Weld Joint Design

It's too many thing that we have too learn about Weld Joint Design, but Piping & Fabrication will step by step explain about it.

Butt Welds. A butt joint is defined as one in which the members being joined are in the same plane. The circumferential butt joint is the most universally used method of joining pipe to itself, fittings, flanges, valves, and other equipment. The type of end preparation may vary depending on the particular preferences of the individual, but in general the bevel shape is governed by a compromise between a root sufficiently wide to assure a full-penetration weld but not so wide as to require a great deal of filler metal.

Typical weld and bevel

In the shop, the inside surface of large-diameter pipe joints is often accessible. In this case the joint is most often double-welded (welded from both sides), and a double V bevel is used. For heavier walls, machined double U bevels can be used. However, the vast majority of piping butt welds must be made from one side only. For this situation the most frequently specified shapes are the V bevel, compound bevel, and U bevel, all of which can have varying angles, lands, and tolerances. Recent advances in SAW narrow-gap welding as applied to piping butt welds have cut the volume of filler metal significantly in pipe walls that are 2 in (51 mm) and thicker. The 30 or 371⁄2 (60 or 75° included angle) V bevel is most often performed integrally with the cutting operation by machine, oxyfuel gas, or arc cutting. Other bevel shapes such as the compound V, U, J bevels, or combinations thereof require machining in lathes or boring mills.

1. Alignment: Alignment for butt welding can often be a frustrating task since it is influenced by the material; pipe diameter, wall thickness, out-of-roundness tolerances; welding process needs; and design requirements.

When a joint can be double welded, the effects of misalignment are minimized since both inner and outer weld surfaces can be blended into the base metal, and any remaining offsets can be faired out. ASME Section III gives a table of allowable offsets due to misalignment in double-welded joints. All resulting offsets must be faired to a 3:1 taper over the finished weld. For single-welded joints alignment can be more difficult, since the inside surface is not accessible. The degree of misalignment is influenced by many factors and depending on the type of service application may or may not be significant. The various codes impose limits on inside-diameter misalignment. This is to assure that the stress intensification resulting from the misalignment is kept within a reasonable value. The B31.1 Code requires that the misalignment between ends to be joined not exceed 1⁄16 in (2.0 mm), unless the design specifically permits greater amounts. The B31.4 and B31.8 Codes do not require special treatment unless the difference in the nominal walls of the adjoining ends exceeds 3⁄32 in (2.5 mm).

ASME Section III on the other hand requires that the inside diameters of the adjoining sections match within 1⁄₁₆ in (2.0 mm) to assure good alignment. Counterboring is usually required to attain this degree of alignment. The welding process and NDEs to be employed also bear on misalignment limits. Some welding processes can tolerate fairly large misalignments while others, notably gas tungsten arc root pass welding with and without consumable inserts require closer tolerances. Radiographic or ultrasonic examinations of misaligned areas may show unacceptable indications if the degree of misalignment is too great.

A review of the tolerances permitted in the manufacture of various types of pipe, fittings, and forgings immediately reveals that in many situations the probable inside diameter and wall thickness variations will produce unacceptable misalignment situations. Out-of-roundness in lighter wall materials can add to the problem. When most of the pipe comes from the same rolling and the fittings from the same manufacturing lot, variations in tolerances are minimal and the pipe and fittings can be assembled for most common applications without a great deal of adjustment. Out-of-round problems in lighter walls are handled with internal or external round-up devices.

To assure that all components will be capable of alignment in the field, it is common practice for the designer to specify that the inside diameters of all matching components be machine counterbored to some specified dimension. This practice is also desirable for shop welding of heavier wall piping subassemblies. PFI ES-21 contains a set of uniform dimensions for counterboring of seamless hot-rolled pipe ordered to A106 or A335 by NPS and schedule number.