Hello all, I've some doubts in determining the tensile strength of welds. The welds were performed on plates of definite thickness.I made an attempt to determine the strength of the welded joint using Universal Testing Machine, which measures the tensile strength of welds.
Before testing the specimens were made to suit ASTM standards as prescribed in "ASTM-E8M" for steel plates.
During the test I observed that certain welds fractured at the weld joints whereas few fractured adjacent to the welded joint, but not on the weld joint(weld bead). I am perplexed to consider the result obtained. whether tensile strength of specimens which fractured adjacent to the weld should be considered?? or a fresh trial to be conducted until the specimen failure occurs adjacent to the joint??
--Thanks