Welding of steel sheet piles

Brochure with details of welding specifications and welding procedures specific to steel sheet piles

Installation of continuous steel sheet piling and bearing piles may call for site welding and cutting. 

This document offers recommendations and guidelines on welding problems encountered when making the more common assemblies, to supplement the information in EN 12063 and EN 12699.

The welding and cutting operations described relate to ProfilARBED hot rolled U and Z sheet piles and HP bearing piles, and standard structural steel fittings. 

Procedures for AS 500 straight web junction piles and HZ bearing piles need special approval and are not dealt with herein.

This brochure is available in 3 languages: English, German and French.

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en English AMCRPS_Welding of steel sheet piles.pdf
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Welder Qualification

All thermal cutting, welding and straightening operations described herein shall generally be performed by experienced operators. Except as otherwise specified: 

  • welds of acceptance class D to EN 25817 shall be performed by experienced welders; 
  • welds of acceptance class C to EN 25817 shall be performed by welders qualified to EN 287-1/A1. (The same qualification requirements apply to the performance of tack welds.)

 

Constructional Details

Site assemblies must be designed to keep welding simple and not needlessly complex. 

Appropriate measures must be taken to keep to a minimum welding distorsions caused by heat input and needing subsequent straightening of the welded parts. 

Constructional detail: 

  • Lap welding is simplest and is recommended for site welds. 
  • Product tolerances must be to EN 10248-2.

Steel Weldability

Steel weldability is dependent on many factors such as the weld heat input. The heat input from the arc slows the critical cooling rate of sheet pile steel and thereby reduces the risk of cold cracking. 

The following tables show the recommended minimum heat input for welding without preheating of ProfilARBED sheet pile shapes and HP piles according to steel grades. 

Shaded boxes in the tables show where preheat may be necessary when the minimum heat input is not achieved for standard size electrodes (diameter 4-5 mm). 

When joining dissimilar steels, the steel requiring the higher welding energy is taken. In cold weather (below freezing), preheating to at least 80 °C is necessary, regardless of steel grade.