RE-APPFLAISAL ANALYSIS OF WELDED JOINTS; DEFECT-TOLERANCE APPROACH

The term fracture is a vague word used to describe the condition of obsoleteness of a structure. For welded joints, this term could take several forms of definitions. Therefore, it is of great importance to define this term, within a certain servicability condition. This is due to the fact that the welding process will produce a monolithic state in the weldedjoints and that fracture initiation in even a minor part can lead to catastrophic consequences. Also, the fact that there is no welded defect-free structures, thus the designer has no option but to reside himself to the so-called defect-tolerance Approach.
In a country which applies different schools of quality assurance as for example, Egypt, unification of the different cods and specifi-cations of welding industry, is required. This unification should lead to the evolution of the Egyptian code of practice and hence the Egyptian Welding Standards and Specifications. This task is to be carried out with the aid of the defect-tolerance approach, proposed and discussed in the present paper.