Weld concepts

Model welds are displayed as weld marks and welds or weld seams in drawings. Welds and weld marks can be controlled separately. For example, you may want to show the welds in one drawing view and the weld marks in another.

3D model welds are representations of welds in the real world. Weld solids in drawings are representations of the welds in models. Weld seam is the part of the weld path where the weld solid is drawn. Weld path may consist of several weld seams.

Weld solids are shown in drawings for the following welds:

• Weld solids are shown in drawings for those weld types that have real solid support. Welds that have no real solid support are shown in the model with a hexagonal placeholder, and in drawings weld solids are not shown.

• Custom cross-section welds are also supported.

Weld solids can be shown as outlines or paths, with or without hidden lines.

In the first example, the welds on the right and in the middle are drawn with outlines and own hidden lines. The weld on the left shows the weld path and hidden lines:

The second example is a cross-section of the structure. The welds on the left and in the middle are drawn with outlines, and the weld on the right shows the path. The weld dimensions have been added manually.

The weld symbols inside the weld marks indicate the weld properties defined for the model weld in the model or for the drawing weld mark in the drawing. Below is an example of a model weld seam (in red) and a model weld mark (in green) in a drawing.

In addition to the weld symbols, the weld mark contains a reference line and an arrow. The arrow connects the reference line to the arrow side of a connection. The welds on the arrow and other sides of a part can have different weld properties.

Weld placement

When parts are welded together, you can place welds on:

• The arrow sides only

• The other sides only

• Both the arrow and other sides

The following images describe the basic placement principles of welds.

(1) Above line

(2) Below line

(3) Arrow side for weld

(4) Other side for weld

By default Tekla Structures places the welds above line according to the ISO standard. You can change this to below line to comply with the AISC standard with the advanced option XS_AISC_WELD_MARK.

Model weld properties

To change model weld properties, you need to modify the weld in the model. When you update the model, the weld objects and weld marks are updated in the drawing according to the model changes. In drawings, you can modify the contents and the appearance of the model weld marks , and the visibility, representation and appearance of model weld objects.

Weld solids can be shown in single-part, assembly and general arrangement drawings. In general arrangement drawings, you can only change the representation of welds on view and object level, not on drawing level.

Manual weld marks

To add weld marks in an open drawing:

• Select the welds and add a model weld mark through the pop-up menu command Add Weld Mark.

• Add a drawing weld mark by using the Weld mark command on the Drawing tab.

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