DAC

IIW/EWF Diploma -
Design and Construction (Foundation)

DAC1
Training & Examination Services

Granta Park, Great Abington
Cambridge CB21 6AL, UK
Copyright TWI Ltd
Rev 4 April 2013
Contents
Copyright TWI Ltd 2013
IIW/EWF Diploma -
Design and Construction (Foundation)
Contents
Section Subject
Pre training briefing

1 Introduction. Designing Things.
1.1 Background
1.2 Course aims
1.3 Course objective
2 Welded Joint Design.
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Types of joints
2.3 Types of weld
2.4 Ability of welds to transmit loads
2.5 Design examples
3 Forces and Strength of Materials.
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Materials under load
4 Fatigue
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Characterisation
4.3 Fatigue of welded joints
5 Design of Pressure Equipment.
5.1 Types of pressure vessels
5.2 Construction of pressure vessels
5.3 Internal pressure stresses
5.4 Calculation of stresses
5.5 Welding pressure vessels
5.6 Welded attachments
5.7 High and low temperature services
5.8 Standards and specifications
5.9 Summary
5.10 Revision questions
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Contents
6 Stresses in The Welds

6.1 Making things simple
6.2 Different types of stresses in welds
6.3 Butt welds
6.4 Fillet welds
6.5 Summary
6.7 References
7 Different Types of Loading
7.1 Static strength
7.2 Effect of temperature on strength
7.3 Stress concentrations
7.4 Modes of failure
7.5 Reading fracture faces
7.6 Summary
8 Design Considerations for Aluminium
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Advantages of aluminium compared to steel
8.3 Welding and joining aluminium
8.4 Disadvantages of aluminium
8.5 Aluminium alloys
8.6 Heat affected zone softening
8.7 References and further reading
8.8 Summary
9 Static Loading
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Allowable stress
9.3 Structural details
9.4 Node joints
9.5 Stress reinforced concrete
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Section 1
Introduction Designing Things

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Introduction - Designing Things
1 Introduction - Designing Things

1.1 Background
An engineering structure is one that is designed and built to withstand loads
for a specified period of time. These loads may arise from a wide range of
sources and include self weight (such as buildings including the pyramids),
external components (eg cars traversing a bridge), internal pressure (eg
pipelines and boilers), environmental loads (due to wind, waves, ice, snow
etc), reaction to an acceleration (eg rotating components) and many other
sources.
Furthermore, engineering structures are built using materials such as steel,

aluminium, fibre reinforced composites that have been specifically selected
to meet the lifetime demands of the structure. These materials are used to
make components which are then assembled and joined together (usually
by welding but not always) to form the structure itself.
1.2 Course aim Design and Construction Modules

The overall aim of the Construction and Design Modules of the European
Welding Engineer training course is to:
Provide guidance on how to design engineering structures so that they

operate safely to satisfy specified performance targets.
The training is provided at three levels: European Welding Specialist,

European Welding Technologist and European Welding Engineer.
The present course is the first of these levels and is intended to cover the
scope appropriate for a European Welding Specialist. Two subsequent
courses address the scope of the higher level qualifications.
1.3 Course objectives: European Welding Specialist

(Foundation)
The objectives of the European Welding Specialist course are to enable
attendees to:
Recognise the sources of loads to be withstood by engineering

structures.
Recognise that these loads give rise to stresses in components of the
structure.
Understand the fundamentals of strength of materials.
Understand the principles of weld design.
Recognise the different types of loading experienced by engineering
structures.
Understand the principles of design for static loading.
Understand the principles of design for fatigue loading.
Recognise the special requirements of pressure vessels.
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Introduction - Designing Things
Appreciate the principles of designing aluminium structures.
The course consists of eight sessions, specifically intended to address these

objectives; there is a final revision session.
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Section 2
Welded Joint Design

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Welded Joint Design
2 Welded Joint Design

2.1 Introduction
This course is principally concerned with structures fabricated by welding
steel plates together. Examples of such structures include bridges, ships,
offshore platforms, pressure vessels and pipelines, although obviously in
some cases this may involve welding curved plates together.
This session provides an introduction to typical joint geometries that are

involved in joining plates together and describes the types of weld that are
used in these joint configurations. Typical features of butt and fillet welds are
described. For the structure to function loads must be transferred from one
plate to another and the features of welds that enable them to transmit loads
are described. Finally, some examples of good and bad design practice are
illustrated.
2.2 Welds
A weld is a permanent union between materials caused by the application of
heat or pressure or both. A weld made between two faces that are
approximately parallel is known as a butt weld.
Figure 2.1 Butt weld.
A weld made between two faces that are approximately at right angles to
each other is known as a fillet weld.
Figure 2.2 Fillet weld.
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For simplicity these diagrams show an arc welding process that deposits
filler weld metal in a single weld pass. Typical features of a butt weld are
shown in Figure 2.3. Typical features of a fillet weld are shown in Figure 2.4.
The weld or weld metal refers to all the material that has melted and re-
solidified. The heat-affected zone is material that has not melted, but whose
microstructure has been changed as a result of the welding. The fusion line
is the interface between the weld metal and the heat affected zone. The root
is the bottom of the weld, or the narrowest part and the face is the top, or
the widest part. At the corners of the weld cross section where the weld
metal joins the parent metal are the weld toes. Weld toes are at each corner
of both the weld face and the weld root in a butt weld, but only on the weld
face in a fillet weld.
a)
b)
Figure 2.3 Typical features of a butt weld, shown schematically in a) and in b) for a
double-sided butt weld.
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Figure 4 Typical features of a fillet weld.
The application of heat naturally causes some changes to the microstructure

parent material; the region concerned is known as the heat affected zone
(HAZ) and is shown diagrammatically in Figure 2.5 for a butt weld in steel.
Similar HAZs are developed in the parent material of fillet welds. Close to
the fusion line the temperature in the HAZ has been sufficient to cause
microstructural phase changes, which will result in recrystallisation and grain
growth. Further away from the fusion line the parent material has been
heated to a lower maximum temperature and the effect is to temper the
parent microstructure.
Figure 2.5 Heat affected zones in a butt weld.
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Welded Joint Design
The distance between the weld toes is called the weld width. When the
distance is between the toes at the weld cap, it is the weld cap width; the
distance between the toes at the root is the weld root width. The height of
the additional weld metal in the weld cap is called the excess weld metal.
This used to be called reinforcement which wrongly gives the impression
that increasing this dimension will strengthen the weld. If the excess weld
metal is too great it old serves to increase the stress concentration at the
weld toe. This extra weld metal at the weld root is called the excess root
penetration.
Figure 2.6 Definitions of excess weld metal, root penetration and weld width on a
butt weld.
2.3 Types of joint

A joint can simply be described as a configuration of members and it can be
described independently of how the joint it to be welded. Figures 2.7 and 2.8
show the most common joint types - a butt joint and a T joint. Other typical
joint types are shown in Figures 2.9-2.11; a lap joint, a cruciform joint and a
corner joint. When designing a lap joint the overlap between the two plates
needs to be at least four times the plate thickness (D = 4t), but not less than
25mm.
Figure 2.7 Butt joint.
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Figure 2.8 T joint.
Figure 2.9 Lap joints.
Figure 2.10 Cruciform Joint Figure 2.11 Corner joint.
An alternative to a conventional lap joint is to weld the joint using plug or slot
welding. Slot and plug welds are shown in Figure 2.12 we can drastically
alter the typical lap joint. The hole for a slot weld should have a width at
least three times the plate thickness and not less than 25mm. In plate less
than 10mm thickness, a hole of equal width to the plate thickness can be
welded as a plug weld.
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a) b)
Figure 2.12
a) Slot welded lap joint;
b) Plug welded lap joint.
Corner joints can be fitted and welded in a number of ways. The unwelded
pieces can be assembled either with an open corner or closed together. The
weld can be placed on the external corner, the internal corner or both in a
double-sided weld.
Figure 2.13 Different types of corner joints, unwelded and welded.
2.4 Fillet welds

The throat and leg length of a fillet welds are shown in Figure 2.14. Throat
size (a) is generally used as the design parameter of fillet welds since this
part of the weld bears the stresses. It can also be related to the leg length
(z) by the following relationship: a 0.7z and z 1.4a.
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Figure 2.14 Leg length (z) and throat size (a) in a fillet weld.
This is only valid for mitre fillet welds having similar leg lengths (see Figure
2.15), but is not valid for concave, convex or asymmetric welds. In concave
fillet welds the throat thickness will be much less than 0.7 times the length.
The leg length of a fillet weld is often approximately equal to the material
thickness. The actual throat size is the width between the fused weld root
and the segment linking the two weld toes, shown as the red line in
Figure 16. Thanks to root penetration, the actual throat size of a fillet weld is
often larger than its design size, but because of the unpredictability of the
root penetration area, the design throat size must always be taken as the
stress parameters in design calculations.
Figure 2.15 Mitre fillet weld Figure 2.16 Design throat of a fillet weld.
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Convex fillet weld
Concave fillet weld
Mitre fillet weld
Figure 2.17 Fillet weld cross-sections.
Figure 2.18 Definition of design and actual throat in concave and convex fillet
welds.
The choice between mitre weld, concave and convex fillet weld needs to
take into account the weld toe blend. A concave fillet weld gives a smooth
blend profile and a low stress concentration at the fillet weld toe. Convex
fillet welds can have a higher stress concentration at the weld toe. If the
fluidity of the weld pool is not controlled, it is possible to obtain an
asymmetrical fillet weld where the weld pool has sagged into the joint
preparation and there is also a risk of undercut on the bottom weld toe (see
Figure 2.19). Having a smooth toe blend is important to give better fatigue
performance for fillet welds.
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Figure 2.19 Fillet weld toe blends.
2.5 Butt welds

The design throat (t1) of a butt weld is the penetration depth below the
parent plate surface and no account is made of the excess weld metal. The
design throat is therefore less than the actual throat (t2).
Figure 2.20 Design throat (t1) and the actual throat (t2) for butt welds.
The weld toe blend is important for butt welds as well as fillet welds. Most
codes state that the weld toes shall blend smoothly. This statement is open
to individual interpretation however. The higher the toe blend angle the
greater the amount of stress concentration. The toe blend angle ideally
should be between 20-30o (Figure 2.21).
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Figure 2.21 Toe blend in butt welds.
2.6 Dilution
When filler and parent material do not have the same composition, the
resulting composition of the weld depends largely on the weld preparation
before welding. The degree of dilution results from the edge preparation and
process used; the percentage of dilution (D) is particularly important when
welding dissimilar materials and is expressed as the ratio between the
weight of parent material melted and the total weight of fused material
(multiplied by 100 to be expressed as a percentage), as shown by the
equation below.
Weight of parent material melted

D 100
Total weight of fused material
Low dilutions are obtained with fillet welds and with butt welds with multiple
runs. However, considering a single pass, better dilution is obtained with
grooved welds; see Figure 2.22.
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Figure 2.22 Effect of weld preparation on dilution and weld metal composition
(for a single pass only).
2.7 Welding symbols

On engineering drawings a welded joint can be represented by different
means. A detailed representation shows every detail and dimension of the
joint preparation together with carefully written, extensive notes. It provides
all the details required to produce a particular weld in a very clear manner,
but requires a separate detailed sketch (time consuming and can
overburden the drawing). For a special weld preparation not covered in the
relevant standards (eg narrow groove welding); it is the only way to indicate
the way components are to be prepared for welding or brazing.
Figure 2.23 Detailed representation of U bevel angle.
Symbolic representation using weld symbols can be used to specify joining

and inspection information. The standard for welding symbols that the UK
has traditionally used is BS 499 Part 2. This standard has now been
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superseded by BS EN 22553, however in many welding and fabrication

organisations there will be old drawings used that make reference to out of
date standards such as BS 499 Pt 2. BS EN 22553 is almost identical to the
original ISO 2553 standard on which it was based. In America AWS A2.4 is
followed, while symbols for brazing are given in EN 14324.
Symbolic representation has the following advantages:
Simple and quick to visualise on the drawing.

Does not overburden the drawing.
No need for additional views; all welding symbols can be placed on the
main assembly drawing.
Gives all necessary indications regarding the specific joint to be
obtained.
However, symbolic representation can only be used for common joints and it
requires training to understand the symbols properly. Symbolic
representation of a welded joint contains an arrow line, a reference line and
an elementary symbol. The elementary symbol can be complemented by a
supplementary symbol. The arrow line can be at any angle (except 180
degrees) and can point up or down. The arrow head must touch the
surfaces of the components to be joined and the location of the weld. Any
intended edge preparation or weldment is not shown as an actual cross
sectional representation, but is replaced by a line. The arrow also points to
the component to be prepared with single prepared components
Figure 2.24 Symbolic representation of U bevel angle.
ISO 2553 and AWS A2.4 list all the main elementary symbols, some
examples are shown in Table 1. The symbols for arc welding are often
shown as cross sectional representations of either a joint design or a
completed weld. Simple, single edge preparations are shown in Figure 2.25.
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Table 1 Elementary weld symbols
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Figure 2.25 Welding symbols for the most common joint types shown on a
reference line.
These simple symbols can be interpreted as either the joint details alone or
the completed weld, however, for a finished weld it is normal to find that an
appropriate weld shape is specified. There are a number of options and
methods to specify an appropriate weld shape or finish. Butt welded
configurations would normally be shown as a convex profile (Figure 2.26 'a',
'd' and 'f') or as a dressed-off weld as shown in 'b' and 'c'. Fillet weld
symbols are always shown as a mitre fillet weld and a convex or concave
profile can be superimposed over the original symbol's mitre shape.
Figure 2.26 Welding symbols showing the weld profile for the most common joint
types.
In order that the correct size of weld can be applied, it is common to find
numbers to either the left or to the right of the symbol. For fillet welds,
numbers to the left of the symbol indicate the design throat thickness, leg
length, or both design throat thickness and leg length requirements
(Figure 2.27).
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Figure 2.27 Throat and leg length dimensions given on the weld symbol for a fillet
weld.
For butt joints and welds, an S with a number to the left of a symbol refers to
the depth of penetration. When there are no specific dimensional
requirements specified for butt welds on a drawing using weld symbols, it
would normally be assumed that the requirement is for a full penetration butt
weld. Numbers to the right of a symbol or symbols relate to the longitudinal
dimension of welds, eg for fillets, the number of welds, weld length and weld
spacing for non-continuous welds.
Figure 2.28 Weld symbols showing the weld length dimensions to the right of the
weld joint symbols for an intermittent fillet weld.
Supplementary symbols can be used for special cases where additional

information is required (Figure 2.29). The weld all round symbols may be
used for a Rectangular Hollow Section (RHS) welded to a plate, for
example. The flag symbol for weld in the field or on site can be added to
any standard symbol. A box attached to the tail of the arrow can be used to
contain, or point to, other information, such as whether NDT is required or
not. This information is sometimes the welding process type, given as a
three number reference from ISO 4063, for example, 135 refers to MAG
welding.
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Figure 2.29 Examples of supplementary symbols.
2.8 Welding positions

In weld procedure documents and engineering drawings, the type and
orientation of welds are often given a two letter abbreviation which defines
them. These can vary depending on which standard the welds are
conforming to; the abbreviations here are consistent with ISO 6947. These
two letter abbreviations are summarised in Table 2.2.
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Table 2.2 Welding positions

Welding
Figure/symbol Abbreviation
position
Flat PA
Welding
Symbol Abbreviation
position
Horizontal PB
Horizontal
PC
vertical
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Vertical up,
vertical PG/PF
down
Overhead PE
Horizontal
PD
overhead
2.9 Weld joint preparations

The simplest kind of weld joint preparation is a square edged butt joint,
either closed or open. A closed butt joint is used in thick plate for keyhole
welding processes such as laser welding or electron beam welding. A
square edged open butt joint is used in thinner plate up to 3mm thick for arc
welding in a single pass, or in thick plate for welding processes such as
electroslag welding.
Figure 2.30 Square edge butt joints.
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It is most common to use a bevel on the edges of the parent metal to be

welded. This allows access to the root for the first welding pass and is then
filled using fill passes. Single sided preparations are normally made on
thinner materials, or when access from both sides is restricted. Double sided
preparations are normally made on thicker materials, or when access from
both sides is unrestricted.
The design of the edge prep includes not only the bevel angle (or included
angle is both sides are bevelled), but also the square edges root face and
root gap. In a joint where both sides are bevelled, the prep is called a V or
vee preparation (Figure 31). V preps are usually used for plate of thickness
between 3-20mm. An alternative is a U prep (or J prep if only one side has
the edge prep) in which the edge is machined into the shape of a U. This
type of edge preparation is used in thicker plate, over 20mm thick, where it
uses less filler metal than a V prep joint. J or U edge preparations also
requires a bevel angle and root face and gap to be defined, but also needs a
root radius and land to be specified (Figure 2.32). Single sided edge
preparations are often used for thinner materials or when there is no access
to the root of the weld (such as pipelines). If there is access to both sides of
the material then a double-sided edge preparation is used, especially for
thicker materials. Single and double edge preps are shown in Figure 2.33.
Included angle
Bevel angle
Root face
Gap
Figure 2.31 Single V bevel.
Included angle
Root radius
Bevel
angle
Root
face
Gap
Land
Figure 32 U bevel.
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Figure 2.33 Range of single and double sided bevel, vee, J and U preps.
2.10 Designing welded joints

The selection of the weld joint design will also be influenced by practical
issues such as the welding process to be used and the access required
obtaining root fusion. The bevel angle must allow good access to the root
and sufficient manipulation of the electrode to ensure good sidewall fusion
(Figure 2.34). If the included angle is too large then heavy distortions can
result and a larger amount of filler metal is required. If the included angle is
too small then there is a risk of lack of penetration or lack of side wall fusion.
Typical bevel angles are 30-35 in a vee preparation (60-70 included
angle). In a single bevel joint the bevel angle might be increased to 45.
Figure 2.34 Bevel angle to allow electrode manipulation for sidewall fusion.
The root gap and root face are selected to ensure good root fusion
(Figure 2.35). This will depend on the welding process and the heat input. If
the root gap is too wide or the root face is too narrow then there is a risk of
burn through. If the root gap is too narrow or the root face is too deep the
there is a risk of lack of root penetration. A balance must be found and
designed for and this difference in weld root size is shown in Figure 2.36.
High heat input process require a larger root face, but less weld metal is
required, which reduces distortions and increases productivity. Typical
values for the root face are around 1.5-2.5mm and the root gap around
2-4mm.
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Figure 2.35 The importance of selecting the correct root face and root gap.
a) b)
Figure 2.36 Root size for welding processes with different heat inputs;
a) Low heat input;
b) High heat input.
If the components are going to be joined by an arc welding process, then

the selected bevels need to be adequately machined to allow room for the
welding tool to access the root of the weld. This consideration would not
apply for a procedure such as electron beam welding as shown in Figure
2.37. If using gas-shielded processes then the size of the gas nozzle may
limit the ability to use a J-prep for thick section material, as it would be
difficult to ensure good root fusion if the welding head could not access the
bottom of the weld groove and a single bevel may be needed instead
(Figure 2.38).
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a) b)
Figure 2.37 Preparation differences between;

a) Arc;
b) Electron beam welding.
a) b)
Figure 2.38 Using gas-shielded arc welding;

a) Difficulties of root access in a J-prep;
b) Improved design using a bevel prep.
Choosing between a J or U-prep and a bevel or Vee-prep is also determined

by the costs or producing the edge preparation. Machining a J or U
preparation requires machining, which can be slow and expensive. Using
this joint design also results in tighter tolerance which can be easier to set-
up. A bevel or Vee preparation can be flame or plasma cut fast and cheaply.
This results in larger tolerances, meaning that set-up can be more difficult.
Backing bar or backing strip is used to ensure consistent root fusion and
avoid burn through. However, if you choose to use permanent backing strip
(rather than a backing bar which is removed after welding), be aware that it
gives a built-in crevice which can make the joints susceptible to corrosion
(Figure 39). When using backing for aluminium welds, make sure any
chemical cleaning reagents have been removed before assembling the joint.
A backing strip will also give a lower fatigue life.
Figure 2.39 Using a backing strip for a butt weld.
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Outside of the design of the joint and weld, access to weld locations and the
order in which welds are made are just as important. Figure 2.40 shows
examples of the limitations of access in designing welded joints and gives
improved designs. It is important to ensure that it is indeed possible to make
welds as required by the drawing.
Figure 2.40 Examples of improved weld designs where there is limited access.
2.11 Welding standards

AWS A2.4: Standard symbols for welding, brazing and non-destructive
examination. This provides the standardised welding symbols on drawings.
BS EN ISO 9692: Parts 1-4: Welding and allied processes. Recommendations

for joint preparation.
BS EN 14324: Brazing. Guidance on the application of brazed joints.
BS EN ISO 13920: Welding. General tolerances for welded constructions.

Dimensions for lengths and angles, shape and position. This gives
accepted tolerances for welds.
BS EN ISO 6947: Welds. Working positions. Definitions of angles of slope

and rotation. This provides the definitions of weld positions and provides the
abbreviations used in the notes.
ISO 2553: Welded, brazed and soldered joints - Symbolic representation on

drawings.
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2.12 Summary
At the end of this module you should be able to label the parts of a butt and
fillet weld and to label the parts of a vee and U edge preparation. You
should be able to recognise welding symbols and know what they mean.
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Revision questions
1 Draw and label the different features of a butt weld.
2 Draw and label the significant features of a single sided vee preparation butt joint.
3 Sketch the weld that would be fabricated from the weld symbols shown in this
design drawing:
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Section 3
Forces and Strength of Materials

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3 Forces and Strength of Materials

3.1 Introduction to structures
This section of the course will describe common structures and consider the
loads acting on structures. It will review the resulting forces and stresses
and describe the materials properties that enable materials to withstand
these forces.
A structure is an object or part of an object which has to carry and resist

loads. Loads can be due to the deadweight of the structure itself, or an
external component. Loads or forces can arise through the reaction to
acceleration, or environmental loads (such as winds or waves). Internal
pressure or vacuum imposes loads, as does thermal expansion when a
structure is heated and cooled.
Industrial structural elements for carrying loads include cables, bars, beams,
plates, slabs and shells. Some of these can be seen on the bridge
structures in Figure 3.1.
a b c
Figure 3.1 Bridge and crane structures showing cables, bars and beams as
examples of load carrying components.
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Individual load carrying members are joined together to fabricate the entire
structure, such as the complete bridge, crane, offshore structure, or building.
A simple arrangement of structural components can form a frame, which is
an assembly of bars arranged to support the loads. These are relatively
easy to design and an example of a truss frame is shown in the bridge
verticals in Figure 3.1a, or the crane arm in Figure 3.1c. Joining the
components together is where the importance of welding comes in; although
many structures are joined using rivets or bolts as well as or instead of
welds (Figure 3.2).
Figure 3.2 Structural joining methods.
3.2 Forces
Now lets consider the loads, or forces, that act on structural components in
more detail. A force has a size (magnitude) and a direction. Two or more
forces may be added together to give a single equivalent force, as shown in
Figure 3. Instead of simply adding the magnitudes of the forces together,
their directions must be taken into account as well. The forces are
represented as arrows with a length equal to their magnitude and pointing in
the direction of the force. The two (or more) force arrows are added point to
tail and the single equivalent force is the arrow which points from the origin
to the final arrow point. The combination of five different forces is shown in
Figure 3.4.
Figure 3.3 Combination of two forces (Fx and Fy) into a single force, F.
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Figure 3.4 Combination of five forces (F1 to F5) into a single force, FR.
It is also possible for a single force to be represented by two forces acting at

right angles, as shown in Figure 3.5. This is useful when an engineer needs
to consider the forces acting parallel to and perpendicular to a weld (or other
cross section) independently in a calculation.
Figure 3.5 Resolution of a single force, F, into two forces at right angles (Fx and
Fy).
Engineering structures have to resist loads due to a range of sources

including self-weight, wind wave etc. These loads give rise to forces in the
structure and Figure 3.6 illustrates some of the forces that may exist in a
typical lattice frame that could represent, say, a railway bridge. As the
structure may be subject to different loads, there may be different forces
acting in different directions in any one member.
Figure 3.6 Typical forces in a lattice frame.
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Given that the structure does not itself move, there is no resultant force and
all the loads acting on it must be in equilibrium, iethe sum of all the forces
added together must equal zero. That means that any applied force is
reacted by an internal reaction force inside the components. This is
illustrated in Figure 7 by a free body diagram of the truss members of a
bridge. All the loading on the bridge is carried as forces inside the truss
members. The overall force on the bridge is reacted by the bearings at
either end of the bridge too.
Figure 3.7 Forces in equilibrium in a truss member bridge.
When making calculations of the load-bearing capability of a structure,

generally speaking, only one force is assessed at any one time. So for
example, the process for determining whether a lattice bridge design is
appropriate, such as that shown in Figure 3.8 is as follows:
Step 1 - find out if frame can be statically calculated. If the design will be
dominated by fatigue then an alternative design approach will be needed.
Step 2 - find reactive forces in bearings, based on the loads the structure is
designed to carry.
Step 3 calculate the loads in the individual members.
Step 4 - calculate weld sizes for the connections, based on the forces they
are required to carry (plus a safety factor)
Figure 3.8 The method to determine whether this bridge design is appropriate and
the required welds.
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3.3 Materials under load

To obtain information about the behaviour of a material under load, a simple
tensile test is carried out. This involves taking a sample of the material and
using a tensile test machine to steadily increase the applied load. The
response of the material is determined by measuring the steadily increasing
deflection as the load increases. This gives rise to a load-displacement
curve, Figure 3.9.
Figure 3.9 Load-displacement curve.
However, the specific information from a load-displacement curve is very

dependent on specimen size, as a thicker specimen would be capable of
bearing larger loads (Figure 3.10). To produce information that is not
geometry dependent and therefore represents materials property data, two
new parameters are used; stress and strain.
Figure 3.10 Load-displacement curves for thick and thin specimens of the same
material.
Stress (Figure 3.11) is defined as load (or force) divided by the cross
sectional area,. If the force, F, is in newtons (N) and the cross sectional area
is in millimetres squared (mm2), then the tensile stress, given the symbol ,
is in newtons per millimetre squared (N/mm2), which is also the same as
megapascals (MPa).
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Figure 3.11 Definition of stress
The stress equation is often written as:
Stress can act either as a tensile stress (pulling something apart) or a

compressive stress (squashing something together) and is calculated the
same way for each, ie load over cross sectional area. Tensile stress is often
considered to be worse, because it requires a tensile stress to propagate a
crack.
Figure 3.11 Tension and compression.
Strain is defined as the change in length due to the application of a force

divided by the original length, Figure 3.12. If the original length is called L,
then the change in length is given as L. The symbol for strain is the Greek
symbol epsilon, . Note that strain is dimensionless (has no units) and by
convention is positive for tensile loads and negative for compressive loads
when the length decreases.
Figure 3.12 Definition of strain.
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3.4 Stress-strain curves

Converting the load and displacement data generated from a tensile test
into a stress and strain data allows a stress-strain curve to be plotted which
is a characteristic of the material and does not depend on the specimen
size. The tensile stress-strain curve contains typical features which are
specific to each material.
A typical stress-strain curve is shown in Figure 3.13, which illustrates the

important characteristics of tensile behaviour, which we will then look at in
detail.
Figure 3.13 Characteristics of a typical stress strain curve.
As the stress is increased from zero, initially there is a linear relationship

between stress and strain. Under these loads, if the stress is relaxed to zero
then the strain also reduces to zero. This region is known as the elastic
region and the linear relationship between stress and strain is known as
Hookes Law. The ratio of stress to strain is constant in this region and is
known as Youngs modulus, E, which is given in units of N/mm2 or GPa.
Youngs modulus gives a measure of the stiffness of the material.
Stress
Youngs modulus E
Strain
As the stress is increased further, a deviation from linear behaviour occurs

at the yield point. The definition of the yeld strength is the point at which
plastic deformation occurs without any increase in the force ie at the yield
plateau. At this point if the material is unloaded down to zero stress, a small
permanent strain offset remains. This permanent deflection is known as
plastic deformation and the region of the stress-strain above the yield point
is known as the plastic region. The yield strength is the stress corresponding
to the yield point.
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Where there is no obvious yield point, such as a yield plateau and the stress
strain curve rises smoothly into the plastic region, it is necessary to define
an arbitrary yield point. In such cases, the 0.2% proof strength (Rp0.2) is
used as a design parameter. Rp0.2 describes the stress obtained for an
elongation of 0.2% and is determined by plotting a line parallel to the elastic
part of the stress-strain curve, at an offset of 0.2% along the strain axis.
Where this line intersects the stress-strain curve is the 0.2% proof strength
(Figure 3.14).
Figure 3.14 Definition of the 0.2% proof strength for stress-strain curves without an
obvious yield point.
With increasing applied stress, the stress-strain curve reaches a maximum

at the ultimate tensile strength. The UTS is the maximum load that can be
tolerated by the specimen and is defined as the stress corresponding to the
maximum force. After reaching the UTS the stress-strain curve declines and
necking occurs, where the sample becomes thinner and develops a neck.
As a result, the load drops due to the lack of resistance from the material
(Figure 3.15).
Figure 3.15 Definition of the ultimate tensile strength, followed by necking.
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The design assumption of load bearing assumes that the cross-section area
remains the same and this is how the Engineering stress-strain curve is
produced, as shown in the stress-strain curves above. BUT necking of the
material reduces the REAL cross-section area. In reality, the stress does not
decrease with increasing applied loading but flattens out around the
maximum stress while the cross sectional area decreases. Allowing for this
reduction in cross sectional area gives the real or true stress-strain curve.
After the UTS and necking, fracture occurs at the fracture stress. The strain
at fracture is usually defined as a percentage elongation. In some materials
fracture occurs before the stress-strain curve reaches a maximum. The
ability of a material to deform plastically before fracture is known as ductility.
Some examples of stress-strain curves for real materials are given in Figure
3.16.
A b
Figure 3.16 Examples of stress strain curves in a) for 1-low carbon steel; 2-
medium carbon steel; 3-high carbon steel; 4-bronze; and in b) for aluminium and
Duralmin.
3.5 Tensile tests

In a tensile test, a sample is clamped between two jaws and pulled apart.
The load and extension are measured within a narrower section parallel
sided gauge length within the specimen.
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Figure 3.17 Tensile test specimen.
As the test progresses and necking and final failure occur, measurements of
the original and final gauge length are taken and of the original and final
diameters at the neck location. The reduction of area and the elongation are
reported as percentages. The yield strength (or 0.2% proof strength) is
reported along with the value of UTS. Often the data points from logging the
whole stress strain curve are recorded, so the stress-strain curve can be
plotted.
Figure 3.18 Tensile test experimental procedure.
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3.6 Hardness tests

Hardness is the resistance of a material against penetration. There is a
direct correlation between UTS and hardness, so hardness measurements
are sometimes used to approximate the tensile properties. Hardness is
measured by indentation under a constant load, often using a pyramid
indenter in the Vickers hardness testing method, or a ball indenter in the
Brinell hardness test method.
Figure 3.19 Hardness testing.
3.7 Different types of forces

Four different types of force are considered; compression, tension, shear
and bending as shown in Figure 3.20.
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Figure 3.20 Types of loading.
Tension and compression act perpendicular to the cross sectional area and
give rise to direct axial stress, as has been discussed in Section 3.3. When
the load is applied parallel but offset to the cross sectional area then a shear
stress results.
a b.
Figure 3.21 Axial stress a and shear stress b.
Shear stresses are particularly significant for calculating stresses in fillet and
lap welds. The shear stress is given the Greek symbol tau, and is also
calculated as the shear force, Q, over the cross sectional area, but in this
case it is the force that acts parallel to the cross sectional area, A.
Likewise the shear strain, , is also the change in dimensions over the
original dimensions, but it is the shear strain, , (acting parallel to the
applied, Q) over the offset between the two opposite shear forces, h. These
dimensions are shown in Figure 3.22.
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Figure 3.22 Dimensions for the definition of shear stress and strain.
Bending a beam, such as shown in Figure 3.23, imposes tension (tensile

stress) in the outer surface and compression (compressive stress) on the
inner surface. There is a line at which there is no net stress on the beam,
which is called the neutral axis, shown as a dotted line in Figure 3.23.
Figure 3.23 Stresses in a beam under bending.
When bending is imposed on a beam it is called a bending moment. The

bending moment, M, is the applied force multiplied by the perpendicular
distance that force is applied at. It is easiest to imagine a cantilever (a
horizontal beam fixed to a wall at one end), with a load on the free end
(Figure 3.24). The applied force, F, results in a bending moment, M, equal to
F x d where d is the length of the beam. The bending moment causes an
axial reaction force inside the beam, Fx. The applied force, F, is also reacted
by a shear force, Fy, acting at the fixed end.
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Figure 3.24 Stresses in a cantilever beam under a bending moment, M.
The amount of axial stress in the beam caused by the applied moment
depends on how stiff the design of the beam is. This stiffness is
characterised by the beams second moment of area (also called its moment
of inertia) and given the symbol, I. A stiff beam with a large second moment
of area tends to be tall and thin, with most of the beams mass at a vertical
distance from the neutral axis (such as a tube section or an I-beam). Beams
with low stiffness (low second moment of area) are wide flat beams. You
can demonstrate this by bending your ruler while its flat and then turning it
on its edge and trying to bend it that way its much harder! A range of
beam cross sections are shown in Figure 3.25 in order of their stiffness for
the same cross sectional area.
Figure 3.25 Beam cross sections ranked in order of stiffness by their 2nd moment
of area, for an equivalent cross section area.
The engineers bending formula is used to calculate the maximum bending

stress, , in a beam. It is equal to the applied bending moment, M, multiplied
by the vertical distance from the neutral axis, y, divided by the second
moment of area, I.
= My / I
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This means that for the same applied bending moment (ie the same length
of cantilever beam with the same load on the end), a beam with a larger 2nd
moment of area will result in a much lower maximum stress at the tension
surface. This is why structures are designed with square or round hollow
section beams and I-beams, because they allow greater loads to be carried
without redundant extra weight being required.
3.8 Worked example

Lets use the example of the cantilever beam to calculate the bending stress
as a result of an applied load on the free end of the beam. No calculations of
this kind will be on the Specialist exam, but by using an example with actual
numbers it can help to show what the effect of the bending moment and
second moment of area mean for a beam under load.
Start by assuming the beam is square section (10mm by 10mm) and then
well calculate the bending stress if we use a rectangular section beam of
the same cross sectional area, but 5mm by 20mm.
Assume the beam is 300mm long with a load of 200N on its free end. First,
calculate the bending moment, M.
Bending moment is force x distance: M = 200N x 300mm = 60,000Nmm.
Lets calculate the second moment of area of the beam. For square and
rectangular beams the formula for a beam with a breadth, b and depth, d is
I = bd3/12
This means that the second moment of area for the square section beam is
833mm4, whereas the rectangular beam has a second moment of area of
3333mm4. The rectangular beam is four times stiffer than the square beam.
The distance from the neutral axis, y, is basically half the depth of each
beam, ie 5mm for the square beam and 10mm for the rectangular beam.
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The engineers bending formula, = MY/I can now be used to work out the
bending stress in each beam. The square section beam has a stress equal
to 60,000 x 5 / 833 which equals 360MPa. The rectangular section beam
has stress equal to 60,000 x 10 / 3333 which equals 180MPa. Therefore by
changing the square section beam to a rectangular beam the stress in the
beam is halved!
3.9 Summary
At the end of this module you should understand how structures carry loads
and forces and that reaction forces are set up to give equilibrium conditions.
You should understand how to calculate the stress that a force will impose
on a structure and how to draw and interpret a stress-strain curve for a
given material. You ought to know how to calculate a bending moment and
to recognise the Engineers bending formula.
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Revision questions
1 Describe how to add two forces together.
2 When a structure is in equilibrium, what is the resultant force on the structure?
3 What is the formula to calculate axial stress?
4 What is the formula to calculate axial strain?
5 Draw and label a typical stress-strain curve.
6 How can you define the yield point where there is no yield plateau?
7 What is the Engineers Bending Formula?
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Section 4
Fatigue
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Fatigue
4 Fatigue
4.1 Introduction
Fatigue loading is the repeated application of a load. A simplified fatigue
loading cycle is shown in Figure 4.1.
Figure 4.1 Simple fatigue loading.
Think of four types of structure that have to withstand fatigue loading.

Identify the sources of fatigue loading on those structures. Which of your
structures are of welded construction? Typical structures that have to
withstand fatigue loading include ships, bridges, offshore platforms and rigs,
earthmoving and off-highway vehicles, towers, axles etc. The sources of
fatigue loading include fluctuating loads from a variety of sources.
Acceleration forces in moving structures, pressure changes, temperature
fluctuations, environmental loads (wind, current, wave etc), rotation and
mechanical vibrations from machinery or shaft etc can all cause fatigue.
Figure 4.2 Earth moving equipment can suffer from fatigue.
Fatigue failures have been occurring for many years; a train returning to
Paris from Versailles crashed in May 1842 at Meudon after the leading
locomotive broke an axle (Figure 3). The carriages behind piled into the
wrecked engines and caught fire, killing at least 55 passengers. The
accident was widely reported in Britain and discussed extensively by
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engineers, who sought an explanation. An investigation suggested a crack

growth mechanism through repeated stressing, but this was mainly ignored,
meaning that fatigue failures kept occurring on the railways. It is only since
the second world war that the causes of fatigue failures have been studied
and understood scientifically.
Figure 4.3 Axle failure from 1843.
Fatigue failure occurs by the initiation and propagation of a crack, which

progresses slowly and steadily across the load bearing area until final
fracture occurs. This can occur even when the stress remains entirely in the
elastic regime, ie well below the yield stress. In engineering applications, the
fatigue crack grows at right angles to the applied stress direction. The
fracture surface is relatively flat and macroscopically featureless. However,
some fatigue fracture surfaces exhibit beach marks, Figure 4.4, which
usually correspond to the position of the crack front when say a change of
loading or environment occurred.
Figure 4.4 Typical fatigue fracture surface, showing bench marks.
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4.2 Characterisation of fatigue loading

The typical characteristics of simple fatigue cyclic loading are shown in
Figure 4.5.
Figure 4.5 Typical characteristics of fatigue loading.
If the minimum stress is zero then the fatigue cycle is known as a pulsating
cycle. If the maximum stress is equal and opposite to the minimum stress
then the fatigue spectrum is known as alternating cycles. If the minimum
stress is half the maximum stress then the cycling is known as half tensile
cycles.
a b
Figure 6 Definitions of different fatigue cycles, a pulsating cycle, b alternating

cycle, c half tensile cycle.
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Fatigue
The most important parameters are the stress range, Sr (the difference
between the maximum and minimum stress) and the stress cycle, ie the
interval between equivalent points in the stress history. Other fatigue
parameters include the stress ratio, R (the minimum stress divided by the
maximum stress) and the stress amplitude, which is half the stress range.
4.3 S-N curve

Extensive fatigue tests on simple specimens showed that for high stress
ranges the fatigue life was short; as the stress range was decreased the
fatigue life of the specimen increased. A graph of stress range against
number of cycles to failure is a very convenient method of presenting fatigue
behaviour. When a line is drawn through individual test data points, this form
of graph is known as an S-N curve.
Figure 4.7 Graph of stress range against number of cycles to failure - the S-N
curve.
Increasing the stress range increases the fatigue damage. Increasing the
number of cycles also increases (Figure 8).
Figure 4.8 Effect of increasing the stress range or number of cycles on the fatigue
damage.
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Fatigue
It is more common to see Typical SN curves are plotted on a logarithmic

scale, which produces a straight line in the high cycle regime, at greater
than 104 cycles to failure. Low cycle fatigue occurs at very high stress
ranges which result in fewer than 104 cycles to failure. At sufficiently low
stress ranges, fatigue cracks may not propagate at all and this is known as
the fatigue endurance limit.
Figure 4.9 S-N curve plotted on logarithmic scale.
When discussing fatigue in structures, it is common to use a range of terms,

the definitions of which need to be understood. The fatigue stress history is
the variation of stress at a point with time. Constant amplitude stress history
is a stress history in which successive stress fluctuations are equal. The
fatigue life is the number of stress cycles sustained before failure, while
fatigue strength means the stress range which causes failure at a certain
specified life.
4.4 Fatigue of welded joints

Fatigue is a particular concern in welded joints because nearly all welds
contain inherent stress concentrations. The effect of a stress concentration
can be imagined using stress contour lines and when stress is applied to a
component the stress distribution inside the component is similar to the
contour lines. In plain material under stress the contour lines would run
through the material parallel with the principal direction of the stress. The
introduction of a notch creates a concentration of the lines, as the stress
cannot be carried across the notch; it has to go around the notch. The
concentration of the lines indicates a concentration of the stress.
Figure 4.10 Stress concentration effect of a notch.
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Fatigue
Figure 4.11 Effect of a notch on the fatigue S-N curve.
The effect of a notch or stress concentration on the fatigue resistance of a

structure is to lower the S-N curve, so that for the same stress range it takes
fewer cycles until failure, or for an equivalent fatigue life, the stress range
will be less (Figure 4.11). This is because fatigue cracks are most likely to
initiate and propagate from high stress concentration areas. Stress
concentrations can also occur at changes of section, such as at welds
(Figure 4.12).
Figure 4.12 Stress concentration areas in structures.
Welding almost inevitably introduces stress concentrations at locations such

as the weld toe or weld root. These provide sites for relatively easy fatigue
crack initiation, Figure 4.13. A key feature of weld toes is the inevitable
presence of sharp discontinuities. Undercut or cold laps are examples, but
more important, on a much smaller scale, are small non-metallic intrusions
(typically about 0.1-0.4mm in depth). The fatigue crack in the photograph
has propagated from such a flaw, which extended as far as A. These non-
metallic intrusions are produced at the weld toes by arc welding processes.
They are typically 0.1-0.4mm in depth and given that fatigue life is governed
by the growth from this pre-existing flaw, there is usually little or no initiation
stage for fatigue in welded structures.
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Fatigue
Factors which affect crack initiation (the formation of a microscopically sharp

starter crack) can be quite different to those that affect crack growth (stress
range, environmental conditions). Another consequence for welds is that
design features like the weld toe can be far more severe as sources of
stress concentration than welding flaws. This emphasises the need for
rational criteria for assessing the significance of flaws.
Figure 4.13 Stress raisers at weld toes provide easy fatigue crack initiation sites.
Figure 4.14 High magnification image of a weld toe intrusion, which extends as far
as A, initiating the rest of the fatigue cracking from that location.
The effect of these fatigue initiation sites on the S-N curve is shown in
Figure 4.15, which shows fatigue data for one specific steel in three
conditions - unwelded, unwelded but with a stress raiser (a hole) and
welded with two plates attached to the surface. It is clear that the fatigue
performance of the welded material is very much inferior to that of the
unwelded material.
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Fatigue
Figure 4.15 Fatigue data for one type of steel in the unwelded condition, unwelded
but with a stress raiser and the welded conditions.
One of the most serious consequences of the fact that the fatigue lives of
welded joints are dominated by crack growth concerns the influence of
material strength. Although the fatigue strength of un-notched material
usually increases with tensile strength, the level of increase decreases if the
material contains a notch until there is no increase at all for welded material.
This is because rate of fatigue crack growth is not dependent on material
strength and hence welded low and high strength materials give the same
fatigue life. The benefit of material strength comes in the crack initiation
stage, which is effectively absent in the welded material. Fatigue data from
unwelded and welded steels of different tensile strengths are shown in
Figure 4.16.
Figure 4.16 The effect of material strength on fatigue strength.
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Fatigue
A large number of fatigue tests have been carried out on many different joint
geometries, Fatigue tests can be carried out on full-scale structures (Figure
4.17a), or on smaller-scale specimens. A common specimen is a flat strip
with fillet welded attachments on either side (Figure 4.17b). A series of
these specimens have been tested at a variety of stress ranges and the
fatigue lives plotted on an S-N curve, shown in Figure 4.18. As is often the
case with fatigue data, these results exhibit some scatter. For design
purposes, the lower limit S-N curve is used.
A b
Figure 4.17 Fatigue testing, a) full-scale beam and b) fatigue test specimen after
test.
Figure 4.18 Fatigue test results from one specimen geometry.
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Fatigue
When the appropriate design curves obtained from fatigue tests on different
geometries are compared, it is clear that fatigue performance is strongly
dependent on joint geometry, shown in Figure 4.19. Fillet welds have a
shorter fatigue life than butt welds under equivalent stress cycles. Welded
joints that exhibit similar fatigue strengths can then be grouped into classes
and this approach is used in fatigue design rules. Welds in the same fatigue
class have similar stress concentration effects. The fatigue joint
classifications range from A (plain material with the best fatigue resistance
and longest fatigue life) down the alphabet as the fatigue resistance
decreases to F, F2, G and then W, these latter few being used only for
special types of weld joints.
Figure 4.19 Design S-N curves for different joint geometries.
4.5 Residual stress

A further important factor in the fatigue performance of welds is the effect of
the tensile residual stresses that are present in the region where the crack
initiates as a result of contraction on cooling after welding. These high
tensile residual stresses mean that even when subject to compressive
remote stresses, the stresses near the weld remain tensile. Hence, the
stress range experienced by the weld region always is at a high tensile
mean stress, sometimes expressed as hanging down from yield, even for
partly compressive stress cycles, Figure 4.20.
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Residual stress (tensile yield)
Stress
R=0
Effective stress range
R = -1

Time
0
R = 0 (compression)
Figure 4.20 Effective stress range in the presence of high tensile residual stresses.
It is the stress range, therefore, that determines the fatigue strength of an

as-welded joint, even if the applied cycle is partly compressive and fatigue
cracks can propagate under these conditions in welded structures, even
though compressive cyclic loading will not propagate fatigue in parent metal.
4.6 Fatigue improvement techniques

It is possible to reduce the effect of the stress concentration at the weld toe
of fillet welds and butt welds and improve the fatigue life of welded
structures using techniques such as grinding the weld toe to remove the
intrusion and to blend the toe profile and reduce the stress concentration. A
low heat input autogenous TIG pass along the weld toes can re-melt and
remove the toe intrusions (known as TIG dressing or TIG washing). Peening
techniques such as hammer or needle peening can put the weld surface at
the weld toe into compression and slow down the fatigue crack propagation.
Flush grinding butt welds will also improve the fatigue performance.
Figure 4.21 Fatigue improvement technique, showing grinding of the weld toes.
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4.7 Summary
At the end of this module you should understand an S-N diagram and
describe the influence of notches and weld defects of fatigue performance.
You need to recognise which welded joints are most susceptible to fatigue.
You should also be able to describe modifications for fatigue improvement.
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Revision questions
1 What types of structures and applications are at most risk of fatigue cracking?
2 Sketch an alternating fatigue cycle and label the fatigue parameter on the
diagram.
3 Why are welds more susceptible to fatigue than parent materials?
4 What effect does increasing the strength of the steel have on its fatigue
performance?
5 List four fatigue improvement techniques.
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Section 5
Design of Pressure Vessels

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5 Design of Pressure Vessels

5.1 Types of pressure vessels
A pressure vessel is a storage container for liquids or gases under pressure.
They can be internally pressurised, which is the most common type of
vessel, or externally pressurised (ie containing a vacuum). Pressure vessels
are widely used in industries such as oil and gas, chemical refineries, etc.
Fired pressure vessels are heated using gas or oil burners, for example
boilers. Unfired pressure vessels are all the other types of pressure vessel.
Figure 5.1 Pressure vessels in a chemical refinery.
5.2 Construction of pressure vessels

The main standards for construction of pressure vessels are BS PD 5500 in
the UK, AD MerkBlatt in Germany and BS EN 13445 in Europe. In other
parts of the world, the American ASME Code is most widely used.
A range of materials are available for construction of pressure vessels

depending on the service pressure and temperature and the fluid being
contained. The base requirements for a material to be used in a pressure
vessel are good mechanical properties and adequate corrosion resistance
for the purpose. The majority of vessels are made from steel, some from
stainless steel or aluminium and some are even made from composite
materials, such as wound carbon fibre held in place with a polymer.
Pressure vessels can be lined with a variety of materials such as polymers,
ceramics and other metals to improve corrosion resistance and carry a
portion of the applied load. The relevant standard will contain a list of all the
approved materials which can be used.
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A simple pressure vessel comprises the following:
Shell
Main body of the vessel, most often cylindrical but some pressure vessels
use conical or spherical shells.
Head
At each end to complete the basic shape and produce a closed container,
are most often dished but can be flat.
Nozzles
A number of openings for filling, inspection or drainage.
Saddle supports
Hold the pressure vessel in place.
Nameplate
Indicates the main working parameters of the pressure vessel including
work pressure and temperature. Details may include the manufacturing
company, year of manufacture, the code to which the pressure vessel has
been designed and manufactured and the inspection body stamp.
5.2.1 Pressure vessel shell

Cylindrical shells are usually made of a number of curved plates welded
together as in Figure 5.2.
Offset
Figure 5.2 Cylindrical shell.
The shell of a pressure vessel can range in thickness from a few millimetres
for a BBQ propane gas bottle to several hundred millimetres for industrial
pressure vessels. The minimum design thickness is dependant on the
shape of vessel, internal pressure, diameter of the vessel and material
strength. A spherical shell requires a much smaller wall thickness than a
cylindrical shell for the same diameter, internal pressure and construction
material.
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5.2.2 Dished heads

Dished heads are produced from a blank (usually circular) by pressing or
forming it in a die using a former. Sometimes, the blank is small enough to
be cut out from a single plate but in many situations the blank is so large
that it cannot be obtained from a single plate and must be fabricated by
welding together a central round piece called the crown with a number of
petals as shown in Figure 5.3.
A b c
Figure 5.3 Fabricated dished head:

a) Hemispherical shape;
b) Ellipsoidal shape;
c) Torispherical shape.
These welds are full penetration welds to produce a continuous envelope,

without voids, which might affect the strength of the dished head. To fulfil
this requirement, it is common practice to subject all these welds to 100%
UT examination. A dished head is fabricated out of an odd number of petals
to avoid the propagation of a longitudinal defect from one weld across the
entire dished head and can be fabricated to different shape designs as
described below.
Hemispherical dished head is half of a sphere. Taking into consideration

the stress that occurs in a sphere and the maximum stress that occurs in a
cylinder (ie the hoop stress), a hemispherical dished head would require the
smallest thickness among all types of dished heads, but is the most difficult
to fabricate.
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Ellipsoidal dished head the longitudinal section of this type of dished head
(ie a section along its longitudinal axis) is half an ellipse. Since the stress
developed in the dished head in this case is equal to the hoop stress, the
required thickness for an ellipsoidal dished head is equal to that of the
cylindrical shell. Advantages are there is no need to supply different plate
thickness to manufacture a pressure vessel with ellipsoidal dished heads
nor for a transition between two different thicknesses, making manufacture
easier.
An ellipse is difficult to generate and compressive stresses occur in the

ellipsoidal dished head. Under internal pressure, the shell tends to expand
whilst the ellipsoidal dished head tries to contract diametrically at the head-
shell junction and there is also a tendency towards local buckling.
Torispherical dished head a torisphere consists of a spherical central

portion or crown with radius R and a toroidal knuckle of radius r, where R/r
is approximately twelve and R is about 95% of the cylinder diameter as
shown in Figure 5.4.
Knuckle
radius, r
Crown
radius, R
Figure 5.4 Torispherical dished head.
The junction of the torus with a cylinder gives rise to bending stresses as the
greater the deviation from a sphere, the higher these stresses would be.
Torispherical dished heads are often preferred to ellipsoidal ones since the
depth of drawing is less so they are cheaper to manufacture. The small axial
dimension is an advantage when the longitudinal size of the pressure vessel
is a critical factor, but their higher stress concentration and lower allowable
pressure for a given material size may outweigh this as a result, the
thickness required for a torispherical dished head is larger than that for a
cylindrical shell.
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5.3 Internal pressure stresses

5.3.1 Internal pressure
Consider a cylindrical closed end pressure vessel, with radius r and
thickness t subjected to internal pressure p as shown in Figure 5.5.
Figure 5.5 Closed end cylinder subjected to internal pressure.
The force which acts on each closed end of the cylinder due to the internal
pressure is dependent on the cross section area on which this pressure is
acting. Cylinders with larger ends but the same internal pressure have a
smaller force pushing against them.
5.3.2 Axial stress

The internal pressure acting on the ends os the pressure vessel generates
axial forces in the shell wall. In Figure 5.6, the axial stress, x, is developed
in the shell, as a result of internal pressure, p.
Figure 5.6 Axial stress in the shell due to internal pressure.
5.3.3 Hoop stress

If the cylinder is cut across the diameter as in Figure 5.7, the internal
pressure acting radially creates an outward circumferential stress known as
the hoop stress. In Figure 5.8, p is the internal pressure acting on the shell,
L is the length of the section and y is the hoop stress.
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Figure 5.7 Hoop stress in the shell due to internal pressure.
5.4 Calculation of stresses

Assuming that the wall thickness is small compared with the radius of the
shell (thin-wall assumption), the stresses in the shell are calculated by the
following formulae:
For a cylindrical pressure vessel, the axial stress x is given by:
pr
x
2t
The hoop stress y is twice the axial stress and is calculated by:
pr
y
t
Since the hoop stress is twice the value of the axial stress, failure of a
cylindrical pressure vessel will preferentially occur along the longitudinal
welds, also true for other similar pressure components such as pipelines.
Consequently longitudinal welds are subjected to more stringent acceptance
standards than the circular girth welds (welds around the circumference of
the vessel or pipe).
For a spherical pressure vessel the stress in the vessel wall is symmetric
about all planes therefore there is only one membrane stress calculated:
pr

2t
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5.5 Welding pressure vessels

5.5.1 Longitudinal welds
Since the hoop stress is twice the axial stress, problems are more likely to
occur along the longitudinal welds, which experience the hoop stress. To
avoid the propagation of such a defect from one course to the next, it is
common practice to offset longitudinal welds as shown in Figure 5.8.
Offset
Figure 5.8 Offset longitudinal welds.
In the ASME Boiler & Vessel Code, Section VIII, Division 1, vessels made of
two or more courses shall have the centres of the welded longitudinal joints
of adjacent courses staggered or separated by a distance of at least five
times the thickness of the thicker plate.
In PD 5500, the longitudinal seams of adjacent courses shall be staggered

by four times the thickness of the plate or 100mm, whichever is the greater,
measured from the toe of the welds.
5.5.2 Circumferential welds

Circumferential welds are used to join the heads to the shell. Where the
shell and head thicknesses differ, taper transitions are used as shown in
Figure 9. The gradient is often specified as 1 in 4 as a minimum to avoid
making the joint a stress concentrator.
Figure 5.9 Taper transition.
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Various weld joint designs exist to join the heads to the shell and the choice
of joint will depend on the welding process to be used, access conditions
and the material to be welded. Some examples are shown below.
a b
C d
Figure 5.10 Head-shell weld profiles.
The weld preparations shown in Figures 5.10a and b are the simplest joint
designs and assume that access for welding can be made from the inside of
the vessel and so would not be used for small pressure vessels. Figure
5.10c shows a self-jigging joint design with an integrated backing strip which
can be welded entirely from the outside. This joint would be appropriate for
thick section material, whereas Figure 5.10d shows a self-jigging joint that
could be formed in thinner material.
Figure 5.11 Welds between shell and dished head.
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5.6 Welded attachments

5.6.1 Nozzles
Nozzles connect the pressure vessel to other components such as
pipework. Depending on the vessel and application a vessel can have a
large number of nozzles of varying size and design. The type of nozzle used
can depend on:
diameter/thickness ratio of the shell,
diameter/thickness ratio of the nozzle,
access (one or both sides),
type of joint required (partial/full penetration),
groove preparation methods available.
A b
Figure 5.12 a Set-on nozzle;b Set-through nozzle.
5.6.2 Flange connections

To connect other plant to the pressure vessel via the nozzles and to join
long runs of pipe together, separable joints are used to allow easy
installation and repair of the vessel and its components. The simplest joint
used is a screwed connection; but can only be used at relatively low
pressures. The most common method is to weld a flange to both the nozzle
and the end of the pipe to be connected and the flanges are then connected
together using bolts as shown in Figure 5.13.
Figure 5.13 A flange connection.
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A gasket made of a relatively soft material is normally present between the

two flanges to produce a tight seal. The higher the fluid pressure and
temperature, the more robust the gasket and bolts need to be.
Flanges are available in a variety of designs to suit every application. As

with the nozzle to shell weld, the flange to nozzle weld has various different
profiles to suit the type of flange and pipe used.
5.6.3 Reinforcement
A hole or opening in the shell of a pressure vessel for nozzles can have a
detrimental effect on the structural integrity of the shell. The hole can act like
a local stress concentration. The shell thickness is a function of the
operating stresses within the shell, if the shell experiences greater stress in
a region due to stress concentration the shell thickness needs to be greater
in this region to withstand the stresses. Welded plates of additional
thickness around openings in the pressure vessel are called reinforcement
plates or compensation plates.
Reinforcement can be used on the shell, the nozzle or both. Figure 14

shows two types of reinforcement. Holes are made in the compensating
plates to allow the weld to be tested.
Figure 5.14 Methods of reinforcement.
5.7 High and low temperature service

Pressure vessels for high or low temperature service have special
requirements. Often they will be insulated to maintain the internal
temperature. Some are designed with a double-wall, such that the outer
envelope containing a pressurised inner container. Examples of double-
walled pressure vessels include:
Autoclaves
Sterilise medical equipment by heating them to a high temperature inside
a sealed container. An autoclave is a pressurised device designed to
heat aqueous solutions above their boiling point without evaporation.
Heating is by feeding hot steam into the outer envelope. During
sterilisation, medical equipment must be protected from contamination
by being in a hermetic container, ie the inner container.
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Dewar vessels
For storing low temperature fluids like liquefied gases. To avoid heat
transfer from the outside to the contents in the inner vessel, the jacket
space between the two walls is evacuated.
Vertical storage tanks

Used mainly for storing petroleum or chemical products. Although the
inner tank may not be highly pressurised, if at all, the outer wall is vital to
keep the tank contents cold and the inter-space is sometimes filled with
thermal insulation material.
5.8 Standards and specifications

1 ASME 2007: Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code, Section VIII.
2 BS PD 5500 2009: Specification for unfired fusion welded pressure

vessels, London: British Standards Institution.
3 BS EN 13445 2009: Specification for unfired fusion welded pressure

vessels, London: British Standards Institution.
5.9 Summary
At the end of this section you should understand the weld design details for
pressure vessel construction, of the vessel shell and head, as well as
attachments. You should also be able to outline how to calculate hoop
stress and axial stress in a pressure vessel shell.
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Revision questions
1 Sketch a pressure vessel and label the shell, head and a nozzle connection.
Show the weld joints on your sketch.
2 When welding a thicker plate dished head onto a thinner plate shell wall, what
gradient of taper should be used?
3 What is the formula for hoop stress in a cylindrical pressure vessel?
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Section 6
Stresses in Welds
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Stresses in Welds
6 Stresses in Welds
6.1 Making things Simple
In the majority of situations it is very difficult, if not impossible to take into
consideration all the factors that might influence the load carrying capacity
of a welded joint. This is why designers use assumptions to simplify the
approach and reach a practical result without over-complicated calculations.
6.1.1 Welds and HAZs

It is assumed that the weld and HAZ have a higher strength than the parent
material based on the use of an overmatching filler material (ie a material
with a higher strength). Since the parent material is the weakest link, the
weld joint should always fail in the parent material instead of the weld; this
assumption is checked during the qualification of the welding procedure,
when the cross-weld tensile test specimens shall have a strength not less
than the corresponding specified minimum value for the parent material
(see BS EN ISO 15614-1, paragraph 7.4.2). However, there are a few
situations when this assumption is not true. Aluminium alloys suffer strength
loss in the HAZ. For TMCP steels or HSLA steels, cold work processing
and/or microalloying is used to increase the strength of the parent metal.
The heat from welding causes the HAZ to recrystallise and becomes softer
than the parent material; hence this part of the joint would have the lowest
strength. For undermatched welds, the implication would be that the overall
strength of the joint is dictated by the strength of the HAZ (which can be
assumed to be equal to the parent metal in the annealed condition).
6.1.2 Excess weld metal

Excess weld metal does not bear any stress and is neglected when
accounting for joint strength in weld design. Since deposition of the weld
metal cannot be controlled accurately, the size of the excess weld metal is
not constant over the entire length of the weld. Although ignoring it is a
conservative assumption, for design calculation, the design throat is used
instead of the actual throat.
a b
Figure 6.1 Excess weld metal in a butt weld a and fillet weld b.
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a b
Figure 6.2 The design throat in a butt weld a and fillet weld b.
6.1.3 Weld quality

It is assumed that the welds are defect-free at the design stage. Joint factors
are sometimes used to reduce the design stress to reflect a reduced level of
non-destructive testing (NDT) and the risk of weld flaws being present. The
presence of defects reduces the cross-section area through which load is
carried.
6.1.4 Stress concentrations

Stress concentrations due to bead shape are neglected. Ripples on the
surface of the weld and weld toes are points of abrupt change in weld profile
so concentrate the stress. Although the effect of these features is quite
significant, especially in fatigue resistance, this effect cannot be exactly
quantified and hence is neglected when designing for static joint strength.
6.1.5 Partial penetration welds

In partial penetration welds, the throat is reduced by the amount of lost
penetration. This assumption is essential since the load is transmitted only
through the welded section (since the non-penetrated section lacks material
continuity, it cannot transmit any load).
6.1.6 Residual stresses

Residual stresses due to welding are ignored at the design stage. Although
they can reach the yield of the material, their exact magnitude and
distribution are hard to determine (they are influenced by the heat input
which varies a lot especially during manual and semi-automatic welding). As
a result of this uncertainty, residual stresses are not taken into consideration
for design calculations.
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6.2 Different types of stresses in welds

6.2.1 Stress units
Welded structures are designed to carry loads so the welds themselves
contribute to the support of these loads. Materials supporting a load will be
subject to stress. Common units of stress measurement are Pascals, Pa, or
Newtons per metre squared, N/m2. The Pascal is a very small unit so we
normally use MegaPascals (MPa) or Newtons per millimetre squared
(N/mm2).
1MPa = 1N/mm2
6.2.2 Nominal stress

The concept of stress introduced in Section 3, was defined as the
force/cross-sectional area. This is called the nominal stress (see Figure
6.3). This is the average stress over the area:
Stress (MPa or N/mm2) = Load or force (N)

Cross section area (mm2)
Figure 6.3 Nominal stress.
6.2.3 Design stress or Maximum allowable stress

Different application standards offer values for the maximum allowable
stress depending on the specific requirements and service condition (for
instance, BS 5400-2 Steel, concrete and composite bridges Part 2:
Specification for loads or the ASME Pressure Vessel codes). If you are not
using a code, the maximum allowable stress can be approximated as two
thirds of the parent metal yield strength. In the USA (and historically in the
UK), design stress was based on UTS reduced by a factor of safety
(typically 4). The designer must make calculations to ensure that the stress
in the welds does not exceed the maximum allowable stress, which is also
known as the design stress.
Joint factors are sometimes used to reduce this initial design stress to reflect
a reduced level of NDT and the risk of weld flaws being present. For
example. if only 10% of welds will be inspected, the value of 2/3 yield
strength is multiplied by a joint factor of 0.8, thus reducing the value of the
design stress.
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Stresses in Welds
6.2.4 Hot spot and notch stress

In reality the stress distribution over the material cross-section is not always
uniformly distributed. Near geometrical features and stress concentrators
the distribution will contain a non-linear component. This is the case for fillet
welds.
Traditionally, design calculations and experimental test data are generated

using the nominal stress approach. However, alternative design methods
estimate the strength of connections using structural stresses which are a
summation of the membrane and bending stresses that occur across welds,
based on a linear stress distribution and ignore local non-linear stress
profiles.
The concept of hot spot stress was developed in the 1970s for determining
the strength of tubular joints in offshore platforms. The approach is now
used to assess the resistance of fillet welds and its concept extrapolates the
structural stress profile measured close to the weld toe. The hot spot stress
can be experimentally determined using strain gauges positioned at very
specific locations or using finite element calculations.
A particular advantage of using the hot spot stress approach is that it is far
easier to extract the hot spot stresses from finite element analysis, instead
of trying to determine the equivalent nominal stress. When much of the
current design of welded joints is done using finite element modelling, this
makes it easier to extract the stresses to compare to the design stress limit.
Stress
Notch stress
Hot spot stress
Structural stress
Nominal stress
Figure 6.4 Stress terminology close to the weld toe of a fillet weld.
The notch stress design approach uses the peak stress by capturing the
increase in stress intensity due to the presence of the weld. It takes into
account the radius of the weld toe and geometry of the joint. This calculation
requires more parameters than the hot spot stress approach so is more
complex.
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6.3 Butt welds

6.3.1 Stress in a full penetration butt weld
In carbon and carbon-manganese steels the weld metal is at least as strong
as the parent material so for most purposes the butt weld can be neglected
when assessing static strength. In this case, the weld is between two
identical parent materials using matching filler. The weld is full penetration
and to avoid any start/stops along the weld which might impair its quality,
run off tabs were used.
Figure 6.5 Full penetration butt weld under uniaxial tension load.
Remembering the simplifying assumptions from Section 6.1, the design

throat would be equal to the thickness of the parent plate t. Because the
load, P, is acting perpendicularly to the weld, the joint is subjected to
tension. The stressed area of the weld cross-section area (CSA) is directly
calculated by:
Cross section area, CSA = length, L thickness, t
The cross section area is in millimetre squared (mm2) if the thickness and
length are both expressed in millimetres (mm).
For a flat plate in uniaxial tension with a butt weld (Figure 6.5), the stress is
calculated in the same way as the stress in a flat plate under uniaxial
tension with no weld (Figure 3). In a full penetration butt weld the stress is
given by the following equation:
Stress, = load, P = Load, P

cross section area, CSA length, L x thickness, t
For the stress to be calculated in MPa (equivalent to N/mm2), the load must
be converted into Newtons (N) and the length and thickness of the weld are
both in millimetres. Be careful because often loads are given in kiloNewtons
and will need to be multiplied by 1000 to get the equivalent number of
Newtons.
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6.3.2 Stress in a partial penetration butt weld

The only difference between partial and full penetration welds is that the
weld does not penetrate through the entire thickness of the parent material.
Therefore the cross section area of the weld is reduced and there is an
unfused land down the centre of the joint (Figure 6). To avoid an
asymmetrical stress distribution, the depth of penetration on both sides must
be equal (ie t1 = t2). This avoids the welds causing additional bending
stresses around the joint.
The cross sectional area is now
CSA = length, L (throat of weld 1, t1 + throat of weld 2, t2)
The tensile stress which occurs in the weld is therefore calculated by:
Stress, = load, P = Load, P

CSA length, L x total thickness, t1 + t2
Again, if the stress is to be in MPa, the load must be converted into Newtons
(N) and the length and thicknesses of the welds are all in millimetres.
Figure 6.6 Partial penetration, double sided butt weld under uniaxial load.
Another feature to consider in this type of weld is the crack-like gap left
between the two welds. Since defects are more likely close to the weld root,
adding a sharp corner in this area is not good practice. Therefore, it is
strongly advised to avoid partial penetration butt welds and to opt for fully
penetrated butt welds with a prepared edge to obtain a reliable joint.
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6.3.3 Stressed area in pipes

For butt welds in pipe (often referred to as girth weld), it is necessary to
know the cross section area of the pipe. A common approach is to imagine
unrolling the pipe and using the same method as for plates. The length of
the plate is assumed to be the inside circumference of the pipe (along the
root of the weld). The length of inner circumference is determined by
multiplying the inner diameter (ID) by (which is roughly 3.14).
Figure 6.7 Cross-section area of pipes and tubular sections.
The CSA of the weld under loading (ie the shaded area) is therefore equal
to: CSA = length, L x thickness, t = x ID x t.
The second method to determine the CSA of a pipe is to imagine a larger

and smaller circle and take the area of the small circle away from the area of
the large one. The formula for the area of a circle is CSA = r2, where r is
the radius of the circle. The radius of the larger circle is OD/2 and the radius
of the smaller circle is ID/2.
6.3.4 Shear stress in full penetration butt welds

Shear stresses in welds can be calculated using a similar approach as for
tension stresses. Shear stress has the symbol , compared to axial stress,
which is given the symbol . In a butt weld subjected to a shear force P
acting parallel to the weld, the shear stress is given by the following
equation:
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Figure 6.8 Full penetration butt weld under shear loading.
Shear stress, (MPa) = shear force, P (N)

Length, L (mm) x thickness, t (mm)
6.4 Fillet welds

6.4.1 Advantages
Fillet welds are widely used in welded fabrication due to these advantages:
Simplest design. All that has to be done is to stand one piece against the
other and run the welding electrode/gun where the parent metals touch.
Cheap. Fillet welds require virtually no preparation (items can be welded

straight after flame cutting if the process is set correctly).
Can be made in flat (PA) or horizontal (PB) position by semi-skilled

operators. A welder qualification for fillet welds requires only macro
examination or a fracture test which are less demanding than butt weld
tests.
Can be made with any number of passes. The welder can either
increase productivity and reduce distortion by reducing the number of
passes or avoid a wide HAZ in a sensitive material (eg fine grained
structural steel) by reducing the heat input and increasing the number of
passes.
6.4.2 Disadvantages
If not performed correctly, lack of penetration can occur. This means that
even if the leg size is achieved, the weld throat which carries the load is
reduced. Visual examination or other NDT techniques cannot reveal this
defect, the only way is by macro examination, but since this is a
destructive test it cannot be applied to a welded assembly.
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The volume or weight of weld metal is proportional to the square of the

leg length. Once you calculate the required throat/leg size, stick to it.
Over-welding fillet welds is easy, but costly in terms of consumables
used and can lead to heavy distortion and lamellar tearing.
6.4.3 Shape of fillet welds

For design purposes, a fillet weld is assumed to be triangular in shape, the
size being defined by the weld throat or leg length as shown in Figure 6.9.
Figure 6.9 Terms used to describe the features of a fillet weld.
Throat thickness is regarded as the most important dimension for design

purposes but mechanical failure of fillet welds is often along the fusion line
or through the parent material itself. One reason for this in carbon or low
alloy steels is that the weld metal is mostly substantially stronger than the
parent metal.
The throat is the shortest distance from the root to the face of the weld. Fillet
weld sizes should be specified by referring to the throat thickness, a,
although leg length, z, is often used and can be easier to measure during
weld inspection. Conventionally, leg lengths are regarded as being of equal
dimension, the weld forming an isosceles triangle in cross-section. Convex,
concave and deep penetration welds are illustrated in Figure 6.9 below.
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Figure 6.10 Convex, concave and deep penetration fillet welds.
Figure 6.11 Design versus actual throat thickness for fillet welds.
The convex fillet is generally undesirable for two main reasons. The junction
of the weld metal with the parent metal at the weld toe can form a significant
stress raiser and will adversely affect both fatigue life and brittle fracture
resistance. Excess weld metal in the cap costs time and money to deposit
without contributing to joint strength.
The concave fillet weld can be beneficial with respect to fatigue strength but
the minimum specified throat thickness MUST be achieved.
Deep penetration fillet welding can give a stronger joint, but it is not possible
to allow for this during design as the actual penetration depth cannot be
verified by inspection techniques during production.
6.4.4 Stress in fillet welds

In a fillet weld, the stress is supported by the throat, a so, it is assumed that
fillet welds always fail across the throat because during the application of
load, the throat is the smallest section which supports this load and thus the
stress is at its maximum level in this area. The result of design calculations
for a fillet weld would give the throat size.
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Figure 6.12 Single sided fillet weld under tension.
In a simplified way, the stress in the weld throat can be calculated by the
following equation:
Stress = load P
length, L x throat, a
Similarly, this equation also holds for fillet welds under shear such as in
Figure 6.13 below.
Figure 6.13 Single-sided fillet weld under shear.
Often when fillet weld sizes are calculated, they are mainly subjected to
shear. The allowable, or design, shear stresses on the weld throat area are
applied. Some codes specify these values depending on the welding
electrode but in the absence of such information yield stress of the parent
material is assumed as the design shear stress (compared to 2/3 yield for
the design axial tensile stress). This value of design shear stress takes into
consideration the higher sensitivity towards cold cracking shown by fillet
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welds due to the increased combined thickness (see MAB module) as well
as the effect of the natural lack of penetration present at the root of the joint.
In some standards such as AWS D1.1: Structural Welding Code, American

Welding Society, 2008, the leg length z may be used as a design parameter.
In a mitre fillet weld, the relationship between the throat and the leg is as
follows:
Figure 6.12 Weld throat and leg length in a mitre fillet weld.
For a fillet weld with equal leg lengths, the cross section triangle is a right-
angle triangle with angles of 45 in each corner. The relationship between
weld throat, a and leg length, z, is given by the following equation.
a 0.7z and z 1.4 a
(For the maths-minded, 0.7 is 1/2 and 1.4 is 2)
6.5 References
IIW Guidelines; Niemi E, Fricke W, Maddox S J: Fatigue analysis of welded
components: Designer's guide to the structural hot-spot stress approach,
Woodhead Publishing, 2009.
6.6 Summary
At the end of this section you should be able to understand the cross section
areas of different welds and how forces act on them. You should also know
the differences between design stress, nominal stress, hot-spot stress and
notch stress.
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Revision questions
1 Calculate the stress in this butt weld
Answer: 64MPa
2 What size fillet weld is needed in this joint? Steel has a yield strength of 350MPa.
8mm
Answer: 5.8mm
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Section 7
Different Types of Loading

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7 Different Types of Loading

Structures experience loading in a wide range of conditions. Firstly
designers assess a structure under static loading at ambient temperature.
But when the structure is in service it may experience extremes of
temperature from low to high. The loading may fluctuate and may affect the
structural integrity of any welds in the structure. It is important to consider all
types of loading when designing welded structures.
7.1 Static strength

Two tensile specimens of the same material but different size (Figure 7.1).
Which one is stronger, specimen 1 or 2?
Specimen 1
Specimen 2
Figure 7.1 Tensile specimens of different sizes.
The load-extension curves from the two specimens are shown in Figure 2
and it can be seen that specimen 2 can withstand the greater load.
However, tensile strength is what is a material specific property and these
specimens are of the same material so should have the same strength
regardless of size. Therefore we take the size of the specimen into account,
when determining the stress (as opposed to the load) and the units of stress
are N/mm2.
Figure 7.2 Load-extension curves for tensile specimens 1 and 2.
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Stress takes into account the cross section area (CSA) of a specimen so is
the true indicator of strength, not the maximum load applied. The CSA of the
specimen in Figure 7.3 is the area being tested perpendicular to the tensile
direction of loading and is often a circle in a round tensile specimen, but
square or rectangular section specimens are also possible. The tensile
specimen is thicker at the ends where the specimen is gripped, but the
material being tested is in the central parallel section, called the gauge of
the specimen. It is the CSA within the gauge length that is used to calculate
stress.
Figure 3 Cross-section area of tensile specimens.
Instead of load versus displacement curves, the tensile test is represented

by a stress versus strain graph. Strain is the proportional extension of the
specimen (the amount it has extended divided by its original length). The
stress-strain curves for Specimens 1 and 2 from Figure 7.1 become the
same, as shown in Figure 7.4.
Figure 7.4 Different sized specimens of the same material give the same stress-
strain curve.
Using stress-strain curves effectively normalises different specimen sizes. It

allows us to test small scale samples and apply the results to larger
structural components that would be impractical to test in a laboratory.
Load-extension would not allow this.
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We can use the stressstrain curves for different materials to help design
structures. To ensure there is no plastic deformation in structures, engineers
usually design each structural member to operate at a static stress
equivalent to two thirds of the yield stress, leaving a third as a safety factor
so as that the structure can tolerate some further loading without plastic
deformation. (Some design codes limit the applied stress to half yield
strength). These other loads that can act on the structure are mostly due to
adverse weather conditions such as added weight due to snow fall or
additional forces due to high winds. Figure 7.5 shows this safety margin
between the design stress, design and yield stress, y.
Figure 7.5 Indicated design stress at two thirds yield stress.
7.2 Effect of temperature on strength

The material specific description of strength is not a set value. Factors can
affect the strength of a material like they can all material properties. One of
the biggest factors which affect the strength of a material is the temperature
of operation as shown in Figure 7.6 for different metallic materials. Generally
steels exhibit a reduction in tensile strength at elevated temperatures,
however, certain steels exhibit trends showing a decrease and then an
increase in strength between certain temperatures. This characteristic is
also dependent on the strain rate.
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Figure 7.6 Influence of temperature on different metallic materials.
However, despite higher temperatures causing a drop in tensile strength,

operating at these temperatures also increases the ductility of the material
and avoids the risk of brittle fracture. Ferritic steels experience a ductile to
brittle transition at a given (usually low) temperature, as shown in Figure 7
for the Charpy impact curve at different test temperatures for ferritic steel.
Therefore, operating steels at lower temperatures, while giving higher
strength, risk suffering a significant drop in fracture toughness.
Figure 7.7 Typical Charpy impact curve for ferritic steel.
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Choosing materials which can best suit certain applications and the method
to assess a materials suitability is termed material selection. An example
where this process has been optimised to the maximum is the turbine
engine, shown in Figure 8:
Figure 7.8 Turbine aero-engine.
A colour coded key describes what sort of material is used at different

locations within the engine. At the back, where combustion takes place, the
temperature is very high and normal materials would not be able to
withstand the heat generated and would lose their integrity. Ni-superalloys
have been engineered by materials scientists to perform the duties required
of turbine blades without degrading.
As with all aerospace components, weight saving is a big issue. The fan
blades at the front need to be light but strong and resistant to creep so
selecting the correct material is challenging. A titanium alloy is used due to
its excellent mechanical properties and most of all its strength to weight
ratio.
The engines driveshaft running through the centre of the engine is made of
steel. Steel is three times heavier than titanium so there is no real
replacement for this component due to the intense levels of torque that need
to be tolerated by the shaft. Titanium is as strong as steel, but cannot
withstand twisting forces to the same extent.
Other areas of the engine not requiring demanding mechanical properties or

high temperature resistance are made of very light composite materials
such as carbon fibre to save weight.
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7.3 Stress concentrations

Sudden changes in geometry in a material section (such as holes, notches,
grooves, corners, fillet welds, or defects) can act as stress raisers which
concentrate the stress so that the local stress increases. The concept of
stress concentration can be visualised by considering flow lines. The lines of
transmission of the stress are similar to the flow lines if fluid were to enter
the material from one end to the other, as in Figure 9. Densely packed flow
lines are representative of the concentration of stress at those points.
Figure 7.9 Stress concentration around a notch.
Figure 7.10 shows the stress concentration effect of a circular hole in a large
flat plate under tension. Even this simple detail increases the stress at the
edge of the hole by a factor of 3. This means that close to the edges of
holes (such as bolt holes), the maximum stress in the plate is about three
times the nominal applied stress. Sharper notches concentrate the stress by
much more and very sharp notches, such as cracks have a very high
concentration of stress at their tips.
Figure 7.10 Stress concentration due to a circular hole.
7.4 Modes of failure

There are a number of ways that a metal structure can fail. In the MAB
module you learnt a number of ways that welds can suffer cracking. But
ultimately, these flaws lead to catastrophic failure in one of three main ways.
By ductile failure, by fatigue and by brittle fracture.
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7.4.1 Ductile failure

Ductile failure or plastic collapse occurs when yielding and deformation
precede failure and is the result of overloading. Purely ductile failures are
rare since most structures are designed well within their load bearing
capacity. They can occur when the strength has been degraded, for
example in the high temperatures during a fire. Ductile failures are most
likely to occur in service as a secondary failure mode after the section
thickness has been reduced as a result of fatigue crack growth, corrosion or
erosion.
When examining the fracture surface, a ductile failure shows evidence of

gross yielding or plastic deformation, the fracture surface is rough and torn
and may be highly fibrous as a result of deformation. The failure surface
may show 45 shear lips or have surfaces inclined at 45 to the load
direction. Two ductile failures are shown in Figures 7.11 and 7.12.
Figure 7.11 Ductile rupture of a component.
Figure 7.12 Ductile fracture surface.
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7.4.2 Fatigue failure

Fatigue is discussed in detail in Section 4 of this DAC1 course. The failure surface
from a fatigue failure is smooth, flat and bounded by a curve (Figure 7.13). There
are sometimes bands, known as beachmarks on the fracture surface which show
the progress of the crack front. The beachmarks can help identify the point of origin
at the middle of the beachmark curves. A fatigue failure surface is always at 90 to
the load, but final fracture will usually take the form of gross yielding, or sometimes
will result in a brittle fracture.
Figure 7.13 Fatigue fracture surface.
7.4.3 Brittle fracture

Brittle fracture involves little or no plastic deformation and occurs in a fast,
unstable manner. The crack propagates at about the speed of sound, so it is
a very fast rupture process and the results can be catastrophic.
A characteristic of brittle fracture (Figure 7.14) is there is little or no plastic

deformation before failure. The fracture surface may show chevron marks or
river lines pointing back to the fracture initiation point. With a brittle impact
fracture, the surface is rough but not torn and will sometimes have a
crystalline appearance (particularly under high strain rate loading, for
example in a Charpy specimen).
Figure 7.14 Brittle fracture surfaces where a fatigue crack propagated following
brittle fracture.
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The likelihood of brittle fracture is caused by three main factors: Having

sufficiently low toughness; the presence of a flaw; and the application of a
stress. These can be remembered visually from a triangle.
Figure 7.15 The three factors for brittle fracture.
The ductile to brittle transition in steels at low temperature influences

whether a failure will be ductile or brittle. At low temperatures the material
has lower fracture toughness and is more prone to brittle fracture. Low
toughness is also more likely in materials with a crystalline structure which is
bcc (ferritic steels) because they show the toughness transition, compared
to those with fcc crystal structures, such as austenitic stainless steel or
aluminium, which do not show a marked transition between ductile and
brittle behaviour. Low toughness can also result from the steelss
microstructure. A fine grain size has high toughness, whereas martensite or
coarse grain HAZ has low toughness. Material thickness also has an effect
on the fracture toughness. Thick material has lower effective toughness than
thinner plate made from the same material.
Brittle fracture is more likely in the presence of high residual stresses or if

the structure is highly loaded, particularly under high strain rate (impact
loading). Finally, stress-concentrations (from weld toes, change of section,
notches) and weld defects (such as cracks or lack-of-fusion) can also have
a major effect on the likelihood of brittle fracture.
In welded structures, brittle fracture is a particular concern due to the

presence of weld defects (poor quality), Poor fracture toughness in parent
material (wrong design choice) or in HAZ (too high or low heat input),
combined with a high level of residual stress (no PWHT, wrong design) can
combine to make brittle fracture a very real danger. The welding engineer
needs to be very careful when designing a welded structure to make sure
that brittle fracture will be avoided.
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7.5 Reading fracture faces

It is rare that a fracture surface will exhibit just one kind of failure mode, so
when reading a fracture face it is important to look for clues to all the modes
which might play a part in the overall failure. In particular, beachmarks will
be characteristic of fatigue failure. River lines will indicate that brittle fracture
has occurred. Where there are failure planes at 45 to the main loading, it is
evidence of ductile failure. However, the absence of any of these clues does
not mean that those failure modes could not have occurred.
In Figure 16 the smooth flat region with beachmarks identifies that fatigue
has occurred. The final fracture is rough and torn and is at 45 to the fatigue
crack, pointing to ductile overload as the final failure.
Figure 7.16 Clues to understand a fracture face.
7.6 Summary
At the end of this module you should be able to identify the various types of
fracture. You should understand the requirements for designing under
different loading or temperature service and how to choose materials that
will meet these requirements.
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Revision questions
1 What effect does high temperature have on strength?
2 Give four examples of stress concentrations.
3 What are the three main factors for brittle fracture to occur?
4 Beachmarks occur on a fracture surface from which failure mechanism?
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Section 8
Design Considerations for Aluminium

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8 Design Considerations for Aluminium

8.1 Introduction
Aluminium is the most widely used non-ferrous metal and has a number of
properties which make it very attractive to designers. Compared to steel it
has a higher strength-to-weight ratio makes it very attractive to the
aerospace, marine and automotive industries where weight savings have a
dramatic impact on performance and fuel economy. 70% of commercial civil
aircraft airframes are made from aluminium alloys and without aluminium
civil aviation would not be economically viable. Ships, boats, cars, trains, all
utilise the lower weight of aluminium alloys.
Unlike steel, aluminiums non-magnetic properties make it well suited for

applications where electromagnetic interference is undesirable, for example
the electronics industry. Its high electrical conductivity makes aluminium a
popular material for welding cables and overhead transmission lines. Its
corrosion resistance makes it useful for food and medicine packaging.
The recyclability of aluminium makes it even more attractive as it shows no

sign of degradation when recycled, which means it can be recycled
indefinitely without loss of quality. Furthermore, the recycling only requires
5% of the energy required to make new aluminium.
8.2 Advantages of aluminium compared to steel

Weight
Low density (2,702g/cm3), roughly one third that of steel so the
deadweight of aluminium structures is dramatically reduced which
promotes its use where weight is an important factor such as the
automotive, shipping or aerospace industries (Figure 8.1).
A b
Figure 8.1 Applications of aluminium alloys in a train carriage bodies and b

helicopter components.
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Corrosion resistance
Aluminium alloys have excellent corrosion resistant properties due to a
thin self-healing oxide layer and can normally be used unpainted.
Aluminiums corrosion resistance makes it widely used for food
packaging such as aluminium foil, drink and food cans. Other uses range
from gas cylinders to ladders to ski poles. Higher strength alloys will
corrode in some hostile environments and may need protection.
Magnetic properties
Aluminium is non-magnetic which allows its use in applications where no
electromagnetic interference is allowed, such as avionics devices.
Unfortunately, this property means that magnetic particle examination
cannot be used as an NDT method aiming at detecting surface/near
surface defects in an aluminium weld.
Ductility for extrusion

Extruding is the standard process for producing aluminium sections and
is vastly more versatile than the rolling procedures used for steel.
Complex cross sections can be extruded in a single operation, rather
than requiring extensive welding (Figure 8.2) and exploiting this ability is
a major feature in aluminium design.
Figure 8.2 Extruded complex aluminium sections frictions stir welded together.
Machinability
Milling can be an economic fabrication technique for aluminium because
of the high metal removal rates possible so U or J weld preparations are
easier to produce. These machined preparations can lead to better joint
fit-up, reducing the amount of weld metal required to fill the preparation
and avoiding possible weld defects caused by mismatch.
Low temperature performance

With a face-centred cubic crystalline structure, aluminium possesses
excellent strength and toughness characteristics at low temperatures so
is suited for cryogenic applications (Figure 8.3). Unlike steel it does not
exhibit a ductile to brittle transition at low temperature.
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Figure 8.3 Storage spheres for holding cryogenic liquids.
Electrical conductivity
Aluminium possesses a high coefficient of electrical conductivity which
combined with a lower price per kg compared with copper, make it the
standard material for overhead transmission lines (with a central steel
strand to carry the weight of the cable). Aluminium alloys have an
electrical conductivity approximately 65% that of copper but because of
their density can carry more than twice the electricity as an equivalent
weight of copper.
Thermal conductivity
Aluminium has a high coefficient of thermal conductivity (237W/mC -
about four times greater than steel) so pure aluminium can be used in
heat exchangers as an alternative to copper tubes. From the welding
point of view, high thermal conductivity is a disadvantage since the heat
tends to dissipate quickly from the heated point.
8.3 Welding and joining aluminium

Weldability
Most aluminium alloys can be arc welded using gas-shielded processes.
The low melting point of aluminium (660C) means welding speeds can
be faster compared with steel. However arc welds in aluminium can
suffer from porosity, lack of fusion due to the presence of particles of
high melting point oxide in the weld pool and solidification cracking for
susceptible weld pool compositions. Most aluminium welds suffer from
an unavoidable loss of strength in the heat-affected-zone due to grain
growth (see Section 8.6).
Molten aluminium has high fluidity (compared to molten steel) so the

weld pool can spill out or run ahead of the joint preparation, leading to
possible fusion or burn-through problems. To avoid this, a smaller (or no)
root gap is used.
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Electron beam and laser welding is now used extensively for joining
aluminium components with the advantages of high processing speeds,
ease of automation and low heat input (low distortion). Friction welding
processes (such as friction stir welding) avoid the disadvantages of
fusion welds and can produce extremely strong defect-free welds in
aluminium alloys.
Adhesive bonds
The use of adhesive bonding is well established as a valid method for
making structural joints in aluminium and does not produce residual
stresses or other defects which can occur during welding (hot cracking,
porosity, etc). Unfortunately, adhesive bonded joints have limited life as
most adhesive systems degrade rapidly when the joint is both highly
stressed and exposed to a hot, humid environment.
8.4 Disadvantages of aluminium

Cost
The cost of aluminium (sections, sheet and plate) is typically about 1.5
times that of structural steel, volume for volume. For aircraft grade
material, the differential is much more. Fabrication costs are lower
because of easier handling, use of complex extrusions, easier cutting or
machining, no painting and simpler erection so in terms of total cost the
effect of switching to aluminium is usually much less than one could
expect. Under certain circumstances, an aluminium design can even be
cheaper than a steel one. Aluminium has a relatively high scrap value; a
significant factor in material selection for components designed to have a
limited life, but high scrap value encourages theft.
Thermal expansion
Aluminium expands and contracts with temperature approximately twice
as much as steel its coefficient of thermal expansion being 2410-6 C-1
compared with only 1110-6 C-1 for steel. Greater thermal expansion
leads to greater distortion; expect twice as much distortion in an
aluminium structure compared with steel. Because of the lower Youngs
modulus, thermal stresses in a restrained member are only two-thirds
those in steel.
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Figure 8.4 Weld distortion of aluminium.
Thermal conductivity
Having a high coefficient of thermal conductivity, aluminium is capable of
cooling the weld pool much faster than steel. Since heat is dissipated
much more quickly, a larger included angle is required to prevent lack of
sidewall fusion. If the included angle for a V preparation in structural
steel weldment is approximately 60, this value may need to be
increased to 90 for aluminium. A high thermal conductivity means also
that a larger area will be heated up by welding, thus increasing
distortions and giving a wide HAZ.
Youngs modulus
Aluminium exhibits a low Youngs modulus value, 0.7105N/mm2, a third
that of steel. Because of this, aluminium beams are more prone to
buckling than equivalent steel ones and have lower stiffness and rigidity.
Elastic deflection is therefore a key factor to consider when designing
aluminium structures, which may not be a concern when using steel
instead.
Fatigue resistance
Aluminium alloys are more prone to fatigue than steel because of their
lower Youngs modulus. When designing steel structures, potential
fatigue sites should be identified. The number of fatigue cycles to failure
for a given stress range is normally obtained from an endurance curve,
according to the weld geometry. For a mass-produced component, the
fatigue life can be found by testing. Fatigue is covered in more detail in
Chapter 4.
Tensile strength
Pure aluminium has modest UTS (70-150N/mm2 depending on delivery
condition, annealed or cold worked). For use in structural applications it
is alloyed with different elements to increase its tensile strength up to
650N/mm2. This compares to standard grades of steel which have yield
strengths of 150-450MPa and tensile strengths of 300-650MPa.
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Aluminium does not present a clear yield point so to define a useable

limit for the stress, proof stress is used (ie the stress at which the
material undergoes a certain permanent strain, commonly 0.2%). It
should be noted, however, that when designing steel structures, the limit
state is usually the rigidity of the structure rather than its strength.
High temperature service

Aluminium loses strength more quickly than steel with increasing
temperature and some alloys begin to lose strength when operating
above 100C. As a result, aluminium structures have a limited upper
service temperature and are not intended for creep resisting
applications.
Corrosion
Serious electrolytic corrosion of the aluminium may occur at joints with
other metals unless correct precautions are taken. This can apply even
when using alloys that are otherwise highly durable. Aluminium is also
susceptible to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) which can occur in
aqueous chloride solutions and tropical marine conditions.
Affinity to oxygen
Aluminium forms a tenacious oxide film with a melting point more than
three times that of aluminium. Failure to remove this oxide both before
and during the welding operation results in entrapment of oxides and/or
incomplete fusion giving a joint with impaired mechanical properties. To
produce a sound weld the oxide layer needs to be removed by
mechanical or chemical methods. The use of chemical cleaning must be
considered from the design stages as since the reagents used are highly
corrosive, permanent backing strips and lap joints should be assembled
after chemical cleaning due to possible entrapment. Due to its high
affinity to oxygen, aluminium is mainly welded using gas-shielded arc
welding processes and since the shielding gas column can be affected
by draughts, on-site welding of aluminium is difficult unless special
measures are used to protect the weld area. This high affinity to oxygen
requires larger diameter gas nozzles for TIG and MIG welding which
leads to an increase in included angle and/or an increase of land in U
preparations.
8.5 Aluminium alloys

Alloy series Main alloying element Heat treatable?
1XXX None (pure Al) No
2XXX Copper Yes
3XXX Manganese No
4XXX Silicon No
5XXX Magnesium No
6XXX Magnesium & silicon Yes
7XXX Zinc and magnesium Yes
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Non-heat treatable alloys gain strength from cold working. Heat treatable
alloys gain strength from both work hardening and precipitation hardening.
8.6 Heat affected zone softening

Aluminium alloys are normally used in cold worked or precipitation hardened
conditions to take advantage of their high strength-to-weight ratio. The
strengthening benefits of both cold work and precipitation hardening are lost
when aluminium is exposed to the high temperatures from welding. The
temperature in the heat-affected zone is sufficient to cause grain growth and
hence softening.
The lower strength of the HAZ must therefore be considered in the design
by allowing for the amount of softening (loss of strength) when calculating
the load carrying capacity of a weld. This may be done by locally thickening
the material in the region of the weld, or by designing the locations of the
welds away from the most highly stressed regions (ie on neutral axes).
Figure 8.5 The loss of strength (and hardness) in the HAZ of welds in aluminium.
8.7 References and further reading

AWS D1.2: Structural Welding Code Aluminium. American Welding
Society.
BS 8118-1: Structural use of aluminium. Code of practice for design,

London: British Standards Institution.
BS EN 1999: Eurocode 9: Design of aluminium structures. General

structural rules, London: British Standards Institution.
Bull J W 1994: The practical design of structural elements in aluminium.

Avebury Technical, UK.
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Conserva M, Donzelli G, Trippodo R 1992: Aluminium and its applications,

Edimet, Brescia, Italy.
8.8 Summary
At the end of this module you should be able to name some typical
applications of aluminium alloys and the advantages of this material
compared to steel. You should recognise common aluminium imperfections
and solutions to avoid them. You should also be able to recognise typical
weld preps for aluminium alloys.
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Revision questions
1 What is the density of aluminium compared to steel?
2 What is the Youngs modulus of aluminium compared to steel?
3 What are aluminium alloys used for and why?
4 What effect does the difference in Youngs modulus have on the fatigue
resistance of aluminium welds?
5 Why is distortion a problem for aluminium welds?
6 Why do aluminium welds suffer from HAZ softening?
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Section 9
Static Loading
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Static Loading
9 Static Loading
9.1 Introduction
For some structures, the main loading does not change over time, it is
essentially static. A typical example of this is a building based on a steel
frame where the frame supports the weight of the building (and the frame
itself) and the weight of the contents. The majority of new buildings are
based on steel frames, because this is also a fast and efficient construction
method. Figure 9.1 is a classic image of construction workers on a 1920s
skyscraper in New York, which shows the steel frame skeleton of the
structure.
Figure 9.1 Construction workers take a break on a New York skyscraper in the
1920s.
9.2 Structural details

There are two major kinds of structural details for static loading that this
module will examine. Trusses are structures with a number of structural
members joined together to form triangular units. The structure transmits
loads through axial forces rather than bending. A pylon is an example of a
space frame truss. Nodal joints occur in fixed offshore steel jacket
structures. Tubular legs and cross members are welded together at the
nodal joints. Various methods exist for linking structural members and
strengthening structures, such as stiffeners, braces and steel reinforcement.
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Static Loading
Figure 9.2 Pylon truss joints. Figure 9.3 Nodal joints in an offshore structure.
a Steel reinforcement b Stiffeners c Nodal joints d Braces
Figure 9.4 Methods of joining and strengthening steel structure joints.
9.3 Strength of beams

For a structure under stable conditions, ie static, all the forces on the
structure must balance in equilibrium. An example is a truss bridge where
the forces in all the members are shown in a free-body diagram in Figure
9.5.
Figure 9.5 Free body diagram of a truss bridge (not every force is shown here).
The stress, , that each force, F, imposes is calculated by dividing the force
by the cross sectional area, A, of the member. The units of force or load is
Newtons, N, the units of area is mm2 and the units of tensile stress is
N/mm2, or megapascals, MPa.
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Static Loading
Figure 9.6 Definition of stress.
In Session 3 (Focus and Strength of Materials), the concept of a stress-

strain curve, Figure 9.7, was introduced as method of characterising
material tensile behaviour.
The elastic design method bases the design stresses on the elastic limit of
the structure, but ensures that the stresses in the structure do not exceed
the yield stress (ie elastic deformation is designed for, but no plastic
deformation occurs). However it is not normally possible to design up to the
yield stress safely due to the presence of material defects, joint/weld
mismatch, unforeseen loads such as wind or snow and degradation over
time.
For static design, the allowable stress is limited to a proportion of the

specified minimum yield strength of the material. Relevant design codes
provide guidance on what proportion this should be, but it is quite common
to use an allowable design stress that is 2/3 of the material yield strength,
although historically for safety critical structures such as pressure vessels
the stress was limited to a quarter of the UTS. Generally, the welding
consumable is chosen such that the weld metal strength is greater than the
parent material. In these cases the parent material strength defines the load
bearing capacity of the structure. However, when defining the throat
dimension of load carrying welds it is the weld metal strength that is used.
Figure 9.7 Material tensile properties.
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Static Loading
The ratio of the yield stress (or UTS) to the design stress is known as factor
of safety (FoS). The factor of safety depends on the material and the
utilisation of the structural member.
A materials load capacity depends on design method, whether its based on

the minimum yield strength or the ultimate tensile strength. A welded joint is
very complex since it is heterogeneous; it has parent, HAZ and weld metal
microstructures, each with different individual strengths. To simplify the
approach to calculating the load capacity of welded joints, it is assumed that
the weld metal overmatches parent metal and therefore that the parent
strength defines load carrying capacity. There are significant exceptions to
this rule, however. High strength low alloy (HSLA) steels sometimes have
weld metal that undermatches the very high strength parent metal. Welded
joints in aluminium very often have strength undermatching in the weld
metal and HAZ, as the static strength can be reduced by the heat of
welding.
9.4 Types of loading

Static axial tensile stress is just one kind of loading that can be imposed on
a structure. Cyclic and dynamic loading is discussed in the section on
Fatigue in this course, but even static loading can take several forms (Figure
9.8). Axial stress can be in tension or compression. Where the application of
load is offset by a perpendicular distance then shear stresses are imposed.
For members that are loaded in bending, one surface is stresses in tension
and one surface in compression, Figure 9.9. A similar approach to design is
adopted; the maximum stress allowed at the extreme fibre is limited to the
same fraction of material strength as for tensile loading.
Figure 9.8 Different kinds of static loading.
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Static Loading
Figure 9.9 A beam loaded in bending.
Bending moments can be introduced into beams such as cranes or

cantilever beams (Figure 9.10), where a load is suspended from the end of
an arm. There are reaction forces at the other end of the beam to counter
balance both the shear force, compressive force and the bending moment.
The definition of bending moment is force multiplied by perpendicular
distance, M = F x d.
Figure 9.10 The forces on a cantilever beam.
9.5 Nodal joints

Fixed steel jacket structures such as those used for offshore platforms
(Figure 9.3), are fabricated by welding together tubular legs and cross
members at node joints (also called nodal joints).
Although in these joints it is usually fatigue considerations that limit the

design, the materials and joint design have to satisfy static design criteria.
The parts of a simple node joint are illustrated in Figure 11. Figures 12, 13
and 14 illustrate typical node joint geometries. T nodal joints have the brace
attached at roughly right angles to the chord. Where the offset from
perpendicular is greater than 10 degrees then the joint becomes a Y nodal
joint. With two such braces positioned in opposite directions is called a K
nodal joint. Adding a perpendicular brace to two angled braces forms a T-K
nodal joint.
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Static Loading
It is important to recognise that the geometry of a node joint introduces a

stress concentrating effect. The magnitude of the stress concentration
depends on the joint geometry, material thickness and position around the
intersection. This stress concentration factor must be taken into account
when designing node joints for both static and fatigue applications.
Figure 9.11 The parts of a node joint.
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Static Loading
Figure 9.12 An X joint Figure 9.13 A K joint Figure 9.14 A T-K joint.
Figure 9.15 Tolerances and definitions for T and Y nodal joints.
When designing a nodal joint, consideration must be made of the gap

between the various braces, so that there is still sufficient access for welding
all round both seams. If the braces need to be close, then a seam weld
which incorporates the welding of both can be designed by allowing the two
to overlap. This results in a complex weld seam and challenges for welding
and inspection access. Sometimes a brace may be offset from the centre of
the chord, although this design will impose additional bending on the joint.
Usually in a K joint the two braces are angled so that their axes meet at the
middle of the chord diameter, to give the joint its strength. It is also possible
to angel the braces more deeply or more shallow and the difference is
known as the eccentricity of the joint.
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Static Loading
Figure 9.16 Definitions of nodal joint details.
Figure 9.17 Eccentricity, e, in the attachment of braces in a K node joint.
It is possible to construct nodal joints from square box sections as well as

tubular members. The way the joints are labelled is very similar to tubular
node joints (Figure 9.18).
Figure 9.18 Parts of a node joint in square box section.
The stresses in nodal joints must be calculated to take into account the
stress concentration that occurs at the intersection of the chord and brace.
The hot spot stress approach was developed to account for the stress
concentration at nodal joints in offshore platforms (Figure 9.19) and has
been readily adopted since it is easy to extract from a numerical model of a
joint and can be measured from strain gauges at the toes of the node joint
welds.
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Static Loading
Figure 9.19 Hot spot stress definition.
There are some similarities between the attachment of braces to chords in a

nodal joint and the attachment of nozzles onto pressure vessels. However,
in nodal joints there is no hole in the chord at the brace attachment,
whereas in pressure vessels there is a hole in the shell at the nozzle and
therefore a need for compensation for the loss in the strength of the shell. In
nodal joints there are large axial and bending loads in braces as they are
structural members, whereas nozzles are subjected only to pressure and
are not designed to be load-bearing. However, nozzles tend to be proof
tested up to pressure beyond the maximum allowable, but for nodes there is
not usually a proof loading prior to service. The complex geometry of nodal
joints can make them harder to weld and inspect than the mainly circular or
saddle-shaped weld seams in nozzles. Nodal joints are generally designed
for ambient temperature operation, but can be subject to significant cyclic
loading. Nozzles can operate at high or low temperatures but tend not to be
designed for fatigue loading.
9.6 Designing structures

One of the first considerations for designing structures is what kind of
loading the structure will be under. Take the example of a flagpole. Its
design is mainly to sustain its own deadweight, since the flag adds little to
the structural loads. The additional loading is from wind loads on the pole.
The loading imposes a requirement for thicker material at the base than the
top. When structures are more complex, containing many members, for
example a pylon (Figure 20b) and the approach is similar, but necessarily
more complex.
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Static Loading
A b
Figure 9.20 Designing structures from those with a) simple components to those b)
more complex structures.
The various ways that a beam can be carried by a crane illustrates the
different types of loading that can be imposed. Carried vertically it imposes
only tensile stress, but carrying the beam horizontally from a single point
hook will impose bending as well. If the horizontal beam is carried using a
chain attached to each end then compression as well as bending occurs. If
the beam is carried from a chain attached at a single point in the middle, the
loading becomes mainly bending. This is a rather unstable way to carry a
long beam though.
Pure tension Compression and bending Bending
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Static Loading
Another example of consideration of the loading modes when designing

welded joints is the position and location of a lifting lug on an I-beam. The
correct design would have the lifting lug oriented in the same plane as the
web of the I-beam so that the lug does not impose additional bending, which
would occur if the lug was oriented across the web of the flange. This poor
design can be improved by adding stiffeners between the webs of the flange
beam to reduce the deflection in the beam.
Correct design Poor design Improved design
9.7 Stress reinforced concrete

Many structures that are mainly statically loaded are fabricated from
concrete, reinforced by steel.
Concrete itself has good strength properties in compression but has a very
low strength in tension. This limits the use of concrete in construction and
makes it unsuitable for use in many structural members when used on its
own. However, by introducing a high initial compressive stress such that the
concrete still experiences compression stresses when loaded in tension,
concrete can be used in tension members and in members loaded in
bending. The compression is introduced by pre-stressing steel reinforcing
bars in tension and then pouring the concrete around the bar. The concrete
shrinks when it sets and grips the steel bar. The pre-stressing in the steel
bar is then released and the contraction of the steel bar introduces
compressive stresses in the concrete. One common application is in the
tension flange of concrete members loaded in bending, Figure 9.21. The
term reinforcing-steel is used to describe the use of steel to reinforce any
materials, but is most often used concrete.
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Static Loading
Figure 9.21 Reinforcing steel bars (rebars) in the tension flange of a concrete
beam loaded in bending.
A range of materials is used for the reinforcing bar and a range of welding
techniques is used for joining bars together. The rebars have a textured
profile (Figure 9.22) to allow them to key into the concrete and provide the
pre-stressing. Reinforcing bar is available in sizes ranging from 6mm up to
50mm diameter. A whole assembly of reinforcing bars will usually be used
and the frame fabricated together before the concrete is poured into a
surrounding mould. The bars are joined together using one of several
methods. The rebars can be welded, they can be joined using a wire joint
where wire is wrapped around bars and tightened. It is also possible to use
a rebar coupler which is a mechanical fixing. Reinforcing bars are available
for a wide range of chemical compositions and mechanical properties. Not
all reinforcing bars are weldable; the weldability is determined by the carbon
equivalent value and the limitations on the content of certain elements.
Rebars are usually welded using MMA or MAG welding processes. Welding
rebars using butt joints (Figure 9.23) is usually used just for load bearing
joints only, because they need joint preparation and possibly backing strip
may be used as well. Lap welds (Figure 9.24) are used for load bearing and
non-load bearing joints. It is possible to weld double sided lap joints as well.
The requirement is for a minimum throat thickness, a, greater and 30% of
the rebar diameter, ie a 0.3d.
Figure 9.22 surface profile of a steel rebar.
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Static Loading
A b
Figure 9.23 Weld butt joint preparations in steel rebars a and b showing the stages
of filling up the joint when backing is used.
Figure 9.24 Lap welding steel rebars.
9.8 Summary
At the end of this module you should recognise structural designs for static
loading, such as trusses and nodes. You should understand the different
kinds of static loading and know how to determine the tensile stress and the
bending moment on a beam. It is expected that you can explain different
designs of nodal joint and how they differ from nozzles in pressure vessels.
Finally, you should be able to describe welded joints for joining steel
reinforcement bars for concrete structures.
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Static Loading
Revision questions
1 Sketch a structure which incorporates a truss frame. How is the load transmitted?
2 How do you calculate the factor of safety on the design stress?
3 How is bending moment calculated? Sketch a see-saw to illustrate your answer.
4 Sketch a Y nodal joint and label the brace, chord, heel and toe of the structure.
5 Why are steel reinforcement bars used in structures? List three ways to join
them.
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Section 10
Revision Session IWS

Rev 4 April 2013
Revision session IWS
Revision Session IWS

Multiple choice questions
1 Charpy tests are carried out on a steels to:
a Calculate critical defect sizes.

b Check for corrosion.
c Check the moisture content of the plate.
d Measure notch toughness.
2 Arc butt welds in work-hardenable aluminium alloys:
a Are stronger than the parent material.

b Are weaker than the parent material.
c Can only be made in the flat position.
d Are always porous.
3 Strain is:
a The extension of material in relation to its original length.

b A filter in a gas hose.
c A cause of brittle fracture.
d None of the above.
4 Buckling in a column in a steel structure is made more likely by:
a Bolted joints.
b Magnetic fields.
c Weld distortions.
d Vibration.
5 By how much does a carbon manganese steel beam deflect, compared to an aluminium
alloy beam of the same size under the same load?
a One third.
b Four times.
c The same.
d Twice.
6 Designers work out fatigue life from a diagram called:
a IIW formula.
b S-N curve.
c Schaeffler diagram.
d A flow chart.
7 Compensating plates are used on pressure vessels to:
a Prevent vibration.
b Stop corrosion.
c Reduce stress concentrations at openings.
d Balance the weight.
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8 Fatigue cracks in otherwise sound butt welds transverse to the stress start at:
a The root.
b The toe.
c Interrun ripples.
d Chipping hammer marks.
9 The main purpose of mid-span stiffeners in a girder is to:
a Keep the flanges square.

b Increase the moment of inertia.
c Distribute the load.
d Stop distortion.
10 The tensile strength of mild steel weld metal:
a Is greater than the tensile strength of mild steel plate.

b Is lower than the tensile strength of mild steel plate.
c Is the same as its yield strength.
d Cannot be measured.
11 The elastic limit of a mild steel bar is the:
a Breaking stress of the bar.

b Greatest stress which can be applied without yielding the bar.
c Working stress of the bar.
d Strain at failure of the bar.
12 A fatigue crack in a crankshaft is most likely to appear:
a Smooth.
b Jagged.
c Torn.
d With a chevron pattern.
13 The neutral axis of bending in a section is:
a The central point of the section.

b The axis of maximum stress.
c The axis of zero strain.
14 A 10mm fillet welds indicated with a Z to BSEN 22553 requirements has a nominal:
a Throat dimension of 10mm.

b Area of 10mm.
c Leg length of 10mm.
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15 The fatigue life of a welded joint is NOT likely to be improved by:
a Changing the design.

b Peening the weld toes.
c Stress relieving.
d Using higher strength material.
16 The static strength used for designing a building frame is based upon the:
a Percentage elongation.
b Hardness.
c Ultimate tensile strength.
d Yield strength.
17 Welds are classified with respect to fatigue resistance based upon:
a Heat input
b Stress concentration effect
c Thickness]
d Current
18 A mitre fillet weld with two equal leg lengths of 12mm has a throat thickness of:
a 0.8mm.
b 17.0mm.
c 9.5mm.
d 8.5mm.
19 In a cylindrical pressure vessel a lack of fusion flow in the circumferential seams of the
shell experience:
a Half the hoop stress.

b The same as the hoop stress.
c Twice the hoop stress.
d Quarter of the hoop stress.
20 The design strength of a fillet weld is based upon:
a The root penetration.

b The throat thickness.
c Face concavity.
d Mitre angle.
21 Distortion from welding is greatest in metals which have:
a High coefficient of thermal expansion.

b Low coefficient of thermal expansion.
c Low melting temperature.
d Low thermal conductivity.
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22 Which of the following is characteristic of overload failure:
a Fracture at 45 degrees to the load.

b Rough and torn appearance.
c Plastic deformation.
d All of the above.
23 A product operating at high temperature could experience:
a Low fracture toughness.

b Creep.
c Brittle fracture.
d All of the above.
24 Welds often reach which level of residual stress?
a 50% yield.
b 80% yield.
c Yield stress.
d Twice the yield stress.
Short answer questions

1 What is the law that describes the elastic area on a stress-strain graph?
2 How does the Youngs modulus for aluminium alloys compare to that for steel?
Give the value of Youngs modulus in steel.
3 What is design stress usually based on in the UK?
4 What is stress?
5 What is the effect of drilling a hole in stressed plate?
6 What is the typical level of residual stress in a welded joint, before and after
PWHT?
7 Will a different grade of steel have a different fatigue life?
8 Will an unwelded component fail by fatigue when cyclically loaded in

compression? What difference would welding make?
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9 List five techniques that can be used to improve fatigue life.
10 Describe the features on a brittle fracture surface.
11 Describe the features of a ductile fracture surface.
Long question
A lifting lug attached by fillet welds requires a design review. Comment on 50 items
which would be assessed during such a review.
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Definition
Engineering structure: one that carries loads.
Design and Construction

Activity: List four examples of engineering
Introduction Designing Things
structures (working in pairs).
TWI Training & Examinations Services

(EWS/IWS Diploma)
Copyright TWI Ltd 2013 Copyright TWI Ltd 2013
Stonehenge (about 4500 years old) Giza Pyramids (about 4500 years old)
Course Aim Engineering Structures
Provide guidance on how to design Need to withstand loads.

engineering structures so that they operate
safely to satisfy specified performance
Made from particular materials.
requirements.
Constructed in particular ways.
1-1
Course Objectives Course Objectives
Recognise sources and effects of loads. Recognise the special requirements of

Understand fundamentals of strength of pressure vessels.
materials. Appreciate the principles of designing
Understand principles of weld design. aluminium structures.
Recognise different types of loading.
Understand principles of design for static
loading.
Understand principles of design for fatigue
loading.
1-2
Outline
Weld features.
Types of welded joints.
Design and Construction Welding symbols.
Welded Joint Design Weld positions.
Weld bevels.
TWI Training & Examinations Services Designing welded joints.
(EWS/IWS Diploma)
Types of Welds Weld Features
Weld Butt weld on plate

A permanent union between materials caused by heat,
Toe Face
and or pressure (BS499) Parent
metal Toe
Butt weld Fillet weld
Weld
HAZ
Root
Weld Features Weld Features
Fusion line Weld metal

Weld HAZ Fillet weld on plate
toe
Face
Parent
metal Parent Toe
metal
Weld
Root HAZ
2-1
Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) Weld Zone Terminology
Excess
Maximum solid solid-liquid Boundary weld metal
Temperature weld
grain growth zone
metal
recrystallised zone
partially transformed zone
tempered zone
unaffected base
material
Excess root
penetration
Weld Zone Terminology Types of Joint
Weld width Different types of joints

Tee, cruciform, lap-joints, slots, plugs
Weld preparations
Bevels: U, V, J, double V
Types of Joints Types of Joints
Joint: a configuration of members.
Butt joint Cruciform joint
T joint
Lap joint
2-2
Lap Joint Corner Joints
Overlap limits for lap joints:
open closed
t
D=4xt but not less than 25 mm
External corner joint Internal corner joint Double side corner joint
Slot Weld Plug Weld
Holes can be circular or oval.

Weld all round. Holes can be circular or oval
d
d If t < 10 mm, d = t.
t
t d > 3t If t > 10 mm, slot technique should
be used, in circular holes
but d = minimum 25 mm!
(d = 3t but minimum 25mm see
BS 1011-2).
Fillet Welds Fillet Weld Features
Shape of fillet welds:

Fillet welds
throat Convex fillet
leg Concave fillet
leg size
leg throat size Mitre fillet
2-3
Fillet Weld Geometry Fillet Weld Toe Blend
Actual
throat
Design throat
Design throat =
actual throat
leg length = 1.4 x throat size

Does NOT apply for concave fillets
Butt Weld Features Weld Geometry
Weld considerations for design of butt welds. t2

Butt welds
Geometry. t1
Partial or full penetration.
Blend toe.
t2
Excess metal. t1 = design throat thickness
t1
t2 = actual throat thickness
t1
Toe Blend Weld Dilution

6 mm
80
Poor Weld Toe Blend Angle
3 mm
20
Improved Weld Toe Blend Weight of parent material melted

D 100
Angle Total weight of fused material
2-4
Weld Symbols Constructing Welding Symbols
BS EN ISO 22553 Welded, brazed and soldered Parts 1 to 4

joints - Symbolic representation on drawings.
1. The arrow line.
AWS A2.4 Standard symbols for welding, 2. The dual reference line.
brazing and non-destructive examination. 3. The elementary symbol.
4. Combined symbols for symmetrical welds.
The Arrow Line The Reference and Identification Lines
Convention of the arrow line: Convention of the reference line:

a. Shall touch the arrow line
a. Shall touch the joint intersection.
b. Shall be parallel to the bottom of the drawing
b. Shall not be parallel to the drawing.
c. There shall be a further broken line (identification
c. Shall point towards a single plate preparation line) above or beneath the reference line. (Not
(when only one plate has preparation). necessary where the weld is symmetrical!)
or
Other side Arrow side
Elementary Weld Symbols Weld Symbols
Designation Illustration of joint preparation Symbol Single V butt weld with broad
root face (only in BS EN ISO
Square butt weld standard!)
Single bevel butt weld with

broad root face (only in BS EN
Single V butt weld ISO standard!)
Single U butt weld

Single bevel butt weld
Single J butt weld
2-5
Weld Symbols Put it Together
Fillet weld
Weld symbol
Reference line
Surfacing (cladding)
Arrow line Identification line
Backing run
Arrow Side and Other Side Symmetrical Both Sides
The dashed identification line can be omitted

Arrow side when symmetrical welds are made from both
sides of the joint.
Double
Double V bevel Fillet weld
Other side
Double U Double J
Supplementary Weld Symbols Fillet Weld Dimensions
Leg length dimension prefixed by z

Convex Concave Ground flush Design throat thickness dimension prefixed by a
Z10
a7
2-6
Intermittent Fillet Welds Complementary Indications
No. of welds weld length length of
gap Weld all round (peripheral weld)
z 10 3 x 25 (50)
50
25
10
Complementary Indications Weld Preparation
Root face.
Site (field) weld
Root gap.
Bevel angle.
Impact of welding on preparation.
Practical aspects.
Butt Joint Preparations Single Sided Butt Preparations

Single sided preparations are normally made on thinner materials, or
when access from both sides is restricted
Single Bevel Single Vee
Square edge Square edge

closed butt open butt
Single-J Single-U
2-7
Double Sided Butt Preparations Joint Preparation Terminology
Double sided preparations are normally made on thicker materials, Included angle Included angle
or when access form both sides is unrestricted
Angle of
bevel
Root
Double -Bevel Double -Vee radius
Root face Root face

Root gap Root gap
Double - J Double - U Single-V Butt Single-U Butt
Joint Preparation Terminology Weld Preparation
Angle of bevel Angle of bevel Terminology and Typical Dimensions: V-Joints
bevel angle
included angle
Root
radius root face
root gap
Root face Root face Typical dimensions

Root gap
Root gap Land bevel angle 30-35
root face ~1.5 to ~2.5mm
Single Bevel Butt Single-J Butt root gap ~2 to ~4mm
Joint Design and Weld Preparation Root Gap and Root Face
Bevel angle
Root face and root gap set to:
Allow controlled root fusion.
Reduce the risk of burn-through.
Bevel angle must allow:

Good access to the root.
Manipulation of electrode to ensure sidewall fusion. Too shallow or too wide Too deep or too narrow
= burn-through = lack of root penetration
2-8
Weld Preparation Weld Preparation
Welding process impacts upon weld preparation Welding process impacts upon weld preparation
Arc welding EBW
MMA MAG
High heat input process allow a larger root face, less weld
metal required, less distortions, higher productivity.
X
If the gap is too big risk of possible burn-through,
If gap is too small risk of lack of penetration.
Preparing Weld Preparations Backing
Backing bar or backing strip is used to ensure

consistent root fusion and avoid burnthrough
Can be flame/plasma cut fast Warning! Backing strips give a built-in crevice
Requires machining slow and
and cheap.
expensive.
Large tolerance set-up can be Susceptible to corrosion.
Tight tolerance easier set-up.
difficult. Give a lower fatigue life.
Access and Weld Preparations Weld Preparations

Access impacts upon weld preparation
2-9
Welding Standards Standards
BS EN ISO 9692: Parts 1-4. Welding and allied BS EN ISO 13920: Welding. General tolerances for
welded constructions. Dimensions for lengths
processes. Recommendations for joint preparation.
and angles, shape and position.
BS EN 14324: Brazing. Guidance on the application
of brazed joints. BS EN 1011-2: Welding. Recommendations for
welding of metallic materials. Arc welding of
BS EN ISO 6947: Welds. Working positions. ferritic steels.
Definitions of angles of slope and rotation.
BS EN 25817: Arc-welded joints in steel.
ISO 2553: Welded, brazed and soldered joints - Guidance on quality levels for imperfections.
Symbolic representation on drawings.
2-10
Objectives
Describe common structures

Consider the loads acting on structures
Design and Construction Review resulting forces
Forces and Strength of Materials Describe properties that enable materials to
withstand these forces
(EWS/IWS Diploma)
Structures Structural Elements

Structure
Object or part of an object which has to carry and
resist loads. Cables.
Bars.
Loads can be due to:
Beams.
Deadweight of the structure itself.
An external component. Plates.
The reaction to an acceleration. Slabs.
Environmental loads. Shells.
Pressure.
Thermal expansion.
Etc.
Types of Welded Structures Basic Connections
The separate members of a structural

Examples. framework are joined together by bolting,
Bridges, Cranes, Masts, riveting or welding.
Buildings
Frame.
Assembly of bars Rivets
Arranged to support the
loads
Relatively easy to design Welding
Bolts
3-1
Forces Combination of Forces
y Fx
Many forces can be added together
Have a size and a Fy
F
direction.
y FR = F1 + F2 + F3 + F4 + F5
x F2 F3
Can be combined
into a single force. y
F4
Fy
F F1 FR
Can be F5
decomposed into
several forces. x x
Fx
Latticed Beams and Frames Combination of Forces
A frame is an assembly of bars arranged so they can Application:

support a load.
- Forces in truss members of a bridge free-body
diagram
Basic assumption: Members carry axial load only.

Load is acting in centre of gravity of the bars
transverse section.
All the forces are in equilibrium

Note: All the forces are not represented in this diagram
Latticed Beams and Frames Load-Displacement Curve

Solving the problem: Record of the load and displacement applied during
testing.
Load, kN
Step 1 - find out if frame can be statically calculated.

Step 2 - find reactive forces in bearings.
Step 3 - calculate loads in members. Extension, mm
Step 4 - calculate welds from connections.
3-2
Load Displacement Curves Stress
Stress definition
Load Force divided by cross-section area
Applied
force
F
Stress in the
cross section
area
Displacement
Stress Calculations Tension and Compression
Stress definition Tensile stress Compressive stress

Force divided by cross-section area
F

A
= tensile stress (N/mm2 or MPa)
F = load or axial force (N)
A = cross section area (mm2)
Strain Strain
L
Strain, L
L Strain,
F L
L L
L = Change in Length
L = Change in Length L = Original Length
L = Original Length
Strain is dimensionless
Strain is dimensionless, can be positive value
(extended) or negative value (compressed)
3-3
Stress-strain curve Youngs Modulus
The tensile stress-strain curve contains typical features which are Extension in the elastic region is proportional to
specific to each material. load.
Elastic
Plastic region
region This relationship is given by Hookes Law which
Ultimate
tensile
is valid for the elastic region only.
strength
Fracture
Youngs modulus:
Stress,
MPa
Stress
E
Yield strength Yield point Strain
Often given in N/mm2 or GPa
Strain, %
Yield and Proof Strength Yield and Proof Strength
Yield stress:
Stress at which permanent deformation starts to Yield point may not always be
occur. obvious
Rp0.2
Stress, MPa In such cases, the 0.2% proof
strength (Rp0.2) is used as a
design parameter
Yield Point Rp0.2 describes the stress

obtained for a permanent
elongation of 0.2%.
Strain, %
Tensile Test Results Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS)

The UTS is the maximum load that can be tolerated by the
specimen.
Necking: the sample becomes thinner and develops a neck
As a result, the load drops due to the lack of resistance from
the material.
Ultimate
Tensile
Strength
Necking
Stress,
Point
MPa
Strain, %
3-4
Real and Engineering Stress-Dtrain Curve Fracture
Design assumption: The final failure of the component is the point of rupture
The cross-section area remains Elongation of the material = Strain at fracture
the same.
Engineering stress-strain curve.
Stress, MPa
BUT necking of the material
reduces the REAL cross- Fracture
section area.
In reality, the stress does not

decrease with increasing
applied loading and flattens
out around the maximum
Strain, %
stress.
Factors Affects Stress-Strain Curve Tensile Test

The type of materials In a tensile test, a sample is clamped between
two jaws and pulled apart. The load and
extension are measured.
Parallel length
Gauge length
1) low carbon steel; Radius Diameter of the

2) medium carbon steel; reduced section
3) high carbon steel;
4) bronze Gripped end
Reproduced by permission Westmoreland Mechanical Testing & Research Inc.
Elastic and Plastic Deformation Tensile Test: Experimental
3-5
Hardness Hardness Test: Vickers
Hardness is the resistance of a material

against penetration.
It is measured by indentation under a
constant load.
There is a direct correlation between UTS and
hardness.
Hardness Test: Vickers Hardness Test: Brinell
d1 d2
d
2
d1 d2
d
2
Types of Forces Types of Stress
Compression Compression
F
Tension Direct Stress,
Tension A
Q
Shear Stress,
A
Shear Shear
F
Bending Q
Bending Q
3-6
Strain Bending Stresses
Consider a beam subjected to pure bending (no

shear).
Shear Strain,
h Before bending

Tension (+)
Q
M M
h After bending
Q
Compression (-) Neutral Axis -
A Longitudinal stresses
are zero
Bending Moment Second Moment of Area
A cantilever beam:
Force, F
Fy
M
Fx
High stiffness Low stiffness

Bending moment: Reaction forces:
High 2nd moment of area Low 2nd moment of area
M=Fxd Fx Fy M
Bending Stress Worked Example
Calculation of the stress. Force, 200N

- Using engineers beam theory
M
Bending stress,
Bending stress s = My/I.
D, 300mm
M = Bending moment (Nmm).
Y = Vertical distance from neutral axis (mm). Bending moment:
I = Second moment of area (mm4).
M=Fxd
= 200 x 300 = 60,000 Nmm
3-7
Second Moment of Area Bending Stress
y 10mm =My/I 20mm

Depth, d 10mm
20mm 10mm The taller
Breadth, b 10mm beam has 5mm
I = 833mm4 half the
I = 3333mm4
stress!
For a rectangle 5mm y = 5mm y = 10
I = bd3/12 I= 833mm4 I = 3333mm4
= 60,000 x 5 / 833 = 60,000 x 10 / 3333
= 360MPa = 180MPa
y = d/2 y = 5mm y = 10
3-8
Objectives
Introduce concept of fatigue loading.

Describe mechanism of failure.
Design and Construction Recognise why welded joints have relatively poor
Fatigue - Introduction fatigue lives.

(EWS/IWS Diploma)
Simplified Fatigue Loading Cycle Activity
List four types of structure that have to withstand

Stress
fatigue loading.
Identify the sources of fatigue loading on those
structures.
Which of your structures are of welded
construction?
Time
Typical Structures Subjected to Fatigue Sources of Fatigue Loading
Bridges. Fluctuating loads.

Offshore platforms and rigs. Acceleration forces in moving structures.
Earthmoving/off highway vehicles. Pressure changes.
Ships.
Temperature fluctuations.
Towers.
Mechanical vibrations: machinery, shafts.
Axles.
Etc. Environmental loading (wind, currents and
waves).
4-1
Axle Fatigue Failure 1843 Introduction
Fatigue - crack initiates and propagates under repeated

fluctuating loads.
Failure thus occurs by the steady progression of the crack
until a final failure mode such as fracture occurs.
Fatigue crack growth is relatively slow.
Stress range required to produce fatigue cracking may be
well below yield stress.
Features of Stress Cycle Types of Stress Cycle
Maximum stress Stress

Stress
Cycle
Stress range
Mean stress
Time
Minimum stress Time
Smin= 0 Pulsating cycle
Types of Stress Cycle Types of Stress Cycle

Stress Smax
Stress
Smax
Time
Smin
Smin
Time
Smin= -Smax Alternating cycle Smin= Smax/2 Half tensile cycle
4-2
Fatigue Parameters S-N Curves
Stress ratio (or R-ratio). If applied stress range, , is plotted against number of
applications of load required for failure (N) we obtain the S-N
Smin curve.
R
Smax Stress
range,
Stress range. Failure
Sr Smax Smin Endurance

limit
No failure
Stress amplitude.
- Half the stress range. No of cycles
Fatigue Strength S-N Curve

Impact of stress and number of cycles on fatigue failure.
Typical SN curves are plotted on a logarithmic scale.
Produces a straight line in the high cycle regime.
2
Log S Low

1
N N N2 N Very High
N1
Endurance
Increase stress - more damage.
limit
Increase number of cycles - more damage. Log N
Fatigue - Terminology Stress Distribution
Stress history - variation of stress at a point with If stress is applied to a component the stress
time. distribution inside the component would be similar
Constant amplitude stress history - a stress to contour lines.
history in which successive stress fluctuations are The contour lines would run through the material
equal. parallel with the principal direction of the stress.
Fatigue life - number of stress cycles sustained
before failure.
Fatigue strength - stress range which causes
failure at a certain specified life.
4-3
Influence of Notches Effect of a Notch
The introduction of a notch creates a

concentration of the lines.
Stress cannot be carried across the notch; it has Log
to go around the notch. Without notch
With notch
Log N
Stress Concentrations Influence of Welding

Stress concentrations occur at a change in section of a Welds introduce stress concentrations from which fatigue
stressed member.
can propagate.
Weld toe Weld toe
Weld root toes

Weld toes and weld roots are the most critical areas in
respect to stress concentration.
In welds, fatigue cracks start from toes or defects.
Stress Concentrations in Welded Joints Fatigue Cracking from a Weld Toe
Fatigue cracks are most expected in high stress Production arc welding
concentration areas. processes lead to the formation
Pre-
of non-metallic intrusions at the
existing
weld toe. sharp flaw
Typically 0.1-0.4mm in depth.
Fatigue life governed by the A
growth of this pre-existing flaw.
Little or no initiation stage.
Fatigue
Factors which affect crack crack
initiation can be quite different
to those that affect crack ~ 50m
growth.
4-4
Fatigue of Welded Joints Effect of Steel Strength on Fatigue Strength
Fatigue strength of welded joints << parent material. Fatigue

strength of
welded joints
Stress range for life of 106

400 500
Stress 300 unaffected by
400
cycles, N/mm2
range, 200
parent material
300
strength.
N/mm2 100
200
50
Steel
350 N/mm2 yield 100
10 400 500 600 700 800 900

105 106 107 108 Cycles Ultimate tensile strength of steel, N/mm2
Fatigue Testing Typical Fatigue Results
Stress
range R = 0.1
Results
Unbroken
Mean and
95% confidence
intervals
Endurance, cycles
Fatigue Resistance Data - S-N Curves Joint Classes
Behaviour of a structure under cyclic loads is determined by the

Resistance quantified Stress range, N/mm 2 severity of stress concentration.
in terms of constant 300
amplitude S-N curves. static design limit UK design rules: welds are grouped into Classes giving similar
20 fatigue strength (similar stress concentration effect).
Sm N= A (m and A are 0
constants).
Class of joint
Curves for different 100
design details based
A B C D E F F2 G W
on statistical analysis
of test data. 3
0
BS 7608. 10 5 10 6 10 7
Expected life increase
Endurance, cycles
4-5
Effect of Tensile Residual Stress on Fatigue Improving Fatigue Strength
Superposition of applied Grinding.
and residual stresses,
Burr.
eliminates effect of mean
stress. Disc.
Even when loading is Peening.
compressive, local stress Hammer.
range cycles down from
Needle.
high maximum stress.
Shot.
Fatigue life dependent on
R = min/max full stress range regardless Dressing.
of whether tensile or TIG.
compressive.
Plasma.
Fatigue Improvement Techniques Summary
Grind flush excess Fatigue loading is the repeated application stress.

weld metal. Failure occurs by the initiation of a crack at a
stress raiser and subsequent relatively slow
Remove weld toes
growth.
and edges.
Design approach by SN curves.
Removes intrusions.
Fatigue performance of welded joints is poor.
Reduce stress Fatigue performance of welded joints is the same
Weld toe burr grinding
concentration. for steels with different strength levels.
(machining) Impose surface
compressive stress.
4-6
Pressure Vessels
A pressure vessel is a container which holds

fluids under pressure.
Design of Pressure Equipment Internally pressurised.
Externally pressurised.
(EWS/IWS Diploma) Fired (eg gas and oil fired boilers).
Unfired (eg gas storage vessels).
Construction of Pressure Vessels Shells
Shell. Cylindrical shell constructed of a number of

Main body, usually cylindrical. curved plates.
Head.
Longitudinal welds offset.
Used to close the cylindrical shell, usually dished.
Nozzle
Opening for filling, drainage or inspection.
Saddle Supports.
Used to hold vessel in place.
Nameplate.
Contains important information about the vessel.
Dished Heads Hemispherical Dished Heads
Can be manufactured from:

Knuckle Advantages:
One piece.
Requires smallest thickness.
Segments.
Sphere is the perfect shape for a
Petals pressure vessel.
Also good for external pressure.
Disadvantages:
Crown Difficult to manufacture.
Always an odd number of petals.

5-1
Ellipsoidal Dished Heads Torispherical Dished Heads
Advantages: Advantages:
Thickness equal to that of the Smallest axial dimension.
shell. Easy to generate.
Disadvantages:
Ellipse difficult to generate. Disadvantages:
Big axial dimension. Thickness greater than that of the shell.
Pressurisation Welding Pressure Vessels
Axial stress Hoop stress Longitudinal welds subject to higher hoop stress.
Pr
Offset long welds between different courses of
x
2t
the vessel.
Circumferential welds are used to weld the head
to the shell.
With different thicknesses, taper transitions are
used.
Minimum 1:4
Pr Pr
x y
2t t
Shell-Head Weld Profiles Shell-Head Welding
5-2
Nozzles Nozzles
To connect a pressure vessel with other Types of nozzles:

components we need nozzles.
Type of nozzle depends on:

Diameter/thickness ratio of the shell.
Diameter/thickness ratio of the nozzle.
Access (one side only or both sides).
Type of joint required (partial/full penetration).
Groove preparation methods available.
Set-on Set-through
Flange Joints Reinforcement
Separable joints used to connect plant to vessel A hole in the shell weakens the vessel.
nozzles. To compensate for loss in strength, add
Flange joint most commonly used. reinforcement to the shell or nozzle.
Reinforcing ring/ Long neck

Compensating plate nozzle
High and Low Temperature Service Pressure Vessel Standards
Vessels often insulated or double walled.

BS EN 286-1 Simple unfired pressure vessels
designed to contain air or nitrogen.
Autoclave.
High temperature internal chamber. BS PD 5500 Specification for unfired fusion welded
pressure vessels.
Used to sterilise medical apparatus.
ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section VIII.

Dewar Vessel.
Low temperature storage. Welds subject to their own standards and specifications.
Gap between internal and external chamber is
evacuated.
5-3
Making Things Simpler
For structural steels, the weld metal usually

overmatches the parent metal.
Use parent metal strength for calculations.
Excess weld metal is neglected.
Stresses in Welds Does not carry load.
Use the weld throat thickness.
(EWS/IWS Diploma)
Making Things Simpler Nominal Stress
Assume defect-free welds. Nominal stress calculation:

Stress concentrations are neglected.
Due to the bead shape, ripples, abrupt changes, Stress = Load (N)
defects. (N/mm2 or MPa) cross section area (mm2)
Residual stresses are ignored.
Their magnitude and distribution are not known cross section
with certainty. area
Vary with welding parameters.
load load
Design Stress Non-Uniform Stress
Design stress for a structure is often 2/3 yield Stress distribution over the cross section is not
stress. always uniformly distributed.
Ensure that the stress in the weld does not Near geometric features and stress concentrators
exceed the maximum allowable design stress. distribution increase the maximum stress.
Joint factors often used to reflect level of NDT At fillet welds, use Hot Spot Stress.
and risk that flaws could be present.
6-1
Hot Spot Stress Notch Stress
Originally developed for tubular joints in

offshore platforms. Approach uses peak stress by looking at stress
Stress intensity due to presence of weld.
Determined by: Notch stress

Takes into account the radius of weld toe and
Strain gauges. Hot spot stress
joint geometry.
Finite element analysis. Structural stress
Nominal stress
Complex approach since requires the knowledge
of microstructural parameters.
Stress in a Butt Weld Stress in a Partial-Penetration Weld
Weld metal overmatches parent metal. Partial penetration, double sided butt weld.
Butt welds can usually be neglected.
Full penetration butt weld under uniaxial tension.
P Load, P
Load, P t2 t1
Load, P
Lt
thickness, t Load, P Length , L
Length, L Crack-like
unfused land
Cross Section Area of Pipes Shear Stress

Thickness
Outer Diameter Method 1: Unroll the tube
(t) Shear force, P
(OD) into a flat plate. Shear force, P
Length is the inner
circumference. t
Circumference is p x ID.
Multiply this by the wall
thickness. Length, L
Inner
Diameter Method 2: Subtract area of
(ID) large circle from small one.
Area of circle = pr2.
Large radius, r1 is OD/2. Shear stress, = shear force, P
Small radius, r2 is ID/2. length, L x thickness, t
6-2
Fillet Welds Fillet Welds
Advantages: Terms.
Cheap. Toe.
Simple. Root.
Leg length.
Can be made flat (PA) or horizontal (PB).
Weld throat.
Can be made with any number of passes.
Disadvantages: Cheap weld design.
Lack of penetration may occur. East to weld.
Cannot be revealed by NDT. All positions and multi-pass.
Volume (and weight) of weld increases as the square Lack of pen risk.
of the leg length.
Easy to overweld.
Shape of Fillet Welds Fillet Weld Throat
Convex fillet. Actual

Stress concentration at the throat
weld toe.
Excess weld metal.
Design throat
Concave.
Smoother transition at the
weld toe.
Design throat =
Ensure weld throat is big actual throat
enough.
Stresses in Fillet Welds Section Properties
Stresses supported by weld throat. In fillet welds, the stress is supported 1_

2
P by the throat.
Stress = load, P
Mitre fillet is assumed. a 0.7z
length, L x throat, a
z 1.4a
L
2
a
a
z
6-3
Summary Revision Question 1
Simplifying assumptions. 800kN
Design stresses and nominal stresses.

Butt welds.
Thickness = 800kN
Fillet welds.
25mm
Cross-section areas of welds. Length =
500mm
Stress calculations.
What is the stress in this butt weld?
Revision Question 1 - Solution Revision Question 2
800kN What size fillet weld is needed in this joint?
200kN Steel with a yield

25mm 800kN strength of 350MPa
500mm 200mm
Cross section area = length x thickness = 12500 mm2

Load = 800kN = 800,000N
Stress = load/CSA = 800,000 / 12500 = 64 MPa 6mm
?
Revision Question 2 - Solution Revision Question 2 -Solution
Steel with a yield strength 200kN length x throat = load

200kN
of 350MPa stress
Design stress is of 350
200mm 200mm throat
throat == load
200,000
= 233MPa
length
200 x stress
233
Stress = load
CSA
throat = 4.3mm
6mm
6mm
CSA = load
stress ?
? Specify a 5mm throat fillet weld
length x throat = load
stress
6-4
Static Strength
Load, N
Design and Construction Specimen 2

Specimen 1

(EWS/IWS Diploma)
Extension, mm
Specimen 1 Specimen 2
Cross Section Area Stress-Strain Curve
Stress is the load divided by the CSA. Stress-Strain curve normalises different specimen
In a tensile specimen, use the gauge CSA. sizes.
Gauge length
Stress,
Cross sectional area

Specimens 1 and 2
Width/diameter
Strain,
Design Strength Effect of Temperature on Strength
Design components to operate at stresses less Metals (including steel) lose tensile strength at
than material yield strength. higher temperature.
Limit static stress to 2/3 of yield.
Factor of safety.
y
design
Stress,
design = 2/3y
Strain,
7-1
Materials Selection: Select the Most Suited
Effect of Temperature on Toughness
Material For a Given Application
But, higher temperatures cause ferritic steel to Key:
Lightweight
increase ductility.
Ni Superalloy
Transition Ti alloy
range Upper
Energy (J)
shelf
Steel
Brittle Ductile Composite

Lower
High torque
shelf
High temperatures
Test temperature (C) Lightweight but creep resistant
Stress Concentration Stress Concentration at a Hole
Sudden changes in geometry cause localised areas The stress concentration at the edge of a hole is 3.
of high stress. The maximum stress is three times the applied
stress.
Imagine flow lines which get close together at Sharper notches concentrate the stress much more.
stress concentrations.
Maximum
stress
Applied
stress
Modes of Failure Ductile Fracture
It is the result of overloading.

Ductile failure. Possibly poor design, or elevated temperature such
Fatigue failure. as a fire reducing strength.
Brittle fracture.
Evidence of gross yielding or plastic deformation.
The fracture surface is rough and torn.
The surface may show 45 shear lips or have

surfaces inclined at 45 to the load direction.
7-2
Ductile Fracture Fatigue Failure
Fatigue failure surface is smooth, flat and bounded by a

Ductile fracture, or plastic collapse, occurs when curve.
yielding and deformation precedes failure. Bands or beachmarks may sometimes be seen showing the
Fracture surface appears torn and fibrous. progress of the crack front from the point of origin.
The surface is 90 to the load.
Final fracture will usually take the form of gross yielding.
Brittle Fracture Features of a Brittle Fracture
It is a fast and unstable type of There is little or no plastic deformation before

fracture. failure.
The results can be
catastrophic.
The crack surface may show chevron marks or
river lines pointing back to the fracture initiation
point.
With impact fracture, the surface is rough but not

torn and will usually have a crystalline appearance.
Brittle Fracture Factors Causing Brittle Fracture
Low toughness
Bang
Stress Flaw
7-3
Brittle Fracture Low Toughness Brittle Fracture Stress and Flaws
Low temperature. Residual stress from welding.
Ductile to brittle transition in steels at low temperature.
Applied stress from loading.
Crystalline structure. Strain rate.
Ferritic materials (carbon steel) show a transition while
austenitic materials (stainless steel, aluminium). Higher strain rate more likely to cause brittle
fracture.
Microstructure.
Stress concentrations.
Fine grain size has high toughness.
Martensite or coarse grain HAZ has low toughness. Weld toes, change of section, notches.
Weld defects.
Material thickness.
Thick material has lower effective toughness than thinner. Cracks, lack of fusion.
Reading Fracture Faces
Ductile final failure rough, Not usually just one

45 shear, deformed mode of failure.
Look for clues to identify
each mode that plays a
part.
Beachmarks.
Fatigue.
River lines.
Brittle fracture.
45 failure planes.
Fatigue flat, smooth,
Ductile.
beachmarks, curve
7-4
Use of Aluminium Alloys
Light-weight.
High-strength-to weight
Design and Construction ratio.
Design Considerations for
Aluminium
Use for its light weight in:
Trains.
Aircraft.
(EWS/IWS Diploma)
Cars.
Ships and boats.
Aluminium Compared to Steel Advantages of Aluminium
Low density - 1/3 of steel. High thermal conductivity.

Good resistance to corrosion. High electrical conductivity.
Non-magnetic. Excellent strength and notch toughness at low
Good ductility - use extrusion processes. temperatures.
Good machinability. Cryogenic applications.
Applications of Aluminium Welding and Joining Aluminium
Good corrosion resistance ideal for food and drink Generally good weldability, but.
industry foil, packaging, drinks cans. Fusion welds can suffer porosity, lack of fusion,
High electrical conductivity transmission lines, solidification cracking.
welding cables. Loss of strength in HAZ region.
Building industry roofing, windows, doors, Very fluid weldpool.
cladding, fittings. Consider laser welding or FSW.
Wide range of other uses ski poles, ladders, gas Adhesive bonding widely used, has no residual
cylinders. stress, but not for hot/humid environments.
8-1
Disadvantages of Aluminium Other Properties of Aluminium
High cost 1.5x steel.

Loses strength at high temperatures.
Coefficient of thermal
expansion: 2x steel. Low strength of pure aluminium.
Causes distortion after High affinity to oxygen.
welding.
Low Youngs modulus - 1/3 Corrodes in some circumstances.
of steel.
Higher risk of fatigue.
Lower stiffness.
High thermal conductivity.
Risk of lack-of-fusion
defects.
Aluminium Alloys HAZ Softening
Series Main Alloying Element Type

High temperatures during
1XXX None (Pure Al) Non Heat Treatable1 welding causes grain
2XXX Copper Heat Treatable2 growth the metal in the
3XXX Manganese Non Heat Treatable1 HAZ.
4XXX Silicon Non Heat Treatable1 Results in lower strength.
5XXX Magnesium Non Heat Treatable1
Partially restored for heat
treatable alloys, but
6XXX Magnesium & Silicon Heat Treatable2 unavoidable strength loss is
7XXX Zinc & Magnesium Heat Treatable2 non-heat treatable alloys.
1 - Cold worked
2 - Precipitation hardened
Standards and Specifications
BS 8118: Structural use of aluminium. Code of

practice for design.
BS EN 1999: Eurocode 9 - Design of aluminium
structures. General structural rules.
AWS D1.2: Structural Welding Code -
Aluminium.
8-2
Objective
Introduce principles of design for static loading.

Introduce reinforcing bars for use in concrete.
Static Loading

(EWS/IWS Diploma)
Steel Frame Structures Structural Details
Trusses
Majority of new
buildings based on steel Number of structural
frame. members joined together to
form triangular units.
Frame supports weight
of the building and Transmits loads through
contents. axial forces rather than
Fast and efficient bending.
construction method. Pylon is an example of a
space frame truss.
Structural Details Structural Details
Fixed steel jacket structure Various methods exist for linking structural members
Tubular legs and cross members welded together and strengthening structures.
at nodal joints.
Stiffeners
Steel reinforcing
Nodal joint
Braces on truss
9-1
Combination of Forces Stress Calculations
Application: Stress definition:
Forces in truss members of a bridge free-body Force divided by cross-section area.
diagram.
F

A
= tensile stress (N/mm2 or MPa)
F = load or axial force (N)
All the forces are in equilibrium. A = cross section area (mm2)
Note: All the forces are not represented in this diagram.
Tensile Test Results Task
Considering the material stress strain curve in the

previous slide, what limit would you put on the
allowable stress and therefore on the allowable
load?
Elastic Design Method Elastic Design Method
Elastic design method: Use design stress which is a fraction of the yield
Ensure that stresses in structure do not exceed yield strength of the parent material.
stress (ie elastic deformation).
For critical structures such as pressure vessels

However we cannot design up to yield stress safely due
this was once set at 1/4 UTS, but later changed to
to:
2/3 yield stress.
Material defects.
Joint/weld mismatches.
Unforeseen loads. Relevant codes dictate design stresses.
Degradation.
9-2
Factor of Safety Material Load Carrying Capacity
Ratio of yield stress (or UTS) to design stress is

Weld metal overmatches parent metal.
known as factor of safety (FoS).
Parent strength defines load carrying capacity.
Yield Stress High strength low alloy steels.
FoS 1
Design Stress Weld metal sometimes under matches parent metal.
Welded joints in aluminium.
FoS depends on: The static strength may be reduced by the heat of
- Material. welding.
- Utilisation.
Types of Forces Bending Stresses
Consider a beam subjected to pure bending (no shear).

Compression
Compression.
Before bending
Tension. Tension
Tension (+)
Shear. Shear M M
After bending
Bending. Compression (-) Neutral Axis -

Bending
Longitudinal stresses
are zero
Bending Moment Nodal Joints
A cantilever beam: Fixed steel jacket structure:

Force, F
Fy Tubular legs and cross members welded together at
nodal joints.
M
Fx
Bending moment: Reaction forces:

M=Fxd Fx Fy M
9-3
Nodal Joint Welds Nomenclature Parts of a Nodal Joint
Crown point Circular sections: Brace
Chord
Heel Toe
Side
Saddle point = Local dihedral angle ( usually 30-150)

Types of Nodal Joints Types of Nodal Joints

Combination of nodal joints greater
than 10
max.10
max.10
T nodal joint Y nodal joint

T-K nodal joint T-Y nodal joint Cross nodal joint
K Nodal Joints Deviations from Concentric Joints

Gap
Offset
gap
Eccentricity
Through
Overlap
member
9-4
Eccentricity Parts of a Nodal Joint
Box sections:
Heel Heel
Corner
Corner Corner
e=0 e>0
Side
Side Side
Brace
Corner
Corner Corner
Chord
e<0 Toe Toe
Hot Spot Stress Nodal Joints Vs. Nozzles
Originally developed for tubular joints in Nodal joints: Nozzles:

Have no hole in the chord at There is a hole in the shell at
offshore platforms. the nozzle - need
Stress the brace.
compensation for loss in the
There are large axial and strength.
Determined by: Notch stress bending loads in braces.
No scope for proof Are subjected only to pressure.
Strain gauges. Hot spot stress
loading.
Finite element analysis. Structural stress Can be proof (pressure)
Nominal stress Complex geometry - difficult tested.
to inspect.
Simple geometry - easier to
Work at ambient inspect.
temperature.
Complex load history. High/low temperatures.
Tension and Compression Tension and Compression
Practical implications: Practical implications:

A flag pole. Lifting weight with a crane.
Due to its deadweight, the

cross section area increase Compression and
bending Bending
at the base of the pole.
Pure tension
9-5
Static Design Static Design
Correct design Correct design
Improved design for

Poor design Improved design Poor design horizontal forces
Rebar Purpose
The term reinforcing-steel is used to describe the use In concrete beams the steel bars are embedded in
of steel to reinforce materials, most often concrete. the tension fibres of the beam.
Concrete is a brittle material which is strong in

compression but weak in tension.
This limits the use of concrete in construction and

makes it unsuitable for use in many structural
members.
Bar Profile Principle
Reinforcing bar is prestressed in tension.

Concrete shrinks around the bar when it sets to
grip the reinforcement.
Concrete becomes prestressed in compression,
hence even the concrete remains in compression
even for applied tensile loads.
9-6
Joints Types of Joint
Reinforcing bar is available in sizes ranging from Butt joint:

6mm up to 50mm diameter. Load bearing joints only.
A whole assembly of reinforcing bars will usually Needs preparation.
be used. Backing strip may be used.
To join bars together there are several methods:
Welded joint (for weldable compositions).
Wire joint - wire wrapped around bars and
tightened.
Rebar coupler mechanical fixing.
Types of Joint Summary
Lap joint: Recognise different structural designs for static

Load bearing and non load bearing. loading.
Double sided weld possible. Trusses, nodes etc.
Minimum throat thickness, a 0.3d. Different types of static loading.
Calculate stress and bending moment.
Nodal joints.
d
Joint designs and differences to nozzles.
4d 2d 4d Weld joints for steel reinforcement bars.
9-7

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IIW/EWF Diploma -

Design and Construction (Foundation)

Training & Examination Services

Pre training briefing

6 Stresses in The Welds

Introduction Designing Things

1 Introduction - Designing Things

Furthermore, engineering structures are built using materials such as steel,

1.2 Course aim Design and Construction Modules

Provide guidance on how to design engineering structures so that they

The training is provided at three levels: European Welding Specialist,

1.3 Course objectives: European Welding Specialist

Recognise the sources of loads to be withstood by engineering

Appreciate the principles of designing aluminium structures.

The course consists of eight sessions, specifically intended to address these

Welded Joint Design

2 Welded Joint Design

This session provides an introduction to typical joint geometries that are

Figure 2.1 Butt weld.

Figure 2.2 Fillet weld.

Figure 4 Typical features of a fillet weld.

The application of heat naturally causes some changes to the microstructure

Figure 2.5 Heat affected zones in a butt weld.

2.3 Types of joint

Figure 2.7 Butt joint.

Figure 2.8 T joint.

Figure 2.9 Lap joints.

Figure 2.10 Cruciform Joint Figure 2.11 Corner joint.

Figure 2.13 Different types of corner joints, unwelded and welded.

2.4 Fillet welds

Convex fillet weld

Concave fillet weld

Mitre fillet weld

Figure 2.17 Fillet weld cross-sections.

Figure 2.19 Fillet weld toe blends.

2.5 Butt welds

Figure 2.21 Toe blend in butt welds.

Weight of parent material melted

2.7 Welding symbols

Figure 2.23 Detailed representation of U bevel angle.

Symbolic representation using weld symbols can be used to specify joining

superseded by BS EN 22553, however in many welding and fabrication

Symbolic representation has the following advantages:

Simple and quick to visualise on the drawing.

Figure 2.24 Symbolic representation of U bevel angle.

Table 1 Elementary weld symbols

Supplementary symbols can be used for special cases where additional

Figure 2.29 Examples of supplementary symbols.

2.8 Welding positions

Table 2.2 Welding positions

2.9 Weld joint preparations

Figure 2.30 Square edge butt joints.

It is most common to use a bevel on the edges of the parent metal to be

Figure 2.31 Single V bevel.

2.10 Designing welded joints

If the components are going to be joined by an arc welding process, then

Figure 2.37 Preparation differences between;

Figure 2.38 Using gas-shielded arc welding;

Choosing between a J or U-prep and a bevel or Vee-prep is also determined

Figure 2.39 Using a backing strip for a butt weld.

2.11 Welding standards

BS EN ISO 9692: Parts 1-4: Welding and allied processes. Recommendations

BS EN 14324: Brazing. Guidance on the application of brazed joints.

BS EN ISO 13920: Welding. General tolerances for welded constructions.