welding to light-gage framing

huangyhg

welding to light-gage framing
when welding a36 steel deck angle to light-gage framing, is there a minimum gage required?  where can i find such limitations?  thanks.

aisc 13th ed. pg 16.1-96
max size of fillet welds of connected parts shall be:
a) along edges of material less than 1/4" in thick, not greater than the thickness of the material.
so i guess it depends on what you want your weld thickness to be.
thanks for the post dwha:
does that apply to light-gage framing?  i know there are aisi (american iron and steel institute) standards that specifically apply to cold-formed steel.
if i use 16 gage steel studs, and i can get enough strength based on only using an effective weld thickness of 0.0566", is that ok?  i didn't know if there were limitation to how "thin" you can weld material.   
you typically want to avoid welding to light-gauge   
justiniowa,
i just so happened to tour a light gage manufacturer's operation today and he told me that welding to anything thinner than 18 gage (which corresponds to 43 mils) isn't recommended.  in fact, i watched them put together some pre-fabricated wall panels that had all welded connections.  so it appears to me that it is ok as long as you adhere to the aforementioned guideline.
abusementpark,
thanks for the post.  typically i try to avoid welding to structural studs, but in this case it was during construction and was unavoidable.  great information!
the welder and wps should be certified per aws d1.3 which is the welding code for sheet steel.
for welding of cold formed steel, i always recommend to use minimum 18 gage. however, when the cold formed steel framing is bearing wall, i recommend 16 gage. when the cold formed steel is thinner than 18 gage, and field weld, the weld is almost impossible. re  
i do not like to specify welding of light gauge metal to structural steel members. although it is common practice to weld corrugated deck to open web joists and edge angles, i prefer to use bolt/nut/washer or self-drilling/self-tapping screws.
if welding is unavoidable, place a washer over the sheeting and weld thru' the washer around the interior circumference. this welding will burn thru' the sheet and fuse washer/sheet/steel-  
54-mil minimum thickness is recommended but i have specified welding to 33-mil at the request of a client.  the welder and procedure needs to be per aws.  other than that, skill will limit what can be done.  be sure to keep in mind they may burn a lot of holes in the steel.