What is throat thickness in welding?

The throat of the weld is the distance from the center of the face to the root of the weld. Typically the depth of the throat should be at least as thick as the thickness of metal you are welding.

What is the significance of throat area in a weld design?

As mentioned in Connect article No. 90 there are a variety of fillet weld shapes that make the accurate measurement of the throat thickness a little more difficult than may be first thought. The throat is the shortest distance from the root to the face of the weld.

What makes a weld weak?

If the joints are not heated hot enough, when they are being formed, problems will ensue. You can’t weld a hot object to a cold object; they have to be hot at the same time that you weld. Failing to properly heat both components of the joint would result in a weak weld.

How is welding thickness determined?

The active height (thickness) of a fillet weld is specified by the height of the biggest isosceles triangle inscribed into the weld section without penetration.

Why are welded joints weak?

Fatigue of welded joints can occur when poorly made or highly stressed welded joints are subjected to cyclic loading. Under cyclic loading these defects can grow a fatigue crack, causing the assembly to fail even if these cyclic stresses are low and smaller than the base material and weld filler material yield stress.

Why does a weld fail?

Insufficient weld size — because of design errors or incorrect interpretation of the part design – can lead to weld failures. A weld that is too small or too short for the application can fail from tension, compression, bending or torsional loads.

What is the effective throat of a weld?

Effective Throat – The minimum distance minus any reinforcement between the weld root and the face of a fillet weld. Actual Throat – The shortest distance between the weld root and the face of a fillet weld.