Which welding process is excluded from calculating the effective throat for fillet welds?

• A. Submerged Arc Welding (SAW)
• B. Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW)
• C. Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW)
• D. Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW)

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is how fillet-weld strength is assessed using the throat, and how the weld process affects whether that throat measure applies. For most common welding processes, the fillet weld’s load-carrying capability is estimated using the effective throat—the shortest distance from the weld root to the face of the weld. This dimension reliably represents the cross-sectional area that resists shear for those welds, so it’s the standard measure used in designing fillet welds when SMAW, GTAW, or GMAW are involved.

Submerged arc welding, however, often produces heavy, multi-pass beads with significant and variable reinforcement. Because the weld geometry can be complex and not consistently represented by a single, well-defined throat, the concept of an “effective throat” isn’t a reliable or practical basis for calculating strength for SAW fillets. In practice, SAW welds are evaluated using other design approaches or cross-sectional measures rather than the standard effective throat.

So, the process excluded from calculating the effective throat for fillet welds is Submerged Arc Welding.