How to Prevent Distortion during Steel Welding?

Welding plays an important role in the fabrication of steel structures. So far, welding has become one of the widely used methods in the manufacture of steel structures as well as the connection of steel components. Therefore, when the welding distortion occurs, it will directly impact the quality of the steel structure. It can change the shape of the steel structure and affect the overall bearing capacity of the steel structure, resulting in declining the stability of the steel structure and causing other structural problems.

 

Due to the welding distortion, the steel components cannot meet the application requirements. In this case, a large amount of money needs to be spent correcting the distortion, and the related steel materials are wasted. Thus, preventing the steel welding distortion is of great significance. As a top steel structure manufacturer, we will help you out with the prevention of welding distortion.

 

Factors that Lead to distortion during the Steel Welding

Welding Materials

The quality of the welding material will directly impact the welding distortion. Steel welding is a process of increasing the temperature of the steel parts. The degree of thermal stress transfer during the temperature rise will impact the welding distortion. If the preheating temperature of the welding material is unreasonable or the thermal conductivity of the welding material is not strong, welding distortion can easily occur.

 

Welding Stress

The steel structure is fabricated by welding steel parts at certain temperatures. Due to the factors like temperature rise and rapid cooling, the welding stress of the steel structure will diffuse with the temperature change. In the addition of various factors in the diffusion, the stress distribution of the steel structure becomes uneven, which can cause welding distortion. The distortion directly determines the lifespan of the steel structure buildings and affects the steel structure's production efficiency and quality.

 

Welding Technique

The welding technique will directly determine the condition of welding deformation. The same materials and equipment can have different welding deformation problems by different operators during the steel welding. So operator's operation process will affect the welding quality. In the actual welding process of steel structures, the operators have to properly set the operation conditions, such as the preheating time of steel components based on real-time weather and light levels. The contact area between the welding material catalyst and the steel structure is different due to the different fixing conditions of the steel structure, resulting in the different impacts of the steel structure stress on the steel structure during the welding process. If the welding technique is not reasonable, it will cause welding deformation.

 

How to Prevent Welding Distortion?

Improve Preheating Technique

There are three procedures in the steel structure welding process: preheating, welding, and correction. The preheating methods commonly used in the welding process include rigid fixing, reverse deformation, pre-stretching, etc. No matter which method is used, it would help prevent the welding distortion. The preheating time and degree are up to the real-time weather conditions to achieve the ideal welding effect. Moreover, choosing the right preheating method should depend on the actual situation of the steel structure. For steel structures with relatively strong thermal stress, the choice of preheating should depend on the structure size. If it is a large steel structure, pre-stretching is recommended. If it is a small steel structure, the rigid fixing should be used.

 

Standardize Welding Sequence

In order to prevent the deformation of the steel structure during the welding process, it is necessary to standardize the welding process, especially to determine the type and model of the steel structure to ensure everything goes well. In the welding process of small steel structures, it is necessary to base on the assembly and positioning of components and operate according to the welding process to prevent deformation problems. In addition, there will be many hidden dangers during the assembly of components. Therefore, it is crucial to improve the management of accessories, selecting accessories based on the welding requirements to prevent deformation and ensure the welding quality of steel structures.

 

Improve Welding Technique

Welding deformation is usually directly related to the welding process. For large steel structures, it is a must to base on their welding characteristics and requirements, and the welding current and speed should be clarified according to the welding process. The welding process of large steel structures is special. In an environment where the welds are concentrated or too long, welding cracks will occur if the welding process is unreasonable. Therefore, for the concentrated welds, the method of skip welding should be used. When the welds are too long, it would be better to use symmetrical welding to ensure welding efficiency.

 

For more complex steel structures, the welding should be carried out from short to long components according to scientific and reasonable welding requirements. For the lap joint, it is necessary to weld the butt joint first and then the lap joint.

Overall Quality Control

Throughout the welding process, pay more attention to the selection of welding technique, welding process setting and welding seam processing, timely observation of welding conditions and quality. When the welding is finished, strictly check the welding quality of the steel structure to reduce the probability of welding deformation.

We Are A Steel Structure Expert

All in all, preventing welding distortion is of great significance to improving steel structure quality. The choice of steel structure manufacture also matters a lot.

Liyou is a top manufacturer and supplier of steel structures with over 15 years of experience. We specialize in designing, manufacturing, constructing all kinds of steel structure building. With experienced senior engineers, production teams, and professional on-site instruction, we can ensure high-quality steel structure and professional customer service. If you are looking for solutions to your steel structure projects, please contact us at teamworksteelstructure@aliyun.com.