Metric and Imperial Units

The above welding stress equations may be used with both imperial and metric units. As with all mathematical calculations care must be taken to keep consistent units throughout. Examples of units which could be adopted have been provided below:

Notation

• b = width of weld, in or mm
• i = number of welds
• L = length of welds, in or mm
• P = total axial force, kip or kN
• s = plate thickness, in or mm
• τ_z = shear stress in weld base area, psi or MPa
• τ_o = shear stress in weld peripheral area, psi or MPa