I know butt welding is much stronger than lap welding. But I found that the bottom and roof of storage tanks are welded as lap welding. What is the reason behind this?
Answers
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04/05/2010
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A:
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keith bowers, B and B Consulting, kebowers47@gmail.com
Joint strength is a key and vital issue in tank walls because hoop stress is so high and determines steel strength requirements (thickness and tensile strength).
Roofs and bottoms are low stress and joint efficiency (strength) is not a critical factor. Bottoms just sit there (except for where sides attach), with very low stress, and roofs only have to stay up.
In both cases, joint strength is not a design critical factor and a lap joints are much easier to make (much less precision in cutting panels) and thus less costly.
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