Based on comprehensive tests of welded joints with different alloys and weld types a new design concept especially for fillet welds was proposed and incorporated into the final draft of Eurocode 9 : "Design of Aluminium Structures". The basis of design has been the #beta#-formula, which has also been accepted as an alternative method in steel. Experimental evidence has shown that the #beta#-formula gives the best approximation of the strenght of a fillet weld. With #beta# = 1 and based on throat section and the characteristic strenght of the weld metal the formula gives a reliable lower strenght limit. In contrast to this concept national design standards have estimated stress as resulting simply from applied force over throat section. The present paper investigates the new concept and compares its results to respective estimations from the German DIN 4113 and the Aluminum Design Manual of the Aluminum Association, accounting for the different characteristic material values andsafety factors. The latter code distinguishes between the strength of longitudingal and transverse fillet welds. Another aspect of this investigation will be to establish the significance between the different approaches. The #beta#-formula can be more complicated in practice for varying load directions.
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