Welding High Strength Bolts Blog Archive Ask the Expert

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Welding High Strength Bolts

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Question: Can welding be performed on high strength anchor
bolts and fasteners?

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Answer: The short answer is

that in most cases, welding is

anchor bolts (7)

not allowed on high strength

Application (2)

bolts. In the fastener industry,

ASTM (36)

the term high strength

Bolt Industry (12)

typically refers to any medium

Certification and Testing (7)

carbon or alloy material which

Galvanizing Bolts (8)

undergoes a heat treating

Manufacturing (8)

process to develop the strength properties necessary to meet the

Nuts (3)

requirements of a given specification. These ASTM specifications

Portland Bolt (9)

include A449, A325, A193 grade B7, F1554 grade 105, A354

Technical (28)

grades BC and BD, and A490 among others. When heat is

Uncategorized (3)

reapplied to a bolt that has been heat treated, it is probable that the

Washers (4)

physical properties (strength) of the bolt may be altered. When heat

Authors

is applied in an uncontrolled environment, it is impossible to

determine what effect this application of heat has had on the

Anthony Porreco

fastener. Therefore, welding to high strength bolts is not

Dane McKinnon

recommended.

Derek Marquez
Gary Rusynyk

Three references occur to back up this statement.

Section 4.5.1 of the AISC Design Guide 21 addresses most ASTM
anchor rod specifications individually and prohibits the welding of all
quenched and tempered grades.

Greg Lindsay
John Wunderlich
Jonathan Todd
Kailey Anderson
Kyle Pettijohn

On page 4-4 of the Ninth Edition of the AISC Manual (American

Michael Gordian

Institute of Steel Construction), the following statement occurs:

Mike Monlux
Steven Wallenstein

Anchor bolt material that is quenched and tempered (heat

treated) should not be welded or heated.

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The third reference prohibiting the heating of high strength bolts

(which would occur during welding) can be found in the ASTM
F1554 specification. Section 6.4.3 of the ASTM F1554 specification
states:

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Hot bending performed on heat-treated bar stock shall not

have the temperature come within 100F (56C) of the
tempering (stress relieve) temperature of the heat-treat process

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at any location during hot bending and shall be allowed to air

cool after bending.
Although this statement refers to hot bending, it implies that any process (including welding) that applies heat
approaching or exceeding the tempering temperature to a high strength bolt may potentially alter the mechanical
properties of the fastener and should therefore be avoided.
The issue of reheating high strength bolts when welding can be avoided by performing the welding operation prior to
the fastener undergoing the heat treating process. In other words a plate, nut, or other component can be welded to
a bolt prior to the fastener being heat treated. However, this must be performed by a fastener manufacturer and
eliminates the ability for high strength bolts to be welded in the field or by another company once the bolts have
been tested and certified to meet a particular ASTM specification.

Posted by Greg Lindsay

Phone: (800) 599-0565

Email: greg@portlandbolt.com

View other posts by Greg Lindsay

Posted on Friday, November 4th, 2011 by Greg Lindsay. Filed under Technical. Comments may be followed using the RSS 2.0 feed.

The below content is submitted by readers and has not been researched or checked for accuracy. It is not endorsed in any way by
Portland Bolt.

10 Responses to Welding High Strength Bolts

1.

Procyon Systems Inc Calgary says:

Dane McKinnon says
Hello Dane,
My Designers quoted AISC 9th Edition page 588 where it is noted Heat treated and Quenched bolts
should not be heated or welded.
We are Designers in between Client and Engineers. Client sides, ..ah but cannot proceed..
Engineer who stamps cannot approve. Please note that these are bolts used for LIFT LUGS of a skid
which weighs more than 200 tons. 10 lifting lugs and 40 bolts.
Thanks
Siva
June 15, 2012 at 3:03 pm

2.

Dane McKinnon says:

@Procyon Systems Common? Perhaps. Prohibited? Likely. Every application will have its own
reasons for or against this procedure. If the fastener is being used in such a way that its being
compromised does not adversely affect its function, then the engineer may decide that it is acceptable in

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that specific case. Generally speaking however, the AISC does not condone welding to high strength,
heat treated materials. As always, the project engineer should be consulted.
May 31, 2012 at 8:34 am

3.

Procyon Systems Inc Calgary says:

Hi,
It is is said that it is common practice (In western Canada) to weld high strength lifting lug bolts (probably
A325)
1. two tack welds on the bottom
2. seal weld where it comes out of the beam or plate. and flush grind
this is because the skid under side is sprayed insulation foam.
they want the bolts located and retained before the spray.
two they want the seal weld to prevent leakage from skid floor.
Is it common?
Is it prohibited?
Thanks
Designer
May 29, 2012 at 2:25 pm

4.

Troy C. says:
Can you tell me if an A615 Grade 75 threaded anchor bolt can be heated and straightened without
reducing the strength. We have several bars that are roughly 8 long which are bent about 1/2 out of
straight over the last 1 -6 foot of length.
October 22, 2008 at 12:12 pm

5.

Adam Oakley says:

@Ted Welti: High strength nuts used with A325 bolts are heat treated and should not be taken past their
tempering temperature (i.e. welding), since this can change the mechanical properties. Although, we
often see engineers designs that include high strength nuts welded to plates. The main concern is that it
is impossible to know, without testing, what effect the welding will have on the nuts strength. Many
believe that a few tack welds will not significantly alter the strength of the nut. We have no engineers on
staff and dont make any recommendations about this method.
October 8, 2008 at 4:04 pm

6.

Ted Welti says:

Is it allowed to weld a nut to the back side of a steel plate for a slip-critical ASTM A325 bolt connection?
There would be no welding done to the bolt itself, just the nut. The nut would be centered over a hole in
the steel plate and welded to the plate in the shop. This is so in the field the bolt could be installed
without access to the backside to hold the nut from spinning when the bolt was tightened. This is for
attaching a brick shelf angle to the outside of a cold-formed steel wall that will be sheathed in the shop
before being tilted into place in the field.
October 8, 2008 at 9:04 am

7.

Adam Oakley says:

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@Soo: A307 grade C is usually made from A36 steel which is weldable. Dont forget that ASTM has
removed grade C from A307 and replaced it with F1554 grade 36.
July 8, 2008 at 8:09 am

8.

Soo says:
what about ASTM A307 grade C..?
is it possible to re-use anchor bolts after welding?
July 8, 2008 at 12:15 am

9.

Adam Oakley says:

@Ben Valdez: Any quenched and tempered bolt that has a minimum tensile strength lower than 150ksi
can be galvanized. There is no problem galvanizing A193 B7. However, any quenched and tempered
fastener (A193 grade B7 included) that develops its strength properties through a heat treating process
should not be welded. If you need to weld to the fastener, the highest strength bolt available would be
F1554 grade 55.
April 23, 2008 at 8:33 am

10.

Ben Valdez says:

I am looking for bolts that are close to ASTM A193
B7 that are weldable and can be galvanized.
April 22, 2008 at 1:22 pm

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