Investigation of the effect of welding quality on the processing of steel surfaces

In this study, the effect of surface condition of steel plates on welding quality and capacity is examined experimentally. Five types of surfaces such as original, anti-corrosion, painted, oiled and sand blasted surfaces were used for test specimens. Steel plates are welded in two groups namely single lap joint and double lap joint. Fillet weld was used for connections of the test specimens. Strain gauges were bonded on test materials and axial tensile test was performed on test the specimens in order to determine the weld capacity. The test results indicated that while the lowest weld capacity is obtained on the painted surface, the highest one is occurred on the sand blasted surface. According to the experimentally study conducted in this theses, different surface conditions affected directly the welding capacity. The welded connections performed with respect to standards and controlled with welding inspection can sustain acceptable performance however the weld with proper surface preparation such as painted results in low weld capacity. Hence the lowest weld capacity from painted surfaces and the highest weld capacity from detailed cleaning surfaces such as sand blasted surfaces are valuable for the construction industry. Further study may perform about different surface and connection conducted by using welding.