You are welding a three inch long "tee" joint. You start on the left side at point "A" , and finish the left side at point "B".
You then immediately move to the right side, and weld from point "A" to point "B".
In what direction will the upright tend to distort? Will the distortion be uniform from A to B, or will that also distort (creating a twist)?
Thanks,
Jon
If you don't tack it strongly, it may distort before you reach B. If you don't clamp or tack the other side, distortion can be from A to B PLUS pulling over towards the welded side from the unwelded side. The distortion will be a pulling of the metal towards the hot side.
HTH
Steve
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Most of the distortion is set up in the first few seconds after you move on. It has to finish cooling to finish the distortion but the parameters are all set up. And it will always pull toward the earliest heat. In your case it will warp heavily toward the left and mildly toward "A'. Heavy tack welds will help but not cure it.
Sometimes if the welder does enough of these, or enough of these in a row, it is possible to set the pieces intentionally out of square and let them distort in. If the second side is to be welded, there will be a lot less distortion on that side, as the first side has a lot of metal holding it back.
Steve
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