Abstract
This study presents a new method to derive the constraint coefficient from the degree of angular deformation caused by welding, as measured experimentally by varying the shape of welded joints and the magnitude of constraints and from analysis results given by the elastic FEM method. The equivalent load was then calculated with this constraint coefficient. The validity of the numerical analysis involved in this new method was confirmed by its agreement with the experimental results. As for the effects of the constraints based on the shape of the welded joints in the case of Butt welding when the constraint coefficients are not considered, the deformed quantity produced by analysis is larger that produced by experiment and consequently is largely affected by the constraints. However, in the case of Fillet welding, the deformed quantity is seldom affected regardless of constraint coefficient considerations.
