridges, and the use of shear connectors to connect steel beams to factory produced precast concrete deck slabs with rebar loops.

CLARK CHAMPNEY

CHRIS HSU

Stud Welding of Shear Connectors on Steel Bridges

Clark Champney Chris Hsu

Composite and Precast Bridge Superstructures

The economic and design advantages of using composite construction in steel and concrete structures are well known. The effectiveness and performance of various anchors and iterations of composite construction have been tested over the years. Early test of composite beam designs revealed that to be effective the anchors had to be capable of resisting both slipping of the concrete slab toward the supported ends of the steel beam and resisting lifting or separation of the concrete away from the beam. The lift component in composite assemblies was found to be greatest in the center of the span and it decreased while the slip component increased going toward the ends of the beam. The most common shapes used for shear connection after the development of the arc welding process were short lengths of steel channel and steel coils or spirals. The invention and introduction of the cold formed headed shear connector studs by R.C. Singleton of Nelson Stud Welding in 1955 has now virtually eliminated the practice of using more labor intensive welding methods in composite designs. The term Shear Connector is now generally accepted and understood to mean that headed studs are to be used and that they are to be applied to beams or plates using the drawn-arc stud welding process. The dimensions of the headed shear connector studs are found in the American Association of Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) / American Welding Society (AWS) D1.5 Bridge Welding Code1 and AWS D1.1 Construction Welding Code - Steel in Figure 7.1 Dimensions and Tolerances of Standard Type Shear Connectors2 and ISO 13918, 4.4. The diameters that are listed are 1/2" (12.7mm) through 1" (25.4mm) in diameter. If shear connectors of another type is intended additional information should be supplied to clarify the difference in type. Bridge construction with prefabricated elements and systems offer many advantages including reduced traffic disruption, crew and public safety, and accelerated schedule3,4. Prefabricated superstructure such as decks minimizes the need for field forming of concrete, and effectively removes the deck fabrication from bridge construction site and critical path of project planning. The precast decks can be partial-depth or full-depth. Two types of connections are used between adjacent slab elements5. The connection in the strength direction is used to transfer primary deck moment and shear and is often accomplished by a small cast-in-place closure between the adjacent panels. The one in the distribution direction is primarily to transfer shear and minor distribution moments between panels, typically a grouted shear key with longitudinal post-tensioning placed across the key. The deck panels are connected to steel beams with shear connector studs located in pockets in the concrete deck slab. Special loop bar reinforcement details are seen in longitudinal and transverse joints to make the deck continuous for live load distribution in Japan and Europe6. Full-depth precast deck panels are used in North America rehabilitation and new construction of bridges with various shear connector and pocket design details7. A precast, pre-stressed deck system with shear connectors is shown to have better crack control, 10% more slender and 20% lighter in weight. The shear connectors transfer the horizontal shear between the girders and the deck as the deck bends and provide a vertical clamping force between the top of the girder and the bridge deck8. Full-scale testing and finite element analysis prove the viability of full-depth precast concrete bridge deck system, with precast panels and steel beams made fully composite with shear connector pocket and shear studs9. Shear load design consists of shear studs welded to steel plates embedded in concrete girders are used in bridge systems with prefabricated decks with external tensioned structural elements10.

Stud Welding Process and Power Sources

During the Second World War Ted Nelson developed the drawn-arc stud welding process. It is the process used to weld the shear connector studs. It is a machine-controlled arc welding process that is accepted by the construction industry and construction trades as a tool of the trade. Since it is a machinecontrolled process it is treated the same as resistance welding and therefore expensive operator qualification and certification is not required. The requirements for qualification stud welding operators are found in AASHTOW/AWS D1.5 and AWS D1.1 under paragraph 7.7 Production Control. Paragraph

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7.7.4 operator qualification in these codes state that an operator is qualified by the successful welding and testing of the two stud test preformed during the pre-production testing required at the start of each shift. The stud welding power supply must also be capable of providing these high amperages with sufficient voltage to overcome the resistance of long cable lengths that are often needed to reach from a power source located on the ground at one end of a bridge to the center of the bridge or to reach up from a barge on a navigable waterway to the deck of a bridge. Typical bridge construction sites do not have three phase 440 or 220-volt primary power available. For this reason most stud welding on bridges is done using power supplied from a portable diesel driven AC generator. The typical portable stud welding system for used at bridge and construction sites now have the diesel driven AC generator and the stud welding power unit both mounted on a trailer or a skid (Fig. 1). These units normally have lifting points or eyes so that they can be raised by a crane to the deck of a bridge or to the higher stories of high-rise buildings. This portability is needed to avoid the use of overly long weld cables. The amperage output of modern stud welding units is regulated. The introduction of stud welding units with regulated control of the output current in the late 1970s made a major contribution to the consistency of the quality of stud welds. The older stud welding units consisted of a generator coupled directly to the crankshaft of a diesel motor. The amperage output of these units was directly dependent on the rotation speed of the motor. The amperage output was also affected by heating of the unit and the cables. As the windings in the generator and cables heated up the resistance went up and their amperage output went down. The amperage from these units also was affected by changes in the resistance when the length of the weld cable was changed. Manual adjustments to the current control setting were needed to compensate for changes in the cable lengths and heating and cooling. Fortunately, most of the non-regulated units have been retired and are not in use today.

Fig. 1 Diesel generator trailer with Nelweld 6000 stud welder at Cooper River Bridge job site

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Shear connector power sources today employ microprocessor to precisely control arc current and arc time. The weld time and amperage levels are adjusted according to the weld base diameter of the studs and can be saved in pre-sets and locked down. Study has shown a tight relationship between weld zone energy input and arc stud weldment quality11. Modern power sources use embedded microprocessor to monitor actual arc signals and timing, and compute actual arc energy and gun movement against targets of good welds. Fig. 2 shows the arc current in red and voltage in yellow. When the actual arc energy and gun movement deviate from targets by a preset threshold, a bad weld warning is generated.

Fig. 2 Microprocessor controlled shear connector welders monitor weld quality from arc energy and gun plunge behavior Stud welding is an arc welding process. With manual arc welding with stick electrode filler metal, the operator strikes the arc and manipulates the electrode to control the arc length. With drawn-arc stud welding process, an arc is drawn between one workpiece and the stud (another workpiece). There is no addition of filler material. The autogenous weld consists of only steel from the stud and the workpiece. At first, the stud is pressed against the workpiece by the gun spring pressure through a chuck. By depressing the trigger on the gun the operator starts the weld process, and the welder outputs a low pilot arc current into the short circuit between the stud and the workpiece. A voltage is then sent to the coil of an electromagnet in the back of the welding gun. This energizes a solenoid clutching mechanism that retracts and draws the stud back to a prescribed distance away from the base material, hence the name drawn arc shown as the first 25V step in Fig. 2. When the stud has been retracted, the main weld arc will be turned on and amperage will flow at the preset level for the time that was also preset, shown as 1400A and 35V in Fig. 2. At the end of the prescribed time, the voltage to the coil and the weld arc will be turned off. When the coil is de-energized, the stud will be forced into the pool of melted stud and base material by the spring in the gun with full main arc current, shown as 1400A and 8V in Fig. 2, extinguishing the arc. The metal will cool rapidly, the output current can be turned off, and the gun can then be removed from the welded stud. Stud welding process robustness is often characterized by the operating window in an arc current vs. arc time diagram. Designed experiments (DOE) is often used to define and compare the process robustness12.

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Shear Connector Studs

AAHTO/AWS in D1.5 Bridge Welding Code and AWS D1.1 Construction Welding Code, Steel sections 7.2 General Requirements and 7.2 Mechanical Requirements are the standard references regarding the design, material and strength of shear connector studs. Section 7.2 contains references to arc shields and flux. These refer are to unique and specific features of studs or fasteners that designed to be installed using the stud welding process. The code uses the term arc shields to refer to a ring made of fired ceramic material that goes around the end of the stud and contacts the base material of the steel beams. This ring is commonly called a ferrule. The standard ferrules for welding shear connector studs to flat surfaces are cylindrical in shape and flat across the bottom. The base of the ferrules is serrated with vents that allow expanding gases to be expelled from the weld area as the steel is melted by the arc. During the welding process the ferrule shields and concentrates the heat of the arc by limiting the weld area of the base material. The ferrule also reduces oxidation of the molten weld metal by restricting the air flowing in the weld area. The internal cavity of the ferrule acts as a form to shape the molten metal at the base of the stud into a cylindrical flash or doughnut around the base of the studs. The flash ring often serves as a quick visual indicator of weld integrity. Each ferrule is used only once to make one stud weld. After welding the ceramic ferrules are fragile and can easily be removed by breaking. Ferrule removal is required for visual inspection of the resulting welds. The ferrules also perform two safety related functions. First, the ferrules help contain the molten metal and protect workers and adjacent non-metallic or combustible materials from fire or charring. Secondly, the ferrules give a degree of eye protection by limiting the operators exposure to the ultraviolet light that is emitted from the weld arc. Even with the protection of ferrules wearing of safety glasses with No. 3 UV filter lenses while stud welding is still recommended as a further precaution. The term flux with respect to stud deals with the degassing material that is installed in a small hole in the weld end of the studs. In the same way that silicon or aluminum is used to degas molten steel when it is being made a small amount of flux is needed to prevent the formation of voids or gas pockets in the steel that is melted and re-solidified during the stud welding process. The flux is also beneficial during initiation of the weld arc and it helps stabilize the weld arc.

Stud Weld Gun Settings

There are two principle weld settings on the stud welding guns13. The lift setting is the distance that the solenoid in the gun will retract to pull the stud away from the base material at the beginning of the weld. The gun lift creates the air gap or arc length that the weld current must flow to create the heat that will melt the stud and the base material. The lift adjustment has a significant effect on the heat input just as the arc length has in other arc welding processes. The core of the solenoid at the top or rear of the welding gun controls the lift distance. The other gun setting is the plunge. This is the length of stud that protrudes beyond the ceramic ferrule. Flux ball protrusion is not included in the plunge. This portion of the stud length is available to be forced into the pool of molten metal below the workpiece surface by the spring in the gun during plunge. Adjusting the position of the foot assembly, which consists of legs, controls the plunge setting, foot and the ferrule grip or ferrule holder that hold the ceramic ferrules (see Fig. 3). The two legs holding the assembly slide through holes along each side of the stud welding gun. These legs can be locked in place by setscrews at any elevation so that the ceramic ferrule will be held with the desired length of plunge exposed and protruding through the ceramic ferrule.

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Fig. 3 Stud welding gun with accessories The actual reduction in stud length that is melted or burned off during the weld is controlled by a combination of the power unit settings of time and amperage and the gun settings of lift and plunge. In North America the manufacturers of studs add a fraction of an inch to the desired length of the installed studs. This additional stud length increases with the diameter of the stud. For 1/2" stud 1/8" is added to the nominal installed length and 1/4" is added to the length of 1" diameter studs. To assure quality weld and reduce the chance of a weld failure some stud applicators will intentionally use hotter than normal weld settings that will reduce the installed length by more that the standard allowances for burn-off. The reduction in stud length is a good indicator of the weld quality. During inspection it is a common practice to check the installed stud length to confirm that there has been a sufficient reduction in the stud length. An installed stud that is taller than the nominal length indicates that weld settings were not hot enough or that there was some other problem during the weld process that interfered with getting the normal reduction in length. When studs are welded the head of the shear connector is manually loaded into the tines of a chuck mounted on the front of the gun. The ceramic ferrules are usually simply placed on the steel beams at the approximate weld locations. The serrated or vented side of the ferrule needs to be faced against the beam. The gun is then used to insert the weld end of the stud into the bore of the ceramic ferrule and pressure is applied to the gun handle to compress the spring inside the gun. The ferrule holder needs to be seated against the shoulder on the exterior of the ceramic ferrule. When the gun is in this position the weld is triggered. The actual main arc time in seconds roughly correspond to the stud diameter in inches. The weld time for a 1/2" diameter stud would be about .50 seconds and a 1" weld would take approximately 1 second.

The Cooper River Bridge Project

The Cooper River Bridge project near Charleston, SC utilized standard composite construction practices to build the approaches to the center cable-stayed span. The approaches were 8 lanes wide and went over land and water. Beams with 250 ft spans were used along each edge of the 12 ft wide lanes. Galvanized sheet metal form decking was placed between the beams. Headed studs of 7/8" diameter x 9 3/16" length were welded on the approaches, in rows across the beam widths to achieve composite action. Headed studs of 5/8" diameter x 6 3/16" length were welded onto the splice plates on main span connections. After the studs were welded the concrete was cast in place.

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Fig. 4 Cooper River Bridge beams with drawn-arc welded headed studs

Precast Panels
The first use of shear connector stud with precast panels for bridge construction was limited to partially composite construction. This was due to the fact that the studs were welded through holes or windows in the precast panels. The holes or windows left only a limited area of the beams exposed with access for the stud welding. To develop their full strength studs need to be spaced apart so that the cones of concrete stress by the studs do not overlap. Only a single stud could be welded through a 3" diameter hole. For each 3" increment that the hole is elongated the number of studs can be increased by one stud (e.g. 3" x 6" = 2 studs and 3" x 12" = 4 studs). On the cable-stayed suspension span of the Cooper River Bridge an innovative means of achieving the benefits of fully composite construction on the deck was used. Here the deck was constructed of 9 1/2" thick precast panels made from 8,000 psi concrete. Each section of the cable-stayed span consists of two edge girders between which 3 floor beams were placed on 15 8" centers (see Fig. 5). Three forming joists were then placed between each of the floor beams. This created a support grid onto which 12 precast panels were placed. Full composite action was achieved through the use of cast-in-place infill around all four edges of each panel. All 4 edges of the panels had loops of #7 rebar protruding into the infill trench for anchorage. The loops were orientated vertically. They came out of the panel near the top for approximately 12" and were bent 180 degrees and reentered the panel near the bottom. These vertical loops were placed on 6" or 12" centers depending on the shear load that they had to resist (see Fig. 6).

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Fig. 5 Cooper river bridge precast deck panels are stacked atop structural beams with shear connectors

Fig. 6 Cooper River Bridge loops of deck panel interlock with shear connectors on the beam The direction and loading also determined the spacing of the 7/8" diameter x 8" long shear connector studs that were welded to the supporting steel. The standard spacing for studs on the edge girders was 6 Page 7 of 12

studs in a row every 6" along the girder. The 6" spacing of the loops used along the slab edges interacted with the 6" spaced studs on edge girders to stabilize the whole deck. The three bridge beams that ran across between the edge girders were wide enough to allow welding of 4 studs 7/8" diameter x 8" long in each row (see Fig. 6). Since these beams were supported at each end by the edge beams they acted the same as beams that run in the direction of a normal roadway and where the span is between support pillars. For this reason these beams had 4 studs welded every 6" along the beams at the ends where the shear load was the greatest. The spacing for the rows of 4 studs was increased to 12" in the center of the beams where the shear load was less and only resistance to lifting was needed. Two edges of each panel were positioned over the bridge beams with 6 studs every 6". One edge of the outer panels was over the edge beams with 4 studs every 6" or 12". The remaining edges of the outer and center panels were over one of the forming joists. These forming joists had no studs welded to them since studs on them would not be on a position to resist a shear load and contribute to supporting the deck. The infill trenches on all 4 sides of all the panels had straight lengths of rebar inserted through the intersecting loops between the studs. The panels for a 12 foot wide pedestrian and bike way were supported by cantilever beams that were bolted to the outside of the south edge girder. The three inboard edges of these panels had rebar loops that protruded into infill trenches where there were studs and straight lengths of rebar.

Stud Welding on the Cooper River Bridge

M. J. Mangan & Sons of Oxford, North Carolina was the contractor who performed the majority of the stud welding used in the Cooper River Bridge project. Two trailer mounted portable diesel drive stud welding power units were used. For the low approaches a power unit was placed on the ground at each end of the bridge and the weld cable to the gun was strung up to the bridge deck for welding. On the high approaches the stud welding power units were positioned at the leading edge of each section of poured concrete and the weld cable was strung out to make the stud welds on the next 250 ft span of beams.

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Fig. 7 Cooper River Bridge welding shear connectors on beams after paint removal and ferrule layout For the cable-stayed portion of the bridge the shear connectors were welded to the edge girders and floor beams while they were on floating barges. The size of the barges was large enough to accommodate 4 edge beams and the 6 bridge beams that went between the girders and still have space for the stud welding power source in one corner of the barge. The two sets of steel beams in two barges would be enough steel to support two weeks of construction work on one of the towers. The steel in each barge had 10,000 studs. The welding crew of 5 men could weld two barges filled with steel in approximately three days. This allowed them to alternate weeks when at the bridge site with stud welding on other jobs. A diesel powered stud welder was moved onto the barges with a crane to set up a stud welding work area. Page 9 of 12

The only shear connectors that were actually welded to the steel in the cable-stayed portion of the bridge on site were the studs on the final center side girders, splice plates and the center bridge beam. This welding could not be done in advance because the locations of the studs could not be determined until the steel was in place.

Stud Welding to Painted Surfaces

Paint is a known contaminant that interferes with any arc welding process. Because paint is an insulator it will prevent the electrical contact that is needed to initiate a weld arc. When manual welding is being done the presence of paint can be compensated for by the welder who can change the length of the weld arc and the speed of travel in response to the conditions he sees in the weld pool. Since the stud welding process is a mechanized welding process, this type of compensation for variations in the amount of paint at a particular location are not possible with stud welding. For this reason the presence of paint is a more serious concern with stud welding than with manually controlled weld processes. Paint will gas up during the weld. This may extinguish the weld arc. The thickness and type of the paint also have a direct bearing on the ability to make good welds. Other less volatile types of paint will leave residues or oxides that contaminate the weld metal. The insulating effect of paint will also restrict or limit the area of fusion. If the actual area of fusion is too small it will not develop the full strength of the studs. The adverse effects of paint on welds are recognized by the AWS in both their D1.1, Construction Welding Code, Steel and D1.5, Bridge Welding Code, in Section 7 under 7.4 Workmanship, paragraph 7.4.3 Base-Metal Preparation reads: The areas to which the studs are to be welded shall be free of scale, rust, moisture, paint or other injurious material to the extent necessary to obtain satisfactory welds and to prevent objectionable fumes. These areas may be cleaned by wire brushing, scaling, center punching or grinding. The AWS D1.1 and D1.5 code statements that paint and other contaminants need to be removed from the weld area to the extent necessary to obtain satisfactory welds does not adequately address the issue of variations in the thickness of the paint that may exist from beam to beam through out a project and the ability to consistently make satisfactory welds. The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) takes a more definite statement with respect to paint. AISC 1999 LFRD Specification (Load Factor Reduction Design) Section M3.5 and M4.5 state that all surfaces to be welded must be free of paint. Section M3.5: Unless otherwise specified in the design documents, surfaces within two inches of any field weld location shall be free of materials that would prevent proper welding or produce objectionable fumes during welding. Section M 4.5: Shop paint on surfaces adjacent to joints to be field welded shall be wire brushed if necessary to assure weld quality. The AISC requirement is more in agreement with the recommendation of Nelson Stud Welding that paint must be completely removed from the areas where studs will be welded. When studs are welded to steel that has been painted the surface at the weld locations should be ground, scraped, needle scaled or brushed to completely remove the paint from the weld locations. If only enough of the paint is removed to make electrical contact and start the weld arc the thickness and volatility of the remaining paint may still be enough to have an adverse affect on the weld quality. Consistent stud welding results depend on the complete removal of all paint from the weld areas.

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Paint Removal and Stud Locations at Cooper River Bridge

The steel girders and beams on this job were coated with a light colored etching rust inhibiting primer. It was not a surprise that the initial attempts to weld through this primer were not successful. In order to get good welds it was necessary to remove the paint from the weld locations using a grinder. A 4" diameter 80 grit hard disk was used in production. The need to remove the paint was discovered on the approach ramps where the precise location of the studs was not a major concern. Per AAHTO/AWS in D1.5 Bridge Welding Code and AWS D1.1 Construction Welding Code, Steel Section 7.4.5 Spacing Requirements, Longitudinal and lateral spacings of shear connector studs (type B) with respect to each other and to the edges of beam or girder flanges may vary a maximum of 1" (25 mm) from the locations shown in the drawings. To assure proper fit-up of the precast panels on this job the tolerance on the stud locations for the cable-stayed portion of the bridge was reduced to +/- 1/4". To achieve this high degree of accuracy for placement of the studs a long laser cut stencil was used in conjunction with spray paint. The stencil that was developed had the weld locations blocked so that no additional paint would be applied to the stud locations. This prevented any further contamination of the weld location. The stencil pattern had four slots around each stud location that left four paint lines spaced around the stud location at a distance slightly larger than the outside diameter of the ceramic ferrules used to weld the 7/8" diameter studs. These four paint marks served three important functions. First, they were guide marks for the grinding operation used to remove the contaminating paint from the weld locations. During this operation the marks limited the cleaning to a small area and prevented the removal of more paint than was necessary. This increased the efficiency of the grinding operation so that all the paint, mill scale and other contaminants were thoroughly removed from the weld area. Second, the grinding operation left the paint marks they could be seen by stud weld operator and used as guides to properly position the ceramic ferrules and studs prior to triggering the welding cycle. The third function of the stencil marks was that since they remained in place after the stud welding and removal of the ceramic ferrules they could be used for inspection purposes to confirm that the welds had in fact been made in the right locations. Other methods of laying out stud locations that may be used or construction are the use of layout chalk, scribe marks or punch marks. For the best stud welding results the recommendation should always be to grind the weld surface and remove paint, rust and mill scale down to bright metal.

Inspection of Stud Welds

Four inspectors were in charge of quality control for stud welding on the bridge. They reported to the state highway department, local area, bridge owner and a private inspection firm. The original inspection rate on the stud welds was in accordance with the AWS Codes. Two studs were bend-tested out of every 100 welds. The inspectors on this job insisted that a 45 degree bend test be preformed rather than a normal AWS preproduction 30 degree bend test or the 15 degree bend test used on production studs that allowed them to be left in the bent condition to confirm that they had been tested. When the first studs that had been bent 45 degrees arrived for assembly with the precast panels it was immediately apparent that in order for the bend tested studs to not interfere with the rebar loops extending from the precast panels that the studs would have to be reverse bent to their original position. Re-bending was difficult and the studs tended to finish in an S shape rather than straight. This coupled with the fact the virtually no weld failures had been found established a high degree confidence in the competency of the stud applicator and the quality of the stud welds they were making. The inspectors agreed that the angle for the bend testing could be reduced to the normal standard 15 degree bend test on production studs and the inspection rate was reduced from 2 studs out of 100 welds to only 4 studs per 1,000 welds.

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Precision in Construction with Precast Panels

An appreciation of the high degree of accuracy needed to assemble the precast panels onto the studded beams can be gained by examining everything that needed to fit into the 6" spacing for the rows of studs. The 6" space from stud center to stud center was reduced to 4 5/8" by the fact that the heads of the studs were 1 3/8" in diameter. The 4 5/8" space had to accommodate two # 7 rebars, one bar from the panel on each side. The two 7/8" bars used 1 3/4" of this space. When 1 3/4" is subtracted for the two rebars the remaining space is only 2 7/8". In the 2 7/8" space there needed to be three gaps. These three gaps are between stud to rebar, rebar to rebar and rebar to stud. When 2 7/8" is divided by 3 gaps there is less than 1" for each of the gaps. This tolerance also needed to be held along the opposite side of the panel where those loops must fit between the studs on next beam and for those panels that sat over the edge girders it had to be held along a third edge of the panel. There were two factors that were important in achieving the high degree of accuracy needed for construction of the Cooper River Bridge design to succeed. First, the precast panels had to be correctly manufactured and marked with identification numbers that corresponded to their position in the bridge. Second, accurate placement of the studs on the girders and beams was essential. The value of the fulllength stencil that was developed to accurately mark the stud locations and then to weld the shear connector studs at those locations cannot be overemphasized. These two factors were skillfully brought together and combined so that the benefits of composite design could be realized on the Cooper River Bridge project.

References
1. AASHTO / AWS D1.5M/D1.5:2008 Bridge Welding Code, Section 7 2. AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2008 Structural Welding Code Steel, Section 7 3. Prefabricated Bridge Elements and Systems Fact Sheet, AASHTO Technology Implementation Group,

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/download/facts.pdf
4. Wisconsins Use of Full-Depth Precast Concrete Deck Panels Keeps Interstate 90 Open to Traffic, Carter III, et al., PCI Journal Jan-Feb 2007, pp 16-30 5. Connection Details for Prefabricated Bridge Elements and Systems, Connection Details for Prefabricated Bridge Elements and Systems, 2009, http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/prefab/if09010 6. Prefabricated Bridge Elements and Systems in Japan and Europe Summary Report, 2004,

http://international.fhwa.dot.gov/links/pub_details.cfm?id=495
7. Issa MA, et al, Full Depth Precast and Precast, Prestressed Concrete Bridge Deck Panels, PCI Journal, Jan-Feb 1995 8. Yamane, T. et. al., Full Depth Precast, Prestressed Concrete Bridge Deck System, PCI Journal, MayJune 1998 9. Issa, MA, et al, Full-Scale Testing of Prefabricated Full-Depth Precast Concrete Bridge Deck Panel System, ACI Journal Proceedings, v104, May 1, 2007, pp 324-332 10. He, Y., Bridge system using prefabricated deck units with external tensioned structural elements, U.S. Patent 7,475,446, Jan 13, 2009 11. Baeslack, III, et. al., Quality Control in Arc Stud Welding, The Welding Journal, November 1975, pp. 789-797. 12. Hsu, C., et al., Robotic Stud Welding Process Optimization with Designed Experiment, The Welding Journal, October 2008, pp. 265s-272s 13. Chambers, H.A., Principles and practices of stud welding, PCI Journal, September-October 2001, pp 47-58

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