Effect of gap on strength of fillet weld loaded in out-of-plane bending

Abstract

When fillet weld loaded in the out-of-plane eccentricity there will be contact between the plates. The strength of fillet weld depends on weld yielding and bearing between the connected plates. But, the contact between plates is not considered in the present Indian standard code (IS 800, General construction in steel- code of practice. Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi, 2007), Euro code (EC 3, Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures-part 1-8: Design of joints. European Committee for Standardization, Brussels, 1993) and Australian Code (AS 4100, Steel structures. Standards Australia, Homebush, 1998). For this, a finite element analysis (FEA) of weld was made for a plate thickness and varying weld sizes with no gap between plates. The study was limited to elastic state of weld and a significant difference was observed in elastic state between codes and FEA for the bending stresses that are developed due to loading. The comparison was also carried out between stress distribution in weld for the case of gap between plates and no gap between plates. Analysis was carried out for different loading pattern i.e., combinations of moment, shear and axial force.