title = "Weld Joint Design and Groove Geometry"

content = """
Weld joint design specifies the geometry of the joint between two pieces of metal before welding. Proper joint design ensures adequate fusion, effective use of filler metal, accessibility for the welder, and structural performance of the completed weld. At Ridgecrest Metalworks, joint designs are specified on engineering drawings and in Welding Procedure Specifications (WPS).

The five basic joint types are: butt joint (two pieces aligned in the same plane, edge-to-edge); T-joint (one piece perpendicular to the face of another); corner joint (two pieces meeting at a corner, approximately 90 degrees); lap joint (two pieces overlapping); and edge joint (edges of two parallel pieces joined). Each joint type can be welded with several groove or fillet configurations.

Groove welds fill a groove between the edges of two pieces. For thin material (typically under 3/16 inch / 5 mm), a square groove (no beveling required) can be welded with full penetration in a single pass. Thicker materials require edge preparation to create a groove that allows the electrode and arc to access the root of the joint for full penetration fusion. Common groove preparations: V-groove (one or both pieces beveled to form a V shape), double-V-groove (V on both sides, reducing filler metal volume for thick plates), J-groove and U-groove (curved preparations that require less filler metal than V-grooves and are used for thick sections in high-deposition applications).

Groove angle, root opening, root face, and land dimensions must be specified precisely. The root opening (gap between pieces) ensures root penetration but must not be so large that burn-through occurs on the first pass. Root face (the flat land left at the bottom of a bevel) provides a surface for the root pass. Standard groove angles: 60-degree included angle for V-groove is common for manual welding.

Fillet welds join surfaces meeting at an angle without edge preparation. Fillet weld size (leg size) must be adequate for the required throat dimension and loading. AWS D1.1 Structural Welding Code specifies minimum fillet weld sizes based on base metal thickness.

Prequalified joint designs in AWS D1.1 are tested joint configurations that do not require individual procedure qualification testing; they are used widely at Ridgecrest for standard structural steel work.
"""

version = "0.0.1"
