A lot of FCAW

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We are working on some Hospital addition and this is just one side or this diagonal and it took about 20 hours of non-stop FCAW with some gas shielded 1/16 wire.Structural Steel only calls for 1.5 time the Thickness of the flange to get the throat from root to cap but the engineers wanted this ridiculous amount of weld instead.There are probably 60 of these with all different thicknesses that need to be welded.Easy money but really boring and it is hard to keep it nice, evenly filled up, and straight. Attached Images
Reply:There's no doubt that would be boring! Guess that engineer thinks more is better! Go big or go home i guess lolOwner G&S Mobile Welding & Millwright Services, LLCSpencerville, Ohio Adult Ed. Instructor at Apollo Career Center Lima, Ohio
Reply:I guess, LOL
Reply:wow    ,     is that   seriously  the correct way    to weld a building  together  ?      though ur welds look   good .        ud  think all that welding  in one spot would affect  the   steel .   . why not   just   cut the steel   on a 45 degree   or what ever angle needed ?>Innovations are what i leave behind for History
Reply:Originally Posted by arcboyStructural Steel only calls for 1.5 time the Thickness of the flange to get the throat from root to cap but the engineers wanted this ridiculous amount of weld instead.
Reply:what building is this? I just want to know so i can stay the hell away from it.ESAB MigMaster 275Miller Econotwin HFMiller Syncrowave 250
Reply:those are nice welds?
Reply:"engineers"?Welding/Fab Pics: www.UtahWeld.com
Reply:I don't weld for a living, but do work in building construction. I just finished several projects where the "engineer" (same jag-off on all of them) has back-assward details for EVERYTHING. I mean simple things that we could make look good, he wanted us to do HIS way, and leave sealant hanging out so he could see we did it his way.Best we could figure is he pockets a percentage from the schools we work on. His way takes twice as long for no good reason.Have fun welding I guess. It all pays the same.My welder:Century 180 Wire feed welder.
Reply:Sorry but I've only got one word for that, damn ugly and riduculous. That's three words but I was trying to keep it civil. The stamp  that engineer should have would be to run a train...even then I'd take the bus.....Mike
Reply:Structural steel welds CJP welds look nasty with all that crap on the ends that don't get finished nicely and they are all covered in smoke and in fact the last couple passes are a little crooked. I am by no means proud of welding FCAW, it is really easy. Except when it comes to some 1/16 vertical up as it can be a little deceiving and difficult. They can look good with certain filler welds.I followed code by having interpass temps at min. of 225 and never exceeded 550.   Other than that im just following directions.
Reply:Structural steel welds CJP welds look nasty
Reply:Originally Posted by mrmikeyTIf that was the way an engineer wanted it I'm afraid I'd have to refuse and look for another job.....Mike
Reply:....it would be a bit irrational to quit over something like that.
Reply:So I have to assume that brace is 3.5 inches thick of solid material??   There is a quirky rule about connections.  If a brace is tilted over 30 degrees from the perpendicular the joint must be treated as a butt connection and must be complete penetration.  If the piece connected at 90 degrees then all you would require would be a fillet with a leg length of 2/3 of the thickness.Yes it looks ugly but typically run off tabs and backing bar do not have to be removed on structural.   Also as it is a hospital they want the building to survive a disaster.  I helped do some steel for a hospital on a military base... the beams were huge and way oversize but then if you need it to survive a bomb blast or earthquake.....Last edited by lotechman; 08-28-2011 at 04:30 PM.Reason: additional
Reply:So I have to assume that brace is 3.5 inches thick of solid material??
Reply:They are ugly because of the runoff tabs not the actual welds. Yep, structural steel isn't the most glorious type of welded materials.  I get paid by the hour, so if I need to sit in a chair and weld all day that's ok as long as I'm doin something different in a couple of days.
Reply:Man...My ADHD would be kicking in way before I got done with those welds.  Do you have enough power to run 3/32?Maybe you could talk them into Thermite welding. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpOJE-mkWmw[/ame]Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:The largest fillets I have had to put in were about an inch and a half leg.  It is not unusual on some thick sections to be laying in beads for more than a single shift.  On very large weld sections they often locate thermocouples hooked up to a data logger to create a record of the time taken as well as preheat, interpass and post heats.
Reply:I wonder if that project will go over budget?
Reply:Wire wheel it and take another pic, and perhaps one that shows the run off tabs more clearly so one can see why the ends look like that..
Reply:In the early sixties I worked for an outfit in Portland Oregon and they bid the welding down in the caissons on the Astoria Bridge. I welded four on and four off then four on and 12 off. And in the month I was there I only welded on stainless bolts 12 inches in diameter.  One hundred percent weld chipped and peaned every circumference. 28 lbs pressure with a ventilated hat. The cold clean air coming in the hat is the only thing that made it bearable, plus a pretty high per Diem.   Mac
Reply:Ive seen alot of structual welding like that. Its pretty common. The run-off tabs make it look ugly from that angle. Ive seen some local 1 IW guys make huge flux core welds like that look beautiful- passed x ray and everything.
Reply:How'd you preheat?
Reply:Preheat would be done with propane tiger torches or electric blankets of nichrome wire set in ceramic insulators, or in modern times induction heating with water cooled cables wrapped around the joint using high voltage and high frequency to heat.  The big thing about these kind of joints is that there be a weld procedure and that it be followed.  Really important with contemporary earthquake codes!!!  Often those kind of joints are self defeating in that failure is by lamellar tearing out of the lower base piece.  Imagine gluing a wood connection like that and then the lower piece (much like a piece of plywood) would separate in the laminations tearing out rather than failing at the weld.  Heavy plate is much like wood in that it has a directional grain.  I have seen the beginning of such a failure on pile driving equipment.  With a static structure there is no failure until there is movement like an earthquake.   It is good to see a picture of real life welding.  Not every weld has to be pretty.  I know it is upsetting to some people that we leave run off tabs and extra weld on rather than dress it all nice.  The reality is that there is no reason to remove tabs and extra weld.  It is cost effective to leave it as is.I know how preheat SHOULD be done, just asking how he did it since none of that paint pen seems to have discolored/burned off You bet your bippy that I wouldn't have them using a weed burner on something that thick, either.