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Welding castellated beams

Not stronger (and dearer) than required

In practice the teeth of castellated beams are often not welded right through. It is not necessary, since these welds are in the neutral zone (line) of the beam where, in the usual applications, they will only bear limited loads. All teeth will always be welded over the full tooth length but, with thick webs in particular, the weld will not necessarily be completely filled to the very core. However, in cases of a predominantly dynamic loading of the castellated beam, such as in crane beams or truck semi-trailers, all tooth welds will of course be 100% filled (stress concentration).

A good castellated beam manufacturer - and Grünbauer BV is certainly that! - insists on a minimum specification of 80% fill in welding the teeth of thick-webbed statically loaded castellated beams. In doing so, he closely approximates the economic optimum between strength and production costs. Thin-webbed castellated beams nearly always are welded with a full 100% fill at Grünbauer BV, as this makes hardly any difference in welding cost. If the required (guaranteed) minimum weld fill is greater than 80%, this must be specified with the order. It will involve an additional cost compared to the standard construction with a minimum 80% fill.

©  Johann Grünbauer  Tel (+31) (0)20 6990300  E-mail info@grunbauer.nl TOP