C-Shape Weld Design
- nick8284
- 2 days ago
- 1 min read
Introduction
Welded connections are a common part of steel design—but when you're dealing with unsymmetrical shapes like channels (C-shapes), the analysis can get tricky fast. Eccentricities, directional loads, and weld group behavior all come into play.
Design Considerations
When designing a weld group like this, there are several things that must be accounted for:
Load eccentricity: A tension load applied away from the weld group’s centroid introduces a torsional effect that can't be ignored.
Weld group properties: Calculating the location of the centroid and the polar moment of inertia for the weld layout is critical in distributing the resulting stresses correctly.
Stress combination: Once torsional and direct shear components are calculated, they need to be combined vectorially to find the critical weld stress.
Shear stress in the weld depends on:
The applied forces
The geometry of the weld group
The weld throat thickness
Proper weld design ensures that the connection can safely transfer shear without exceeding allowable stress limits.
Weld Capacity
The strength of the fillet weld is governed by its throat thickness and electrode strength. The nominal shear strength of a throat weld is given by:
where:
Φ_w = Weld Resistance Factor
F_nw = Nominal Stress of Weld (based on electrode used)
A_we = Effective Weld Area
Example Problem
(Solutions Provided Using CalcBook) Problem Statement:
Weld Properties:
Weld Stress:
Weld Capacity:
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