Welded some more TIG coupons last night. I had a couple questions about weld placement, so I decided to do some samples that mimicked various body shape types.

First, we have a flat version, this would simulate the flat area at the bottom of a door skin...



The second panel has more crown, such as toward the top of a quarter/door skin....



Comparing the two...



Next, we have a repair piece that is joined at the beltline bead...



The flat area distorts quite a bit... Normally we would planish the weld after cooling to remove this distortion, but here it was left to better compare distortion amounts..





Looking at the three samples, the flat one moves/distorts the most. The crowned panel a bit less, the beltline bead even less..



This helps to show the benefit of weld seam locations, we should select anything but the low crown/flat areas if at all possible.. The crowned areas or those with beltline bead details will help to hold any distortion in check.