Intermittent fillet weld question.

Date 09-28-2009 15:47

flamin,
I'm not a D1.2'er, but these are my thoughts and approach in similar venues.
Intermittent fillets are primarially to reduce and or control distortion . Second reason is Production, third is weight reduction. I would first measure them for dimensional tolerances and review the workmanship standards. Usually warpage will take its toll and give you a documentable rejection.

Consult with the production supervisors and inform them how your lay-out person needs some tape-measure training. Overwelding wastes time and often welders are "hiding" something by such practices and this makes you suspicious, ie. prone to intense surveilance and further scrutiny of this individual's performance/competency.
Welders tend to like to weld and often become lazy when it comes to set-up and other non-welding activities. Their mindset is also oftentimes..."if a little is good, a bunch more is gots ta be gooder!"
Many Inspectors I've worked with simply reject these just as a flexing of their authority, and many times management will back you up. I prefer to do the homework and always back up rejects by ... "qoute the code(specs) with the book open and your finger on that line!"

If all else fails..RFI the EOR

By Lawrence (*****)

Date 09-28-2009 16:26

Jason,

If the plans call for "staggered" Than that's what production should be accomplishing.

Maybe the production folk only need a quick review regarding what a "staggered intermittant" weldment should look like.

Just because you can't find a spot on definition in D1.2 does not change the meaning.

Prolly an easy correction if the weld "length" is correct but the placement is slightly inaccurate.

Teachable moment?

By eekpod

Date 09-28-2009 19:05

Iv'e had drawings that called for staggared intermittent fillet welds and they were installed in chain intermittent fashion, and I'll let them go as is. As long as I have the weld size, length, and pitch/ intermittent distance.
I have seen similar drawings one calling for staggard and one calling for chain, this can be confusing to the shop personnel, and when I ask the detailers why this happens on the drawings, it's not uncommen for either 1) they don't know, 2) they didn't realize there was a differance, 3) "that's how I did it on the last project".
So as long as the other stuff falls into place I'll let it go, but it also depends on your customer and what the parts does, only you really know about that. In the end cover your ass if you have to.
Good Luck
chris

By flamin

Date 09-28-2009 23:01

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

The welder who welded this piece is actually quite good, however I think it was an honest mistake and he wasn't trying to cover up anything. Length and pitch are good on the welds, it's just that the offset isn't "symmetrical" as described in A2.4 I agree about the distortion reduction and faster production being achieved with the intermittent welds, but I'm no engineer, and I don't feel comfortable signing off on something that isn't to print "technically". This is the first time I actually came across a situation like this, and wasn't sure how to respond. That's why I wanted to hear some other points of view from you more experienced guys.

Thanks again

Jason

By swnorris (****)

Date 09-29-2009 17:00 Edited 09-29-2009 17:04

Jason,

As trivial as it may seem, I agree with you that you should get an engineers approval. Intermittent fillet welds are typically for connections that don't require the strength of a continuous fillet weld, but in some cases, there must be some degree of calculation performed to determine whether intermittent welds will support the load. An example would be staggered intermittent welds joining a plate to the bottom flange of a beam that is to be used as a lintel. We don't know what's going through an engineer's mind, but if he/she calculates the required strength based on the staggered intermittent welds being symmetrically spaced on both sides of the joint, and the joint ends up welded differently, there may be problems. I don't know what the service application of your aluminum weldment is, but if I were you, I'd get approval, just to C.Y.A., as I believe that sometimes there's more to it than just to minimize distortion and to save labor.