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Weld Defects
Discontinuity
• Any interruption in the uniform nature of an item
• An interruption of the typical structure of a material, such as a
lack of homogeneity in its mechanical, metallurgical, or physical
characteristics.
• A discontinuity is not necessarily a defect but all defects are
discontinuities.
• Detrimental to the weld
• Examples:
• Incomplete fusion
• Weld undercut
• Weld cracks
• Weld porosity
Weld Defects
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Defect
• A defect is a “non-conforming discontinuities”.
• All discontinuities are not defects.
• All defects are discontinuities.
• There must be some standard which defines the acceptable limits
of a discontinuity.
• When the discontinuity size exceeds these limits, it is deemed
a defect.
• A defect can be considered to be a ‘rejectable discontinuity’,
which occurs in an amount great enough to render a particular
object or structure unsuitable for its intended service.
What is Welding Defect
• The defects in the weld can be defined as irregularities in the
weld metal produced due to incorrect welding parameters or
wrong welding procedures or wrong combination of filler metal
and parent metal. It can simply be defined as:
• Defects introduced during welding beyond the acceptance
limit that can cause a weld to fail”.
• A defect does not allow the finished joint to withstand the
required strength (load).
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Weld Defects
• Defects and discontinuities
• Defects cannot be tolerated
• Discontinuities can be tolerated
• Defects arise due
• Inherent process limitations
• Material behavior
• Faulty practice
• Operator error or negligence
• Defects
• Cracks
• Cavities/pores
• Solid inclusions
• Imperfect fusion
• Imperfect shape
• Always: know the cause, take corrective measures, watch
Weld Defects
• What should be done when Welding-defects are detected?
• One should reject the items and put them temporarily on hold.
• One should determine the cause and try to implement a corrective
action to avoid future reoccurrence.
• Then an authorized professional should determine, if the defects
are repairable or not.
• Radiographic standards used for evaluation of weld defects
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Crack
• “A fracture type discontinuity characterised by a sharp tip and
high ratio of length and width to opening displacement”
• Most critical discontinuity
• Cracks form in the weld and base metal when localised stresses
exceed the ultimate strength of the material.
• Cracks may appear
• At the root
• Middle or
• In the crater
• Surface or
• subsurface
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Crack Types
• Hot/cold
• Hot – Develop on solidification at temperatures near point.
Propagate along grain boundaries
• Cold – Develop after solidification is complete.
Propagate along grain boundaries and through
grains
• Delayed/underbead
• Associated with hydrogen embrittlement
• Longitudinal
• Transverse
• Throat/toe/root
• HAZ/base metal
• And many more
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Weld Cracking
Cause: Embrittlement + residual stresses
Cracks observed in Welded Joints
Cracks are observed either in Weld metal or HAZ
Unfavourable mechanical properties
High YS and hardness
Limited ductility
Low toughness
Unfavourable constituents
High solidification temp range (enhanced by S, Pb and P in steels)
Hydrogen in steels (promotes cold cracking)
Presence of Tensile/Shear stresses
Externally applied
Residual stresses
Favourable microstructure
Coarse grains promote cracking easy
Fine grains better
Needles/films, FeS
Martensite/Bainite/Ferrite
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Longitudinal Crack
Weld
Axis
Cracks running parallel to
the welding direction
• Cracks lying in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the weld
• Crack is longitudinal with respect to weld axis
• Longitudinal cracks can result from the transverse shrinkage stresses of
welding or stresses associated with service conditions 11
Transverse Cracks
• Cracks lying perpendicular to the welds longitudinal axis.
• Cracks are transverse with respect to weld axis.
• Generally caused by the longitudinal shrinkage stresses of welding acting
on welds or base metals of low ductility
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Throat Crack
Throat cracks are longitudinal cracks in the weld face of a fillet joint
and are generally hot cracks.
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Toe Cracks
Toe crack
Toe
crack
Toe cracks are generally cold cracks. They initiate and propagate from
the weld toe where restraint stresses are highest. Stress riser at the weld
toe may be due to excessive weld reinforcement or convexity. This stress
coupled with a less ductile microstructure in the HAZ increases the
susceptibility to toe cracks.
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Root Cracks
A root crack is the crack formed by the short bead at the root(of edge preparation)
beginning of the welding, low current at the beginning and due to improper filler
material used for welding.
Major reason for happening of these types of cracks is hydrogen embrittlement.
These types of defects can be eliminated using high current at the starting and proper
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filler material.
Cold Cracking or Hydrogen induced
cracking or Hydrogen cracking
• Cold cracking is also called hydrogen-induced cracking or
simply hydrogen cracking because hydrogen trapped in
the weld and heat-affected zone is responsible for this
type of cracking.
• This occurs when steel is rapidly cooled and allowed to
form martensite. Due to the rapid cooling, hydrogen
atoms trapped inside of the heat-affected zone join
together and create an internal stress on the weldment.
• This stress, combined with a brittle microstructure like
martensite, causes cracks to form.
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Cold Cracking or Hydrogen induced
cracking or Hydrogen cracking
• Cause-
• Hydrogen pick up during welding
• Source of hydrogen:-
• Moisture in base metal & welding electrodes
• Surface contaminated with organic substances
• Surrounding atmospheres
• Phase changes (e.g. formation of martensite) during cooling
• Prevention:
• Controlling welding parameters:-
• proper pre-heating:
• reduces diffusion of H2
• ensures no moisture
• Post-welding treatment:
• stress relief.
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Welding defects
Under bead crack
• Definition: A crack in the unmelted
parent metal of the HAZ
• Cause: Hydrogen embrittlement
• Prevention: Use Lo/Hi electrodes and/or preheat
• Repair: (only found using NDT). Remove and reweld
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Welding defects
Under bead crack
• Often delayed cracking
– Develop several hours (days) after welding
– NDT inspection valid only after 48 - 72 hrs
• Caused by hydrogen
– Sources of hydrogen (filler metal, base metal, organic contamination,
surrounding atmosphere)
– Diffusion of atomic (nascent) hydrogen atoms (H+) into HAZ
– Combination of smaller H+ to form larger hydrogen molecules (H2)
– Internal pressure by H2 molecules, low material ductility & shrinkage
stresses
• Not detectable by visual inspection since it is located underbead –
requires NDT (e.g. UT or RT)
• Avoid underbead cracking with low H2 welding process
Welding defects
Under bead crack
Underbead cracks
shown by arrows.
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Welding defects
Definition
Small voids throughout
the weld material
Causes
Excessive gas in the weld zone.
Moisture
Prevention
Rust
•preheat will help eliminate Dirt
•may need an electrode with Accelerated cooling
more deoxidizers Pores
Optical macrostructures of GTA
welded AZ91 Magnesium alloy
Gas Porosity
• Gas porosity – CO boil in steels and H porosity in Al alloys
• Causes: Porous oxide layers, wet or contaminated (oil, grease,
etc.) plate surfaces, insufficient shielding gas, arc length too
large, damaged electrode flux, welding current too low etc.
• Remedies: Remove oxide/anodized layers, check shielding gas,
and always clean part surfaces just prior to welding
H Gas Porosity in an Al alloy
weld
Vapor porosity
Gas pore <1.5mm Blow hole.>1.6mm
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Welding defects
Radiograph of Cluster Porosity
Pores
Welding defects
Pores
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Welding defects
Definition Slag Inclusions
Slag or other matters trapped during
welding. The imperfection is of an
irregular shape and thus differs in
appearance from a gas pore
Causes
√ Heavy millscale/rust on work
surface Slag Inclusions
√ Incomplete slag removal from
underlying surface of multipass
weld
√ Slag flooding ahead of the arc
Pore
s
√ Entrapment of slag in work
surface A slag inclusion in
the root of a pipe
√ Unfused flux due to damage
coating butt weld
Welding defects
Radiographic Image of Elongated Slag Inclusions
Slag inclusions will generally appear on a radiograph as relatively
dark indications, having rather irregular shapes. Pore
s
Slag inclusions from welding electrode whose slag has the same
density as the metal are very difficult to detect by radiography.
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Welding defects
Definition
When the weld metal
does not extend to the
required depth into the
joint root
Causes
Prevention
Correct the contributing Low amperage, low preheat, tight root
factor(s) opening, fast travel speed, short arc length
Welding defects
Definition Tungsten inclusion
A tungsten particle
embedded in a weld
Causes
Tungsten electrode too small, amperage too
high, AC balance on +, Upslope too high,
electrode tip not snipped, electrode dipped
into the weld pool or touched with the fill
rod, electrode split
Prevention
• Eliminate the causes
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Welding defects
Definition Incomplete fusion
Where weld metal does not form
a cohesive bond with the base
metal
Causes
Poor welder skill, low amperage, steep
electrode angles, fast travel speed, short arc
gap, lack of preheat, electrode too small,
unclean base metal, arc off seam
Prevention
Eliminate the potential causes
Welding defects
Incomplete fusion
Incomplete fusion
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Welding defects
Incomplete Fusion between Weld and Base Metal
An example of
incomplete fusion
between weld and
base metal caused by
insufficient groove
angle for the process
and electrode
diameter being used
Welding defects
Definition Under Cut
A groove cut at the toe of the
weld and left unfilled
Causes
High amperage, electrode angle, long arc
length, rust
Prevention
Set machine on scrap metal.
Clean metal before welding
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Welding defects
Definition Reinforcement
The amount of a groove weld
which extends beyond the Face
surface of the plate Reinforcement
Causes
Too low travel speed, amperage too low
Prevention Root
Set amperage and travel speed on scrap Reinforcement
plate
.
Welding defects
Definition Causes
When the face of the weld Improper welding technique. Typically,
extends beyond the toe of the electrode angles and travel speed
weld Slow travel speed and current too low
Prevention
Proper welding technique will prevent this problem. Overlap must be
removed to blend smoothly into the base metal. Be careful of deep grind
marks that run transverse to the load
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Welding defects
Burn Through
Welding defects
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Welding defects
Crater Crack
Crater
crack
Crater (star) cracks occur at the termination point of individual weld passes.
They occur when the technique used by the welder to terminate the arc does
not provide for complete of the molten weld puddle. A shallow region or crater
is formed and when combined with the shrinkage stresses from welding, it may
cause crater cracks radiating from the crater centre.
Welding defects
Longitudinal Cracks propagating from Crater Crack
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Welding defects
Spatter
• “Metal particles expelled during fusion welding that do not form
part of the weld”
• If large globules of spatter are produced, they may have
sufficient heat to cause a localised HAZ on the base metal
surface similar to the effect of an arc strike.
• Spatter on the base metal provides a local stress riser which can
lead to fatigue failure during surface.
• Spatter prevents the performance of NDT methods, and
interpretation of MT and PT testing, and produces irrelevant
indications which could mask real weld defects
Welding defects
Spatter Appearance
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Welding defects
• Spatter Causes:
– Use of high welding currents which produce excessive turbulence in
the weld zone.
– Some welding processes produce greater amount of spatter than
others.
• e.g. short circuiting and globular transfer GMAW tend to produce
more spatter than the use of spray transfer.
– Shielding gases
• Use of argon mixtures produces less spatter than straight C02.
Arc Strike
• “A discontinuity resulting from an arc, consisting of any localised
remelted metal, heat-affected metal, or change in the surface
profile of any metal object”
• An arc strike can be a very detrimental base metal discontinuity,
especially on the low alloy, high strength steels.
• There is a localised area of the base metal surface which is melted
and then rapidly cooled due to the massive heat sink created by the
surrounding base metal.
• Localised HAZ which may contain martensite (hard, brittle
microstructure) is formed, thus increasing the tendency for cracking.
Accidental striking of the arc onto the parent
material
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Photomicrograph of Martensitic Structure
produced by an Arc Strike
Causes:
Improper welding techniques
Poor work discipline and work
attitude
Improper connection of the
ground clamp to the work
Arc burns similar to arc strikes
in NDT inspection using prod
type magnetic particle testing
method
An arc strike on the surface of a boiler tube
provides a crack initiation site which results
in ultimate failure of the boiler tube.
The darkened microstructure is martensite.
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