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Understanding Weld Symbols Guide

Weld symbols are used on engineering drawings to provide shorthand information about welds. The symbols convey the type of weld, size, and other details. There is a standard published by ANSI and AWS that defines all the common symbols. The basic structure of a welding symbol includes a reference line with an arrow pointing to the joint, with instructions above and below the line distinguishing the two sides of the joint. Additional symbols provide information such as whether the weld is for the shop or field, if it goes all around the joint, and any supplementary details in the tail of the symbol. Common weld types each have their own basic symbol that depicts the weld configuration.

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274 views2 pages

Understanding Weld Symbols Guide

Weld symbols are used on engineering drawings to provide shorthand information about welds. The symbols convey the type of weld, size, and other details. There is a standard published by ANSI and AWS that defines all the common symbols. The basic structure of a welding symbol includes a reference line with an arrow pointing to the joint, with instructions above and below the line distinguishing the two sides of the joint. Additional symbols provide information such as whether the weld is for the shop or field, if it goes all around the joint, and any supplementary details in the tail of the symbol. Common weld types each have their own basic symbol that depicts the weld configuration.

Uploaded by

shibumb
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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WeldSymbols

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DecipheringWeldSymbols
Whenweldsarespecifiedonengineeringandfabricationdrawings,acrypticsetof
symbolsisusedasasortofshorthandfordescribingthetypeofweld,itssize,and
otherprocessingandfinishinginformation.Thepurposeofthispageistointroduce
youtothecommonsymbolsandtheirmeaning.Thecompletesetofsymbolsisgiven
inastandardpublishedbytheAmericanNationalStandardsInstituteandthe
AmericanWeldingSociety:
ANSI/AWSA2.4,SymbolsforWeldingandNondestructiveTesting.
OurthankstoDr.KentL.Johnson,pastChairmanoftheAWSChicagoSection,for
hismanyhelpfulcommentsonthecontentofourweldingpages.

Thestructureoftheweldingsymbol

Thehorizontallinecalledthereferencelineistheanchortowhichalltheother
weldingsymbolsaretied.Theinstructionsformakingtheweldarestrungalongthe
referenceline.Anarrowconnectsthereferencelinetothejointthatistobewelded.
Intheexampleabove,thearrowisshowngrowingoutoftherightendofthe
referencelineandheadingdownandtotheright,butmanyothercombinationsare
allowed.

Quiteoften,therearetwosidestothejointtowhichthearrowpoints,andtherefore
twopotentialplacesforaweld.Forexample,whentwosteelplatesarejoined
togetherintoaTshape,weldingmaybedoneoneithersideofthestemoftheT.

Theweldsymboldistinguishesbetweenthetwosidesofajointbyusingthearrow
andthespacesaboveandbelowthereferenceline.Thesideofthejointtowhichthe

http://www.unifiedeng.com/scitech/weld/weld.html

01102006

WeldSymbols

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arrowpointsisknown(ratherprosaically)asthearrowside,anditsweldismade
accordingtotheinstructionsgivenbelowthereferenceline.Theothersideofthe
jointisknown(evenmoreprosaically)astheotherside,anditsweldismade
accordingtotheinstructionsgivenabovethereferenceline.Thebelow=arrow and
above=otherrulesapplyregardlessofthearrow'sdirection.
Theflaggrowingoutofthejunctionofthereferencelineandthearrowispresentif
theweldistobemadeinthefieldduringerectionofthestructure.Aweldsymbol
withoutaflagindicatesthattheweldistobemadeintheshop.Inolderdrawings,a
fieldweldmaybedenotedbyafilledblackcircleatthejunctionbetweenthearrow
andthereferenceline.
Theopencircleatthearrow/referencelinejunctionispresentiftheweldistogoall
aroundthejoint,asintheexamplebelow.

Thetailoftheweldsymbolistheplaceforsupplementaryinformationontheweld.It
maycontainareferencetotheweldingprocess,theelectrode,adetaildrawing,any
informationthataidsinthemakingoftheweldthatdoesnothaveitsownspecial
placeonthesymbol.

Typesofweldsandtheirsymbols
Eachtypeofweldhasitsownbasicsymbol,whichistypicallyplacednearthecenter
ofthereferenceline(andaboveorbelowit,dependingonwhichsideofthejointit's
on).Thesymbolisasmalldrawingthatcanusuallybeinterpretedasasimplified
crosssectionoftheweld.Inthedescriptionsbelow,thesymbolisshowninbothits
arrowsideandothersidepositions.

Filletwelds

Groovewelds

http://www.unifiedeng.com/scitech/weld/weld.html

Plugweldsandslotwelds

01102006

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