Strength of Fillet Welded Connections in G450 Sheet Steels

摘要

This paper investigates the reliability of the existing design equationsspecified in Australian Standards for Cold-Formed (AS/NZS 4600:1996) for fillet welded connections in cold-reduced high strength G450 sheet steels, which is adapted from the AWS D1.3 Structural Welding Code. Double-lap and single lap fillet welded connections in sheet steel are manufactured using GMAW procedures and tested to failure. The tensile strength of the heat-affected-zones (HAZs), which is lower than the corresponding tensile strength of the virgin sheet steels are used to predict the failure loads of the specimen. The HAZ strengths are close to the nominal design tensile strength of 480 megapascal specified in AS/NZS 4600:1996. Failure modes of different types of connections with different thickness are discussed. Relaxation of the target safety index for the longitudinally fillet welded connection is proposed. It is suggested that existing design rules can be applied conservatively to transverse and longitudinal fillet welded connections, which do not undergo inclination failure.