ULTIMATE STRENGTH OF ECCENTRICALLY LOADED FILLET WELDED CONNECTIONS.

Fillet welded connections are frequently loaded eccentrically in shear with the externally applied load in the same plane as the weld group. Some methods of analysis used in the past were basically incorrect because they mixed inelastic and elastic analyses. They also gave very conservative and variable margins of safety. Connection design is now customarily based on ultimate strength. A method is developed to predict the ultimate strength of eccentrically loaded fillet welded connections based upon load-deformation characteristics of fillet welds and the fulfilment of equilibrium and compatibility conditions. This method is compared with current design tables and with full-scale tests of others. An expression is developed for the ultimate strength of fillet welds loaded in shear for any loading direction. Using this expression, design tables for eccentrically loaded fillet welded connections are proposed. Recognition of the increased strength of fillet welds loaded other than longitudinally leads to more consistent margins of safety.