Spliced W Beam by Fabricator

[Fish83]

I had called out 30ft long W beams for this job. After a visit to the site, I noticed that the beams had been spliced by the fabricator. Is it common for the fabricator to shop splice a 30ft beam?

One beam is noticeably spliced and was not aligned when welded, with approximately a 1/8" offset from one web to the other. AISC standard code of practice did not seem to address this. Is there a guide or standard that would provide acceptable tolerances?

Thanks in advance.

 

[JAE]

I'd at least have the welds tested.

Is this for static loading or dynamic loading?

 

[Fish83]

It is statically loaded.

 

[cntw1953]

What is thickness of the web? The offset has created a weak, distorted plane that would restrict the stress flow path, resulting in higher stress on reduced contact area. On top of test, I think you need to look deeper into it to see if there is detrimental local effects.

 

[Ron]

For a non-planned splice, the welds should be complete penetration and there should be no offset. As JAE noted, get tested. If the flange and web are over 5/16" then you can use ultrasonics...if thinner, use radiography. Accept/reject according to AWS criteria.

 

[BAretired]

The beam is not acceptable and should be rejected out of hand because you were not advised of the splice and only found out by accident. This is not an acceptable practice by the fabricator.

BA

 

[hokie66]

I concur with BA. If the splice was not shown on the shop drawings, reject it, especially since it is not even lined up.

 

[fabengr]

As a fabricator there should have been an RFI requesting the splice and if approved the splice should have been shown on the shop drawing. The best guidence regrading any code support for this statement is that a splice is a connection and Section 3.1.2 covers connection design.
One thing you need to consider regarding rejection of the member out right is impact to the project. Is the member erected?

 

[DWHA]

I would request that the fabricator supply a letter with their S.E.'s seal stating that the beam is adequate for the loading.

 

[Stillerz]

Quite ridiculous to splice a 30' beam. Flat out asinine.
The fabricator did this to all the beams?
They are either fixing a cutting mistake or trying to save some money on material. Either way, this is ridiculous. The fact they didn't issue an RFI pretty much proves they tried to sneak it by you.

 

[Stillerz]

The top half of the web weld even looks porous in the picture !!!

 

[Ron]

After looking at the photo, I would reject it for several reasons...
1. Misalignment
2. Poor weld quality in the vertical web weld (undercut or underfilled...can't tell because of paint)
3. No radius on the web cut

 

[dik]

I think rejecting it outright is a little extreme. The fabricator should produce a letter from his engineer saying it is OK and have him do whatever testing is required. Think of the RFI as an oversight, not cheating. I have a standard note that covers splices in steel beams.

Splicing a 30' beam is not unusual, if there are a lot of them. Beams come from the mill in 18m lengths in our neighbourhood. Cutting 30' leavesa whole bunch of them at just less than 30'.

Dik

 

[Stillerz]

60' beams are pretty regular...I order a lot of them.
30' nominal length beams are usually not quite 30' long.

 

[cntw1953]

The welder has done a decent job on flanges. However, the web weld may require repair done.

 

[paddingtongreen]

Reject the beams and tell the fabricator that his only out is to add the connection to the detail drawings; show that UT or RT was performed and was examined by, at least, a Level ll inspector; obtain for the record, a PE sealed opinion that the beams are, at least, the equivalent of new steel beams.

Michael.
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

 

[seedyw]

Is that splice vertical or is it shiplapped. It looks like it may be the latter. seedyw

 

[SteelPE]

Can you think of a reason why the beam was spliced?

I would think it would be less expensive to order a new beam than to do a shop splice and risk rejection from the engineer. Something doesn’t make sense.

 

[Fish83]

The splice was shiplapped and done with several beams, but only one was misaligned this bad. I have attached another pic from the other side. It seems to be more out of line on this side, or maybe just the camera angle.

The beam is already in and we do not want to have to reject it. The beam is in a really tight place that would halt construction.

We are thinking about adding additional plates to the web. Thank you for all your input.

 

[cntw1953]

I guess the splice is located near the inflection point, judged by the necking of flanges. If that is the case, it may have some wriggle room.