Welding & Fabrication worked example

Weld Metal Required at 98% deposition efficiency: a worked example

Push deposition efficiency up to 98% and the picture changes. This example computes every intermediate figure at that operating point. Use it when sizing a filler wire or electrode order for a job and you do not want to short the line or over-buy a non-stock alloy.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Total weld length: 500 in (unchanged)
  • Weight of weld metal per inch: 0.03 lb / in (unchanged)
  • Deposition efficiency: 98 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 85)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Deposited weld metal weight = total weld length × weight of weld metal per inch) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 13.78 lb for filler metal required to purchase, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 13.5 lb for deposited weld metal weight.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 0.28 lb for spatter, slag, and stub loss allowance.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 98 % for deposition efficiency.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where deposition efficiency sits at 85% and the headline result is 15.88 lb, this scenario comes in 13.27% below the baseline at 13.78 lb.
  • It converts total weld length and per-inch metal weight into deposited weld weight, then divides by deposition efficiency to give the filler metal poundage you actually need to purchase. The value of this scenario is the size of the gap it exposes: that gap, priced out over a year, is the budget you can justify spending to close it.

Results at a glance

  • Filler metal required to purchase: 13.78 lb (headline result)
  • Deposited weld metal weight: 13.5 lb
  • Spatter, slag, and stub loss allowance: 0.28 lb
  • Deposition efficiency: 98 %

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Weld Metal Required calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.