Analyzing the Failure of Welded Steel Components in Construction Systems

Abstract

Failure of welded construction steel components can occur due to inappropriate design, wrong steel choice or quality, substandard welding processes and through defective maintenance. Welded constructional steel joints in particular are highly sensitive to issues of fatigue, weld corrosion and/or weld quality. A key concern is on placing welds in regions of nominal stress. Welded joints are produced to a specification, which is used to minimize the heat-affected zone and any residual stress within the weld. In this article, numerous examples of weld fracture are shown together with the causes and of weld failure.