General Information on Welding

T-FLEX CAD allows us to create three types of elements intended for design of welded parts:

•welded seam types,

•welded seams,

•welded seam captions.

All these elements are interconnected. The structure of connections between them is displayed in the tree of welded seams in the system’s service window Weld.

Welded seam type – a special element of T-FLEX CAD that itself stores characteristics (description, name, regulatory norms, geometric parameters) of the welded seam used in the current document of T-FLEX CAD. T-FLEX CAD document can contain several types of welded seams.

Welded seam types created in the current document of T-FLEX CAD are common for 2D and 3D welded seams.

Welded seams types required in the current document are determined by the user. To specify characteristics of the welded seam types it is possible to use the standard database of welded joints that is available in the system. If necessary, the user can specify arbitrary characteristics.

The types of welded seams created on the basis of welded joints of T-FLEX CAD are stored in the current document of T-FLEX CAD. But the connection with the database is not stored. This method of storage of welded seam types allows us not to worry about the presence of welding database when transferring the document.

Specifying only the types of welded seams is not sufficient for design of welded parts. The types determine which welded seams can be present in the current document of T-FLEX CAD, but they do not specify the welded seams themselves. Using the welded seam types specified in the document, the user has to create other elements of T-FLEX CAD – welded seams.

Welded seam – element of T‑FLEX CAD that defines the welded joint existing in the given drawing (or 3D model). In T-FLEX CAD the welded seams are divided into 2D welded seams and 3D welded seams depending on method of specification.

This chapter describes only 2D welded seams, i.e., the seams that are not directly connected with the elements of a 3D model.

When creating the welded seam, the user indicates to which of the types predetermined in the given document the given seam refers. In doing so the basic characteristics of the created welded seam are defined − they will be taken from the parameters of the specified type. If needed, the user can specify a number of individual parameters for a welded seam that are not defined in the corresponding type.

2D welded seam can be both free and associated with 2D drawing’s elements (graphic lines or paths). Free seam is determined only by its type and, if necessary, by the individual parameters. It is not associated with a 2D drawing, but it is present in the current document, displayed in a welded seams tree and taken into account when making the welded seams table. The length of such a weld is defined by the user.

If, when creating a 2D welded seam, we specify the elements of a drawing with which the seam must be associated, then in the future these elements will be treated as the image of the given welded seam on the 2D drawing. The length of such a welded seam can be either specified by the user or automatically calculated by the system based on the length of 2D elements with which it is associated.

When creating a welded seam, the user must determine whether the welded seam being created will be indicated on the drawing. If yes, then upon seam creation the user should indicate the drawing’s elements which will be the image of the welded seam. Otherwise, it is sufficient to create free, i.e., not associated with any drawing’s elements, welded seam.

Welded seam caption – a special element of the Leader Note type, which serves for designation of the welded seam on the drawing. To create a welded seam caption, an additional command is used. It constitutes an adapted version of the command for creating notes. Caption is automatically generated on the basis of parameters of the indicated welded seam. If necessary, the user can edit parameters of the note-caption of the welded seam. In the future created note-caption retains connection with the parameters of the welded seam.

From welded seams created in the current document a table of welded seams can be created. Welded seam table constitutes a text report about welded seams generated in the current document. The contents of the welded seam table (available types of seams, number of seams of each type, the total length of the seams of each type) are created automatically by the system. The table can be created in the current document of T-FLEX CAD and also exported to the Excel document. If necessary, the user can specify his own ways of creation of the welded seam table by creating corresponding macros.