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Perspectives
in
Welding
Design |
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Perspectives
in
Welding
Design - There is no doubt that calculators are widely used today by designers when weld stresses are to be determined. The use of microcomputers for weld design is also becoming a more common practice in the welding industries.
The complex nature of weldments has prompted designers to incorporate elements that can compensate for unfavourable conditions, and stress analysis methods may be engaged by mere virtue of their facile utility.
These "worst case" assumptions and simplified calculation procedures for weld stresses do not offer accurate results, but afford valuable assistance in estimating the maximum applied loads. The design criterion is to keep the calculated stresses within the allowable working level dictated by a code or specification.
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Of course, other experience based design methods, such as matching the strength or rigidity of the parts to be joined and iteration from a previous design of similar joints and structures, are also common practice used by designers.
The problem of today's welding design methods is the simplistic design approaches of yesterday's technology that channeled one's thinking relative to prescribed steps or previous designs without explanation of the logic behind the method. This tends to hamper creative thinking in developing new concepts for solving basic problems.
Welding design has not moved forward much in the last fifty years. The design methodology used in welding today still remains in yesterday's technology. This state of the art situation has, to a significant degree, prevented the welding manufacturing industry in. the V.S. from maintaining a competitive position while increasingly productive and innovative countries stride forward.
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