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Steelworks

Why is acetylene gas cylinder for gas welding to be erected in upright position?

Acetylene gas is commonly used for gas welding because of its simplicity in production and transportation and its ability to achieve high temperature in combustion (e.g. around 5,000o F).

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In checking the quality of weld, what are the pros and cons of various non-destructive weld inspection methods i.e. ultrasonic test, radiographic inspection and magnetic particle flaw detection test?

Currently, there are three common non-destructive testing of weld, namely radiographic inspection, ultrasonic testing and magnetic flaw detection test.

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Why are residual stresses incurred in steel after welding?

Considerable residual stresses are induced in connecting steel members after the welding operation. The local temperature of steel where welding takes place is higher than the remaining parts of the connecting steel members.

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What is the function of gap between adjoining root faces in butt weld?

In the design of butt weld strength, it is generally assumed that its strength is at least equivalent to the parent metal. To enhance proper welding operation, the gap between two metals to be welded should not be too small, otherwise the root would be inadequately fused during welding and the butt weld strength would be reduced. On the other hand, the gap should be not set too large because the weld metal would simply pass through it. The function of the gap between adjoining root faces is to increase the depth of penetration down to the root of the weld.

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In welding design what are the different applications of square-groove, V-groove, U-groove and J-groove?

When the base metal is thin (i.e. 0.125” to 0.25”), square-groove can be adopted. Where welding is carried out from one side of the joint, a temporary backup strip can be used to ensure proper joint penetration and to avoid excessive leakage of metal though the joint.

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Convex fillet welds are sometimes used in welding. Why?

There are three types of fillet weld cross section profile, namely, flat, convex and concave. The convexity in convex fillet welds serve as reinforcement, which is believed to provide additional strength. However, care should be taken in not introducing excessive convexity to fillet welds.

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There is a general rule in fillet weld that “the leg should be equal to the thickness of metals.” Why?

Let’s take an example of 6mm thick plates to illustrate the rule. In case 12mm leg is adopted in the fillet weld, the weld volume would be 3-4 times more than required. It would result in waste of weld metal and welder’s time. Worse still, over-welding may weaken the structure and result in distortion owing to the formation of residue stress. As such, the resulting weld could support less stress than fillet weld with “the leg equal to the thickness of metals.”

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Why are insulating washers installed between steel bolts and connecting aluminium plates?

Corrosion of aluminium can be triggered by putting it in contact with another metal in the presence of water. This is known as bimetallic corrosion or galvanic corrosion. The mechanism of such corrosion is the formation of a cell in moist condition so that an electric current is generated to flow between the two metals in direct contact. The degree of corrosion is influenced by the nature of connecting metals, their electrode potential, their areas, conductivity of fluid etc.

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What is the behaviour of internal force in preloaded fasteners?

The force in a bolt in a bolted joint depends on the preloading force applied to it during the tightening operation. For instance, when the preloaded bolt is tightened with a certain force, the bolts’ internal force will not increase significantly if the external applied force on the bolted joint does not exceed the preloading force.

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Are washers necessary for proper operation of bolts?

“Fastener” is a general term used to describe something which is used as a restraint for holding things together or attaching them to other things.

The main physical distinction between screws and bolts is that screws are entirely full of threads while bolts contain shanks without threads. However, a better interpretation of the differences between the two is that bolts are always fitted with nuts. On the contrary, screws are normally used with tapped holes.

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