Chapter 26

Welding and welding symbols

In general, welding may be described as a process of
uniting two pieces of metal or alloy by raising the
temperature of the surfaces to be joined so that they
become plastic or molten. This may be done with or
without the application of pressure and with or without
the use of added metal. This definition excludes the
more recently developed method of cold-welding, in
which pressure alone is used. Cold-welding, however,
has a limited application, and is used principally for
aluminium and its alloys, and not for steel.
There are numerous methods of welding, but they
can be grouped broadly into two categories. Forge
welding is the term covering a group of welding
processes in which the parts to be joined are heated to
a plastic condition in a forge or other furnace, and are
welded together by applying pressure or impact, e.g.
by rolling, pressing, or hammering. Fusion welding is
the process where the surfaces to be joined are melted
with or without the addition of filler metal. The term
is generally reserved for those processes in which
welding is achieved by fusion alone, without pressure.
Forge welding will be dealt with first. Pressure
welding is the welding of metal by means of mechanical
pressure whilst the surfaces to be joined are maintained
in a plastic state. The heating for this process is usually
provided by the process of resistance welding, where
the pieces of metal to be joined are pressed together
and a heavy current is passed through them.
Projection welding is a resistance-welding process
in which fusion is produced by the heat obtained from
the resistance to flow of electric current through the
work parts, which are held together under pressure by
the electrodes providing the current. The resulting welds
are localized at predetermined points by the design of
the parts to be welded. The localization is usually
accomplished by projections or intersections.
Spot welding is a resistance-welding process of joining
two or more overlapping parts by local fusion of a small
area or spot. Two copper-alloy electrodes contact
either side of the overlapped sheets, under known loads
produced by springs or air pressure. Stitch welding is
spot welding in which successive welds overlap. Seam
welding is a resistance-welding process in which the
electrodes are discs. Current is switched on and off
regularly as the rims of the discs roll over the work, with
the result that a series of spot welds is at such points.
If a gas-tight weld is required, the disc speed and time
cycle are adjusted to obtain a series of overlapping
welds.

Flash-butt welding is a resistance-welding process

which may be applied to rod, bar, tube, strip, or sheet
to produce a butt joint. After the current is turned on,
the two parts are brought together at a predetermined
rate so that discontinuous arcing occurs between the
two parts to be joined. This arcing produces a violent
expulsion of small particles of metal (flashing), and a
positive pressure in the weld area will exclude air and
minimize oxidation. When sufficient heat has been
developed by flashing, the parts are brought together
under heavy pressure so that all fused and oxidized
material is extruded from the weld.
Fusion-welding processes can now be dealt with.
The heat for fusion welding is provided by either gas
or electricity. Gas welding is a process in which heat
for welding is obtained from a gas or gases burning at
a sufficiently high temperature produced by an
admixture of oxygen. Examples of the gases used are
acetylene (oxy-acetylene welding), hydrogen (oxyhydrogen welding), and propane (oxy-propane welding).
In air-acetylene welding, the oxygen is derived from
the atmosphere by induction.
Electrical fusion welding is usually done by the
process of arc welding. Metal-arc welding is welding
with a metal electrode, the melting of which provides
the filler metal. Carbon arc welding is a process of arc
welding with a carbon electrode (or electrodes), in
which filler metal and sometimes flux may be used.
Submerged-arc welding is a method in which a bare
copper-plated steel electrode is used. The arc is entirely
submerged under a separate loose flux powder which
is continually fed into and over the groove which is
machined where the edges to be welded are placed
together. Some of the flux powder reacts with the molten
metal: part fuses and forms a refining slag which
solidifies on top of the weld deposit; the remainder of
the powder covers the weld and slag, shielding them
from atmospheric contamination and retarding the rate
of cooling.
Argon-arc welding is a process where an arc is struck
between an electrode (usually tungsten) and the work
in an inert atmosphere provided by directing argon
into the weld area through a sheath surrounding the
electrode. Heliarc welding uses helium to provide the
inert atmosphere, but this process is not used in the
United Kingdom, because of the non-availability of
helium. Several proprietary names are used for welding
processes of this type, e.g. Sigma (shielded inert-gas
metal-arc) welding uses a consumable electrode in an

Welding and welding symbols

argon atmosphere. Atomic-hydrogen arc welding is a

process where an alternating-current arc is maintained
between tungsten electrodes, and each electrode is
surrounded by an annular stream of hydrogen. In passing
through the arc, the molecular hydrogen is dissociated
into its atomic state. The recombination of the hydrogen
atoms results in a very great liberation of heat which
is used for fusing together the metals to be joined.
Stud welding is a process in which an arc is struck
between the bottom of a stud and the base metal. When
a pool of molten metal has formed, the arc is
extinguished and the stud is driven into the pool to
form a weld.

The application of welding

symbols to working
drawings
The following notes are meant as a guide to the method
of applying the more commonly used welding symbols
relating to the simpler types of welded joints on
engineering drawings. Where complex joints involve
multiple welds it is often easier to detail such constructions on separate drawing sheets.
Each type of weld is characterized by a symbol
given in Table 26.1 Note that the symbol is representative
of the shape of the weld, or the edge preparation, but
does not indicate any particular welding process and
does not specify either the number of runs to be deposited or whether or not a root gap or backing material is
to be used. These details would be provided on a welding
procedure schedule for the particular job.
It may be necessary to specify the shape of the weld
surface on the drawing as flat, convex or concave and
a supplementary symbol, shown in Table 26.2, is then
added to the elementary symbol. An example of each
type of weld surface application is given in Table 26.3.
A joint may also be made with one type of weld on
a particular surface and another type of weld on the
back and in this case elementary symbols representing
each type of weld used are added together. The last
example in Table 26.3 shows a single-V butt weld
with a backing run where both surfaces are required to
have a flat finish.
A welding symbol is applied to a drawing by using
a reference line and an arrow line as shown in Fig.
26.1. The reference line should be drawn parallel to
the bottom edge of the drawing sheet and the arrow
line forms an angle with the reference line. The side of
the joint nearer the arrow head is known as the arrow
side and the remote side as the other side.
The welding symbol should be positioned on the
reference line as indicated in Table 26.4.
Sketch (a) shows the symbol for a single-V butt
weld below the reference line because the external
surface of the weld is on the arrow side of the joint.
Sketch (b) shows the same symbol above the
reference line because the external surface of the weld
is on the other side of the joint.

Table 26.1

Elementary weld symbols

From of weld

Illustration

Butt weld between flanged

plates (the flanges being
melted down completely)
Square butt weld

Single-V butt weld

Single-bevel butt weld

Single-V butt weld with

broad root face

Single-bevel butt weld with

broad root face

Single-U butt weld

Single-J butt weld

Backing or sealing run

Fillet weld

Plug weld (circular or

elongated hole, completely
filled)
Spot weld (resistance or
arc welding) or projection
weld

(a) Resistance

(b) Arc

Seam weld

211

BS symbol

212

Manual of Engineering Drawing

Table 26.2

Supplementary symbols

Shape of weld surface

BS symbol

flat (usually finished flush)

convex
concave

Table 26.3
symbols

Sketch (c) shows the symbol applied to a double-V

butt weld.
Sketch (d) shows fillet welds on a cruciform joint
where the top weld is on the arrow side and the bottom
weld is on the other side
The positioning of the symbol is the same for
drawings in first or third angle projection.
Additional symbols can be added to the reference
line as shown in Fig. 26.2. Welding can be done in the

Some examples of the application of supplementary

2

Form of weld

Illustration

BS symbol

Flat (flush) single-V butt

weld
Joint
Convex double-V butt
weld
1 is the arrow line
2 is the reference line
3 is the symbol

Concave fillet weld

Fig. 26.1
Flat (flush) single-V butt
weld with flat (flush)
backing run

Table 26.4
symbol

Significance of the arrow and the position of the weld

Illustration

Graphic
representation

Symbolic
representation

(a)

(a)

(b)

Fig. 26.2

(b)

(c)

(d)

Indication of (a) site welds and (b) continuous welds

factory or on site when plant is erected. A site weld is

indicated by a flag. A continuous weld all round a
joint is shown by a circle at the intersection of the
arrow and the reference line. Note that if a continuous
weld is to be undertaken at site then both symbols
should be added to the drawing.
The introductory notes relating to welding processes
are of a general nature. There are many specialized
methods listed in BS 499. Each process is given an
individual identification number and group headings
are as follows; (a) Arc welding, (b) Resistance welding,
(c) Gas welding, (d) Solid phase welding; Pressure
welding, (e) Other welding processes, (f) Brazing,
soldering and braze welding.
A welding procedure sheet will usually give details
of the actual process to be used on a particular joint.
On the drawing, a reference line with an arrow pointing

Welding and welding symbols

The dimensioning of welds

Inscription

Definition

ba
a

b is the leg length

a is the design throat thickness
(1) Continuous fillet welds

Dimensioning of welds
The dimensions of a weld may be added to a drawing
in the following manner.
b

Table 26.5

Useful standards for the draughtsman are as follows:

BS 499-1 gives a Glossary for welding, brazing and
thermal cutting. Includes seven sections relating to
welding with pressure, fusion welding, brazing, testing,
weld imperfections and thermal cutting. Information
for welding and cutting procedure sheets is provided.
BS 499-1 Supplement. Gives definitions for electrical
and thermal characteristics of welding equipment.
European arc welding symbols in chart form are
illustrated in BS 499-2C: 1999.
Symbolic Representation on Drawings for Welded,
Brazed and Soldered Joints are illustrated in BS EN
22553. Welded and Allied Processes, Nomenclature
of Processes and Reference Numbers are given in BS
EN ISO 4063: 2000.

23

weld elements are indicated in parentheses. Unless

dimensional indication is added to the contrary, a fillet
weld is assumed to be continuous along the entire
length of the weld. Leg-length dimensions of fillet
welds of 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 18, 20, 22 and 25
millimetres are the preferred sizes.
Applications of dimensions to different types of fillet
welds are given in Table 26.5 in order to indicate the
scope of the British Standard, which should be consulted
to fully appreciate this topic. Table 26.5(a) shows
dimensions applied to continuous fillet welds, (b) shows
dimensions applied to intermittent fillet welds, and
(c) shows dimensions applied to staggered intermittent
fillet welds.

towards the joint at one end, will have a fork added

at the other containing the selected number. In the
example given below, the figure 23 indicates that
projection welding is the chosen method.

213

nl
nl

(e)
(e)

l
l

Dimensions relating to the cross section of the weld

are symbolized by b and are given on the left-hand
side of the symbol. The cross-sectional dimension to
be indicated for a fillet weld is the leg length. If the
design throat thickness is to be indicated then the leglength dimension is prefixed with the letter b and the
design throat thickness with the letter a.
Longitudinal dimensions are symbolized by l and
are given on the right-hand side of the symbol. If the
weld is not continuous then distances between adjacent

ba

nl

ba

nl

(e)
(e)

l is the length of weld (without end craters)

e is the distance between adjacent weld elements
n is the number of weld elements
b and a as defined above
(2) Staggered intermittent fillet weld
l

a, b, l, e and n as defined above

(3) Intermittent fillet welds

n l (e)

ba

n l (e)