PMSS Project Details

Project ID:	FHWA-PROJ-11-0018
Project Name:	Optimized Welds for High-Performing Steel Grade 100 Weathering (HPS100W) Steels
Status:	Active
Contact:	Last Name: Ocel First Name: Justin Telephone: 202-493-3080 E-mail: justin.ocel@dot.gov
Organization:	Federal Highway Administration - Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC)
Office:	Office of Infrastructure Research and Development
Team:	Bridge and Foundation Engineering Team
Roadmap/Focus area(s):	Infrastructure Research and Technology Strategic Plan and Roadmap
Project Description:	This project will determine the optimal width-to-thickness ratio of 1-inch thick high-performing steel grade 100 weathering (HPS100W) plates welded together with undermatching weld consumables.
Laboratories:	Not Applicable
Start Date:	March 14, 2011
End Date:	September 30, 2011
Funding Amount:	$46,227.00
FHWA Program Name:	High-Performing Steel Bridge
Goals:	To determine the optimized proportioning of welds, in terms of their width-to-thickness ratio, such that high-performing steel grade 100 weathering (HPS100W) steels would be fully developed using undermatched weld consumables. To be fully developed means the plate would yield prior to fracture of the weld. For plates 1.5 inches thick, the optimal width-to-thickness ratio was seven, but for 1-inch thick plates this was not optimal. Therefore, two more tests need to be conducted at width-to-thickness ratios of 12 and 16 to determine the optimal ratio for the thinner plates.
Project Type:	Offsite
Background Information:	In the 1990s, the Federal Highway Administration, along with the American Iron and Steel Institute and the U.S. Navy, set forth to create a new grade of steel termed high-performing steel (HPS). The high-performing steel grades were to have strengths in excess of 50 kilo-pound-force per square inch (ksi) yield, to be easily weldable, to be weathering, and to have toughness that would meet typical inservice environments for U.S. bridges. In the end, three grades were developed with yield strengths of 50, 70, and 100 ksi. At the time of development, the welding consumables of HPS had not matured to have the same strength levels, toughness, and weathering capabilities needed to weld the high-performing steel grade 100. One thought was to use 90 ksi undermatching weld consumables that meet toughness requirements and proportioning the weld size such that it developed internal constraint that would raise the apparent yield strength of the weld. The necessary constraint level was created by ensuring that a critical width-to-thickness ratio was met, which would cause the base metal to yield before fracture of the weld. Tests were conducted at Lehigh University, located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 2002. The university found that undermatched strength welds (90 ksi yield) could develop the higher yield strength of high-performing steel grade 100 weathering (HPS100W) parent material (greater than 100 ksi yield) provided the weld had an optimal width-to-thickness of 7 for 1.5-inch thick plates, but the optimal ratio was never identified for 1-inch thick plates. Therefore, a need exists to conduct two more tests of 1-inch thick plates at width-to-thickness ratios of 12 and 16.
Test Methodology:	Full-scale experimental.
Other Information:	Data not yet available
Partners:	Data not yet available
More Information URL(s):
Fieldtest:	Data not yet available
Expected Benefits:	The expected benefit is less expensive steel bridge fabrication due to using less expensive weld consumables.
Deliverables:	Name: Final research report. Product Type(s): Techbrief Description: The deliverable will be a final report submitted by the contracted agency to outline their experimental approach to the problem and conclusion. Audiences: Researchers, Bridge design professionals, State highway agencies Secondary Audiences:
Related URL(s):
Project Findings:	Data not yet available
FHWA Topics:	Roads and Bridges--Design Roads and Bridges--Structures Research/Technologies--Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC)
TRT Terms:	Welding Steel Infrastructure Research Bridges Steel Bridges
FHWA Disciplines:	Structures
Subject Areas:	Bridges and other structures Research Design