Which feature is placed in parentheses on the weld symbol?

Which feature is placed in parentheses on the weld symbol?

• A. Effective throat size
• B. Groove weld size
• C. Height of the weld face
• D. Size of the fillet

Answer: (A)

On a weld symbol, dimensions in parentheses indicate the effective throat size—the part of the weld that actually carries the load. For fillet welds, the throat is the minimum cross-sectional thickness that resists shear, which is often smaller than the leg size. By putting the effective throat dimension in parentheses, the drawing communicates the strength-critical measurement used for design, independent of the visible leg lengths. The other features—groove weld size, height of the weld face, or fillet size—are not conveyed this way on the symbol, or are defined differently.

On a weld symbol, dimensions in parentheses indicate the effective throat size—the part of the weld that actually carries the load. For fillet welds, the throat is the minimum cross-sectional thickness that resists shear, which is often smaller than the leg size. By putting the effective throat dimension in parentheses, the drawing communicates the strength-critical measurement used for design, independent of the visible leg lengths. The other features—groove weld size, height of the weld face, or fillet size—are not conveyed this way on the symbol, or are defined differently.