Numerical design calculation of structural steel welds

Abstract

This paper focuses on designing fillet welds made from high-strength steel (HSS). It presents a numerical design calculation (NDC) method for assessing weld strength using the regular inclined shell element model (RISEM) in the finite element method (FEM). NDC uses FEM to design joints according to standardised procedures. The inclined shell element in RISEM represents the geometry and stiffness of welds, controlling its stresses in the plane. The paper recommends using a common inclined shell element with rigid links to accurately represent the geometry and rigidity of fillet welds. A new strength criterion is proposed based on stresses on the inclined shell element, using maximum equivalent stress as an indicator. Validation of the method is confirmed by comparing RISEM and test results using finite element (FE) simulation. Additionally, the weld resistance computed from the equation in prEN 1993-1-8:2020 is also in good agreement.