Weld symbol
Bevel groove weld symbol
Half a vee - one vertical leg and one sloped face - means only one member is prepared. A broken arrow points at the member that gets the bevel, because the symbol alone cannot say.
Reads asArrow side: bevel-groove weld, 3/8 size, 45° groove angle, 1/8 root opening.
How to read it
The bevel groove symbol is drawn with its perpendicular leg on the left and the sloped face on the right. The vertical leg represents the member left square and the slope represents the member that is cut back. That is a drafting convention and it is always drawn that way, so the picture does not tell you which physical member on the part gets prepared.
That is why bevel groove callouts are usually drawn with a break in the arrow leader. The kink in the arrow is a pointer: the member the broken arrow swings toward is the one to bevel. When both members are the same and it genuinely does not matter, the arrow may be drawn straight, but on a joint of two different sections the break is the only thing that resolves the ambiguity.
The angle beyond the sloped face is the bevel angle, measured from the prepared face to the plane of the plate surface, and it is a single-member angle rather than an included angle across the joint. That is the practical difference from a V-groove: a 45 degree bevel and a 45 degree vee are not the same preparation, since the vee's 45 is split between two faces.
The root opening sits inside the symbol and the groove weld size sits to the left, exactly as on any groove. Bevel grooves are common on tee and corner joints where the through member cannot be cut, and on joints where a single-sided preparation is enough to reach the root with a backing bar or a back weld behind it.
Where each dimension goes
- Bevel angle (beyond the sloped face)
- Angle of the single prepared face relative to the plate surface. It is not an included angle across both members.
- Root opening (inside the symbol)
- Gap left at the root between the prepared face and the square member.
- Groove weld size (left of the symbol)
- Depth of the joint filled by weld metal, measured from the prepared face inward.
- Broken arrow
- The kink in the leader points at the member that gets bevelled, which the symbol shape cannot convey.
Worked examples
Each one is a drawing, the sentence it comes out as, and then the mark-by-mark account of why. Read the sheet first and say the sentence yourself before you look down.
Example 1: Bevel groove with a broken arrow
TitleBevel groove with a broken arrowRefBevel grooveEx1 / 2Reads as
Bevel the member the broken arrow points to at 45 degrees and fill 1/2 deep.
Which mark says so
- bevel-groove symbolBelow the reference lineA bevel-groove weld on the arrow side of the joint
- 1/2Left of the symbolGroove weld size - how deep the weld itself goes
- 45°Beyond the outer face of the symbolIncluded angle the joint is prepared to
- 1/4Inside the symbolRoot opening - the gap left between the members before welding
- Broken leaderOn the arrow itselfThe arrow points at the member to be prepared
The break in the leader is what identifies the prepared member. The 45 beyond the sloped face is that member's bevel angle and the 1/2 to the left is the depth filled.
And what it does not say
- No length is given, so each weld runs the full length of the joint.
- Nothing sits above the reference line, so the far face of the joint stays bare.
- There is no circle at the elbow, so the weld does not continue around the joint.
Example 2: Bevel groove reinforced with a fillet
TitleBevel groove reinforced with a filletRefBevel grooveEx2 / 2Reads as
Weld a 3/8 deep bevel groove and cap it with a 1/4 fillet on the same side.
Which mark says so
- bevel-groove symbolBelow the reference lineA bevel-groove weld on the arrow side of the joint
- 3/8Left of the arrow-side symbolGroove weld size - how deep the weld itself goes
- 45°Beyond the outer face of the arrow-side symbolIncluded angle the joint is prepared to
- fillet symbolAbove the reference lineA fillet weld on the far side of the joint
- 1/4Left of the other-side symbolLeg size of the fillet
A bevel groove and a fillet on the same side of the reference line describe a combined weld: the groove fills the preparation and the fillet builds the transition at the toe.
And what it does not say
- No length is given, so each weld runs the full length of the joint.
- There is no circle at the elbow, so the weld does not continue around the joint.
Common mistakes
- Bevelling whichever member looks convenient instead of the one the broken arrow indicates.
- Reading the bevel angle as an included angle and cutting only half the preparation.
- Assuming the perpendicular leg on the left of the symbol shows which side of the joint is square on the part.
- Leaving no root opening on a single-sided bevel with nothing behind it, which strands the root unfused.