Base Plate Weld

[BadgerPE]

What is the standard of practice (USA) for welding a base plate to a column designed as a pin connection? In this particular instance, loads are quite light. The way our details have went out in the past was that both sides of the flange and web would be welded to the plate. This however seems like an unnecessary amount of welding and I am thinking it should be reduced. Say outside of flange and 1 or 2 sides of weld. What are others thoughts?

 

[amec2004]

All around weld

anchor bolt design per ACI 318-11 crane beam design

http://www.civilbay.com

 

[UcfSE]

All around, or all around minus fillets. Minimum size.

 

[strucguy]

For gravity columns...all around weld is an overkill. We typically call for welds on one side of each flange and web.

The following excerpt is from an article in Modern Steel magazine

http://www.modernsteel.com/Uploads/Issues/April_2000/0004_02_economy.pdf

"Don’t always weld on both sides of a
piece just because you can.
There are many applications where it
may be possible to weld on one side of a
joint only. For example, the attachment
of a column base plate to a column can in
many cases be made with fillet welds on
one side of each flange and the web. This
same idea is also sometimes possible with
transverse stiffeners, bearing stiffeners
and other similar elements."

 

[hokie66]

Agree with strucguy. In addition to saving some welding, you don't have to turn the piece over to weld on the far side. If the weld is not required, don't do it.

 

[dik]

If the BP is not critical, I usually just weld the one column face and the inside portions of the other column face. This permits welding the base plate in place without having to turn the column over.

Dik

 

[spats]

Related to the amount of welding, how many engineers out there have notes on their drawings about any finsihing/milling requirements for base plates and column bases? I've had a standard note I used in the past about the column bases needing to be milled, but I read in AISC spec Section M2.8 that it's not required for 2" or less base plates as long as "satisfactory contact bearing is obtained"... seems pretty vauge to me.

 

[IsaacStructural]

On large power and industrial projects it is common practice to provide no weld. The column instead has stiffener plates welded between the flanges (offset a foot or so from the end of the column) and holes are drilled through these plates and bolted to the foundation below. This is supposed to provide a closer to true pin connection, though the bolts will still transfer some moment. Lateral resistence comes through friction of the column bearing and I suppose the bolts (Though I believe these are typically neglected in the calculation).

M.S. Structural Engineering
Licensed Structural Engineer and Licensed Professional Engineer (Illinois)