Distorsion Prevented by Design

Distortion - prevention by
design
Strongbacks on girder flange to prevent cross bowing.
Courtesy John Allen
General guidelines are given below as 'best practice' for limiting
distortion when considering the design of arc welded structures.
Design principles
At the design stage, welding distortion can often be prevented, or at least restricted, by
considering:
elimination of welding
weld placement
reducing the volume of weld metal
reducing the number of runs
use of balanced welding
Elimination of welding
As distortion and shrinkage are an inevitable result of welding, good design requires that not
only the amount of welding is kept to a minimum, but also the smallest amount of weld metal is
deposited. Welding can often be eliminated at the design stage by forming the plate or using a
standard rolled section, as shown in ig !.
Fig. 1 Elimination of welds by: a) forming the plate b) !se
of rolled or e"tr!ded section
"f possible, the design should use intermittent welds rather
than a continuous run, to reduce the amount of welding. or
e#ample, in attaching stiffening plates, a substantial reduction
in the amount of welding can often be achieved whilst
maintaining adequate strength.
#eld placement
$lacing and balancing of welds are important in designing for minimum distortion. %he closer a
weld is positioned to the neutral a#is of a fabrication, the lower the leverage effect of the
shrinkage forces and the final distortion. &#amples of poor and good designs are shown in ig
'.
Fig. $ Distortion may be red!ced by placing the welds aro!nd the ne!tral a"is
As most welds are deposited away from the neutral a#is,
distortion can be minimised by designing the fabrication so
the shrinkage forces of an individual weld are balanced by
placing another weld on the opposite side of the neutral a#is.
Whenever possible, welding should be carried out alternately
on opposite sides, instead of completing one side first. "n
large structures, if distortion is occurring preferentially on one
side, it may be possible to take corrective actions, for
e#ample, by increasing welding on the other side to control
the overall distortion.
%ed!cing the vol!me of weld metal
%o minimise distortion, as well as for economic reasons, the volume of weld metal should be
limited to the design requirements.
or a single(sided )oint, the cross(section of the weld should be kept as small as possible to
reduce the level of angular distortion, as illustrated in ig *.
Fig. & %ed!cing the amo!nt of ang!lar distortion and lateral shrinkage by: a) red!cing
the vol!me of weld metal b) !sing single pass weld
+oint preparation angle and root gap should be minimised
providing the weld can be made satisfactorily. %o facilitate access,
it may be possible to specify a larger root gap and smaller
preparation angle. ,y cutting down the difference in the amount of
weld metal at the root and the face of the weld, the degree of
angular distortion will be correspondingly reduced. ,utt )oints made
in a single pass using deep penetration have little angular
distortion, especially if a closed butt )oint can be welded -ig *..
or e#ample, thin section material can be welded using plasma
and laser welding processes and thick section can be welded, in
the vertical position, using electrogas and electroslag processes.
Although angular distortion can be eliminated, there will still be
longitudinal and transverse shrinkage.
"n thick section material, as the cross sectional area of a double(/ )oint preparation is often only
half that of a single(/ preparation, the volume of weld metal to be deposited can be
substantially reduced. %he double(/ )oint preparation also permits balanced welding about the
middle of the )oint to eliminate angular distortion.
As weld shrinkage is proportional to the amount of weld metal, both poor )oint fit(up and over(
welding will increase the amount of distortion. Angular distortion in fillet welds is particularly
affected by over(welding. As design strength is based on throat thickness, over(welding to
produce a conve# weld bead does not increase the allowable design strength but it will increase
the shrinkage and distortion.
%ed!cing the n!mber of r!ns
%here are conflicting opinions on whether it is better to deposit a given volume of weld metal
using a small number of large weld passes or a large number of small passes. &#perience
shows that for a single(sided butt )oint, or a single(side fillet weld, a large single weld deposit
gives less angular distortion than if the weld is made with a number of small runs. Generally, in
an unrestrained )oint, the degree of angular distortion is appro#imately proportional to the
number of passes.
0ompleting the )oint with a small number of large weld deposits results in more longitudinal and
transverse shrinkage than a weld completed in a larger number of small passes. "n a multi(pass
weld, previously deposited weld metal provides restraint, so the angular distortion per pass
decreases as the weld is built up. 1arge deposits also increase the risk of elastic buckling
particularly in thin section plate.
'se of balanced welding
,alanced welding is an effective means of controlling angular distortion in a multi(pass butt weld
by arranging the welding sequence to ensure that angular distortion is continually being
corrected and not allowed to accumulate during welding. 0omparative amounts of angular
distortion from balanced welding and welding one side of the )oint first are shown schematically
in ig 2. %he balanced welding technique can also be applied to fillet )oints.
Fig. ( )alanced welding to red!ce the amo!nt of ang!lar
distortion
"f welding alternately on either side of the )oint is not possible,
or if one side has to be completed first, an asymmetrical )oint
preparation may be used with more weld metal being
deposited on the second side. %he greater contraction
resulting from depositing the weld metal on the second side
will help counteract the distortion on the first side.
)est practice
%he following design principles can control distortion:
eliminate welding by forming the plate and using rolled or e#truded sections
minimise the amount of weld metal
do not over weld
use intermittent welding in preference to a continuous weld pass
place welds about the neutral a#is
balance the welding about the middle of the )oint by using a double(/ )oint in preference
to a single(/ )oint
Adopting best practice principles can have surprising cost benefits. or e#ample, for a design
fillet leg length of 3mm, depositing an 4mm leg length will result in the deposition of 567
additional weld metal. ,esides the e#tra cost of depositing weld metal and the increase risk of
distortion, it is costly to remove this e#tra weld metal later. 8owever, designing for distortion
control may incur additional fabrication costs. or e#ample, the use of a double(/ )oint
preparation is an e#cellent way to reduce weld volume and control distortion, but e#tra costs
may be incurred in production through manipulation of the workpiece for the welder to access
the reverse side.

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