Butt welded connections of high strength steel

Abstract

High-performance materials such as high strength steels allow for resource-efficient innovative structures. Therefore, economical and user-friendly design concepts for welded connections of high strength steels are required. Current design rules had been developed mainly for mild steels, e.g. requiring an overmatching of the filler metal. It is not considered, that a soft area which may form in the heat-affected zone of welded high strength steel connections may lead to an overestimation of the load-carrying capacity. Besides, mixed connections as well as under- and overmatching filler metals are not included in the current design codes. Based on a large number of experimental and numerical investigations, a design concept has been developed which takes the characteristics of butt welded high strength steel connections into account. Additionally, experimental and numerical investigations are planned to transfer the new concept of design also to mixed connections.