Strength of welded joints under combined shear and out-of-plane bending

An experimental and analytical research program was conducted with the objective of investigating the response of welded joints loaded under combined out-of-plane bending and shear. A database of test results, including 60 tests from the University of California in Davis, eight tests from an early research program at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, and 24 tests from Universite Laval in Ste.-Foy, was used to evaluate several strength prediction models and the current North American design approaches. This work was complemented by a reliability analysis to assess the level of safely provided by these design approaches. It was determined that both the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC) and the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) approaches provide remarkably conservative predictions of the test results, especially for cases where the welded plate thickness is large. Although a modified version of an approach proposed by earlier investigators in 1972 and based on the method of instantaneous centre of rotation provides an accurate prediction of test results, a simpler strength calculation model that does not require an iterative approach is proposed as a substitute for the current design approaches. The proposed approach provides the desired level of safety for the design of welded joints loaded in shear and out-of-plane bending.