Design of Transverse Fillet Welds in the Lapped Joints of Thin Steel Plates

Abstract

Transverse fillet welds in the lapped joints have been tested and the results compared against the predictions of the North American Specification for the Design of Cold-Formed Steel Structural Members, AISI S100, to address the strength discontinuity in the transverse fillet weld design method at the thickness of 2.54 mm (0.1 inches). The tests performed by the authors and those available in the literature, have not shown any significant discontinuity in the weld strength when the connected plates get thicker than 2.54 mm (0.1 inches). It has also shown that the current design method could be nonconservative for thin plates. Accordingly, potentials to improve strength predictions have been discussed and a modified design method is proposed. The proposed design method is in a good agreement with the experimental results and resolves the inconsistencies in the current design methods. Finally, a reliability analysis based on the available test results has been performed and resistance factors for the proposed design method are provided.