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Welding of Reinforcement Bars to Plates Download Date: 04/06/2016

Cast-in items such as weld plates, frequently have reinforcement bars welded to them to transfer loads
into the body of the concrete. This is commonly used in precast concrete for connections. Traditionally
these were ‘designed’ by experience and welds were generally over specified, with failures being very
rare indeed. The common type of weld used to attach a nominally round bar to a flat section is a flare
bevel fillet weld as shown below.

Useful guidance on designing welds is hard to come by, and the guidance that exists is not very helpful.
Until 2006, the relevant standard was BS 7123:1989 ‘Metal arc welding of steel for concrete
reinforcement’. Clause 10.9.2 of this standard contained the following equation for the length of flare
bevel fillet weld to carry the full tensile load of a reinforcing bar:
The

same standard limits the throat thickness to a maximum of 0.3 x bar dia. Thus, by taking 0.87 fy = 435
N/mm2 and fw =160 N/mm2, the required weld length to give the bar capacity can be calculated from the
equation above.
Column 5 gives the required length of a single weld. However, most bars are welded both sides to avoid
eccentricity, and column 6 gives the required length of ‘full area’ double welds. Welds however are not
square ended, and an allowance (col 7) must be made for non-effective weld of smaller area, usually
called ‘run-off’. Typically this is (φ / 2), giving final values as shown in column 8.
The

current standard, BS EN ISO 17660-1:2006 ‘Welding of reinforcing steel – Part 1: Load bearing welded
joints’ simplifies this design further by simply stating that a weld length of ‘four x bar dia’ (col 9) will give
full bar capacity. Comparison of cols 8 & 9 show the close similarity of the results. The current standard
refers to these welds as ‘side lap welds’, rather than using the traditional terminology. Unfortunately the

©2013 Cliff Billington on behalf of J&P Building Systems Ltd

Key2Concrete and J&P Building Systems: The content of this website and of the documents accessible within it, is provided in good faith. While every effort has been made to ensure that the contents are correct at the time of writing, details do
change. Amendments will be made as and when necessary; website users and readers are advised to check for the latest edition. J&P Building Systems are not liable for any inaccuracies in the information provided. All advice from Key2Concrete
and J&P is intended for use in the UK only by those who will evaluate the significance and limitations of its contents and take responsibility for its use and application. No liability (including that for negligence) for any loss resulting from such
advice or information is accepted.
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standard gives no guidance at all on designing welds that either do not require full capacity, or cannot
accommodate the full weld length.
The standard makes no distinction over the direction of loading. In practice, if the load is along the axis
of the weld, then the weld is in shear only. If the load is perpendicular to the axis then there is also a
tension component as the weld tries to ‘roll’. Since the weld is stronger in tension than shear, then the
strength actually increases by as much as 50%, and detailed analysis can make use of this
enhancement. There is a corresponding reduction in deformation before failure, and this would need to
be taken into account for situations where overload may occur. It is though normal to use the
conservative method and design on the basis of shear only.
Whilst giving basic general guidance on weld design, this guidance is not authoritative and, as with most
Key2concrete data sheets, does not constitute a design. Weld specification/design should only be
carried out by competent people using the appropriate standards. Equally important is making sure that
the welding is carried out only by qualified and experienced welders using the correct materials and
techniques.

©2013 Cliff Billington on behalf of J&P Building Systems Ltd

Key2Concrete and J&P Building Systems: The content of this website and of the documents accessible within it, is provided in good faith. While every effort has been made to ensure that the contents are correct at the time of writing, details do
change. Amendments will be made as and when necessary; website users and readers are advised to check for the latest edition. J&P Building Systems are not liable for any inaccuracies in the information provided. All advice from Key2Concrete
and J&P is intended for use in the UK only by those who will evaluate the significance and limitations of its contents and take responsibility for its use and application. No liability (including that for negligence) for any loss resulting from such
advice or information is accepted.