CONNECTIONS 231

8.6.2 Fillet welds

The advantages and disadvantages of fillet welds can be stated in the following way:
(a) From the cost of fabrication perspective, fillet welds have an advantage over butt
welds for the same force transmitted. This is mainly due to the absence of plate
bevelling, which adds to the cost of weld preparation and fit-up required for butt
joints. Also, the speed of welding, including all phases of preparation, is faster than
for butt welds. For these reasons fillet welds are used to a much greater extent than
butt welds for leg sizes smaller than 10 mm.
(b) As far as the distribution of stresses in welds are concerned, fillet welds are inferior to
butt welds. The stress path through a side weld in a lap joint is not a direct one, and
stress concentrations are always present; the same can be said for a fillet-welded
T-joint or a cruciform joint. This is not a deterrent where the forces are
predominantly static, as is the case with most building structures, as long as the
design is carried out in accordance with established practice (see Figure 8.14).

(a)

Potential
fracture

fv
fv

(b)

(c) Intermittent
fillet weld Slot weld (d) Plug weld

Figure 8.14 Types of welds and stress trajectories (a) transverse butt welds; (b) longitudinal and
transverse fillet welds; (c) intermittent fillet welds; (d) plug and slot welds
232 S T E E L D E S I G N E R S ’ H A N D B O O K

(c) From the point of view of resistance to fatigue, fillet welds are inferior to butt welds.
This is because there exists both an abrupt change in the direction of the stress
trajectory and a notch-like effect at the root of the fillet weld. This results in stress
concentrations and a triaxial stress state, and can lead to brittle fracture when the
weldment is subjected to a large number of load cycles (fatigue failure).
The main uses of fillet welds are:
(a) For lap splices. The transfer of force from one plate to another is through shear in the
weld. Fillet welds can be arranged to be parallel with the member axial force
(longitudinal welds) or at right angles to it (transverse welds), or a combination of
both.
(b) For T-joints. The two modes of transfer of forces are: compression or tension and
shear through weld.
(c) For corner joints similar to T-joints.
(d) For structural plug and slot welds. Non-structural plug welds are permitted to be
filled in flush with the surface of the plate, but such welds are rarely sound and they
contain many cracks. Fillet welds run around the periphery of the hole can reliably
be used to transmit the forces.
Where the forces transmitted by fillet welds are relatively small and the structure is not
exposed to weather, it may be advantageous to use intermittent welds. Their benefits
include using less filler metal and causing less distortion during welding. They may not
show cost savings, however, because of frequent stop–start operations.
The inspection of fillet welds can usually be specified to include inspection during the
preparation of material, fit-up and actual welding. Typical weld defects found in fillet
welds are shown in Figure 8.15 as well as design concepts and terminology. Inspection
must, of course, ascertain that the leg size and weld length specified in the design have
been achieved.

T heoret i ca l w eld sh a p e
W eld ( i s osceles t r i a ng le)
p enet ra t i on

T heor et i ca l Id ea l w eld
E x cessi v e U n d er cut con t our
fa i lure
conca v i t y E x cess i v e p la ne
con v ex i t y W el d
Ov erla p E ffect i v e leg t oe Ap p a re nt leg

R oot g a p
D esi gn
(a) T h r oa t
W eld r oot ( b)
Leg leng t h T hi ckn e ss t 1
E x cessi v e La ck of
r oot ga p fusi on Dep t h of p enet r a t i on

Figure 8.15 Fillet welds: (a) typical defects, and; (b) concepts and terminology.

The fact that the strength of fillet welds has a direct relationship to the nominal tensile
strength of the weld consumable used leads to the necessity of specifying on the drawings
 CONNECTIONS 233

not only the physical weld size but also the type of weld consumable to be used, especially
when E48XX/W50X or higher-grade weld consumables have been assumed in the design.
Fillet welds produced by submerged arc welding will have a deep penetration into the
root area, which is beneficial because a larger throat thickness is obtained; thus, for the same
leg length, deep-penetration fillet welds will carry larger forces per unit length than manual
welds. In order to increase the economy of welding, this type of deep penetration weld
should be specified by the throat thickness rather than leg length, and the effective throat
thickness calculated as a sum of 71% of the leg length plus 85% of the depth of penetration
(Clause 9.7.3.4 of AS 4100). For this to occur, procedural tests are required to demonstrate
that the specified weld dimensions have been achieved in the welding workshop.

8.6.3 Compound welds

A compound weld is considered to be a hybrid of a fillet and butt weld—i.e. by
definition in AS 1101.3, the former weld type is superimposed onto the latter.
The design throat thickness (DTT) of a compound weld depends on whether there is
a complete penetration butt weld (CPBW) or an incomplete penetration butt weld
(IPBW) present. That is for a compound weld with:
• CPBW—the DTT is the size of the butt weld without reinforcement, and for;
• IPBW—the DTT is the shortest distance from the root of the IPBW to the face of the
fillet weld.
Figure 9.7.5.2 of AS 4100 explains the compound weld configuration and the evaluation
of the DTT.

8.7 Structural design of simple welds

8.7.1 Butt welds

8.7.1.1 General
Butt welds can be regarded as being integral to the parent metal, with the limiting stresses
applicable to the parent metal also applying to the welds. As noted in Section 8.6.1, butt
welds can be broadly split into two groups—complete penetration butt welds and
incomplete penetration butt welds. This is not only due to the depth of weld fusion
through the parent metal thickness but also in the methods used to assess their respective
design capacities.
8.7.1.2 Complete penetration butt welds (CPBW)
Clause 9.7.2.7(a) of AS 4100 notes that the design capacity of a CPBW is equal to the
nominal capacity of the weakest part being joined multiplied by a capacity reduction
factor, φ, which is commensurate with the weld quality. From Table 3.4 of AS 4100,
φ = 0.9 for CPBW with SP quality and φ = 0.6 for CPBW with GP quality. This
applies to CBPW subject to transverse and shear loads.
Based on the above, for two similar plates joined by a CPBW with SP quality (φ = 0.9)
welded to AS/NZS 1554.1 or AS/NZS 1554.5, the AS 4100 definition notes that the
234 S T E E L D E S I G N E R S ’ H A N D B O O K

weld is as strong as the joined plate elements and no further calculation is required (if the
plates have been already sized for the design loads). If the lower quality GP category is
used instead of the SP category for this connection type (i.e. with φ = 0.6), the CPBW
will have a lower design capacity than each of the two similar connected plates by a factor
of (0.6/0.9=) 0.667.
8.7.1.3 Incomplete penetration butt welds (IPBW)
As the weld fusion in a IPBW does not cover the full depth of the joint, Clause 9.7.2.7(b)
of AS 4100 states that IPBW are to be designed as fillet welds (see Section 8.7.2). The
design throat thickness for IPBW are noted in Clause 9.7.2.3(b) of AS 4100, Section
8.6.1 of this Handbook and shown typically in Figure 8.13(g) and (h). The capacity
reduction factor, φ, for IPBW is also the same as that for fillet welds.

8.7.2 Fillet welds

Stress distribution in a fillet weld is extremely complex, and certain simplifying
assumptions are necessary to facilitate the design. The usual assumptions are:
(a) The failure plane intersects the root of the fillet and has an inclination such that it is
at right angles to the hypotenuse of the theoretical weld shape of a 90-degree isosceles
triangle (with the corner at the 90-degree angle being regarded as the weld root). See
Figure 8.15(b).
(b) The stresses (normal and shear) on this failure plane are uniformly distributed.
The above assumptions become quite realistic at the ultimate limit state of the weld as
plastic deformations take place. In general, the resultant forces acting on the failure plane
may be composed of:
• shear force parallel to the weld longitudinal axis
• shear force perpendicular to the weld longitudinal axis and in the theoretical failure
plane (Figure 8.15(b))
• normal force (compressive or tensile) to the theoretical plane (Figure 8.15(b)).
Clause 9.7.3.10 of AS 4100 provides a method for evaluating the design capacity of
single fillet welds. The method is based on the premise that the capacity of a fillet weld
is determined by the nominal shear capacity across the weld throat/failure plane (Figure
8.15(b)) such that:
vw = nominal capacity of a fillet weld per unit length
= 0.6fuw t t k r
where
fuw = nominal tensile strength of the weld metal
tt = design throat thickness (see Figure 8.15(b), for equal leg fillet
welds, tt is equal to tw /Ï2w where tw = the fillet weld leg length)
kr = reduction factor to account for welded lap connection length (lw)
= 1.0 for lw < 1.7 m
= 1.10 – 0.06lw for 1.7 , lw < 8.0 m
= 0.62 for lw . 8.0 m