tapered fill

[HgTX]

AWS D1.5 (and D1.1 for that matter) treat thin and thick filler plates very differently (section 2.5 in D1.5, 2.10 in D1.1). With a thin plate (under 1/4"), the plate is flush with the welded edge and ya just increases the fillet weld size by the thickness of the plate. With a thick plate, the filler plate is made wider so that separate welds, each capable of transferring the design load, can be made from the filler plate to each of the two parts to be joined, plus accommodation for the added eccentricity of the connection.

What about a case where the filler tapers from thick to thin? In my particular case it gets as thick as 3/16" which is really only 1/16" away from "thin", so maybe I can just treat the whole thing as thin anyway, but what if it had been thicker than that?

Hg

 

[HgTX]

I can't think in fractions. 3/16" is less than 1/4". But my general question still stands--what about something that tapers from what would be considered thick to what would be considered thin?

Hg