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Causes - welding discontinuities

Base metal, joint design

Welder skill, improper supervision

Welding consumables and shielding gases

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As per ISO 6520-1987 Welding discontinuities
are divided in following six groups
Group Designated Defect
1 Cracks
2 Cavities
3 Solid Inclusions
4 Lack of Fusion &
penetration
5 Imperfect Shape
6 1 Miscellaneous defects
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Weld Discontinuities

1. Crater cracks 12-Overlap


2. Face cracks 13. Slag inclusion
3. HAZ cracks 14. Lack of fusion
4. Longitudinal cracks 15. Lack of penetration
5. Root cracks 16. Porosity
6. Transverse cracks 17. Undercut/Under fill
7. Under bead cracks 18. Spatter
8. Lamination 19. Tungsten inclusion
9.Misalignment 20. Arc strike
10.Concavity 21. Burn through
11.Excess Cap 22.Mechanical Damage

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CRACKS
• Crack is a tight linear separation of metal that
can be very short to very long indications

• Cracks are grouped as hot or cold cracks.

• Hot cracks usually occur as the metal solidifies


at elevated temperatures.

• Cold cracks occur after the metal has cooled to


ambient temperatures ( delayed cracks).
      

 
      
      
      

      
      
      

                                                                                         

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Solidification Crack

W
W
That is W/P
P
W = Bead Width P

P = Bead Depth W/P>1 W/P<1


Longitudinal Crack
Center Line Crack

A longitudinal crack located in the weld throat area

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Transverse Crack

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Crater Crack
Crater crack is generally in the shape of a star in the
center of the terminated weld bead.It is a hot crack

Joint Line Crater

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Causes & Remedies- Weld Cracking
Causes Remedies
Highly restrained joint Preheat, Stress relief, welding sequence change

Excessive dilution Change welding current & speed, use DC-, buttering

Defective electrodes or Use new electrodes or flux, check baking cycle


flux
Poor fit up Reduce root opening, build up edges

Small weld bead Increase electrode size, raise welding current,


reduce speed
High S in base metal Use low-S filler
Crater cracking Fill crater before extinguishing arc

Angular distortion Change to balanced


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Cavities

 
Porosity appears often as dark round irregular spots in clusters or
rows. Sometimes it is elongated and may have an appearance of a
tail. This is the result of gas attempting to escape while the metal is
still in a liquid state & is called wormhole porosity. All porosity is
                                                                                       
indeed a void will have a darker density than the surrounding.
    

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Cavities
•Gas pore _ singular.
•Blowhole _ singular.
•Scattered Porosity.
Fine Severe
•Cluster Porosity.
•Linear Porosity.
•Piping.
• Worm holes.

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Cavities

 
Cluster porosity is caused when electrodes are contaminated with
moisture or hydrocarbon. It appears like regular porosity in a film
but the indications will be grouped close together.
                                                                                        

    

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       Cavities

 
      
      
      

      
      
      

                                                                                         

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Causes & Remedies of Porosity
Causes Remedies
Excessive H2,N2,O2 in Use low-H2 electrodes, high deoxider fillers,
welding atmosphere increase shielding gas flow
High solidification rate Use preheat or increase heat input

Dirty base metal Clean joint face and adjacent surfaces

Improper arc length. Change welding conditions or techniques


Welding current or
electrode manipulation
Galvanized steel Use E6010 electrodes and volatilize zinc ahead of
weld pool
Excessive moisture in Check baking and storing of electrodes, Preheat
electrode base metal
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Solid Inclusions

Slag Inclusions are the nonmetallic solid materials trapped in

 
weld or between the weld and base metal. In a radiograph, dark,
jagged asymmetrical shapes within the weld or along the weld joint
areas are indicative of slag inclusions.
                                                                                      

     

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Solid Inclusions

 
Tungsten inclusions. Tungsten is a brittle and dense material
used as an electrode in tungsten inert gas welding. If an incorrect
welding procedures & skill is performed, then only the tungsten gets
trapped. Radiographically, tungsten is more dense than aluminum
                                                                                       
or steel; therefore, it shows as a lighter area with a distinct outline
on
     the radiograph

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Solid Inclusions

 
Oxide inclusions are usually visible on the surface of a weld mtal
(especially aluminum). Oxide inclusions are less dense than the surr
-ounding metals and, thus it appears as dark irregular shaped discon
-tinuity in radiograph. This is also referred as puckering in ISO.
                                                                                       

    

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Lack of Fusion and Penetration

Lack of side wall fusion is a condition where the weld metal does

 
not fuse with the base metal. Appearance on radiograph is usually a
darker line or lines oriented in the direction of the weld seam along
the weld joining area.

                                                                                        

    

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Lack of Fusion and Penetration
Lack of interrun fusion is a condition where the weld metal does

 
not fuse with the base metal or the previous weld bead (interpass
cold lap). The arc does not melt the base metal and causes the
molten puddle to flow into the base metal without the proper
bonding.
                                                                                        

    

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Imperfect Shape
Undercut is an erosion of the base metal next to the toe of the weld

 
face. It appears in radiograph as a dark irregular line on outer edge
of the weld.

    Imperfect

                                                                            

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Imperfect Shape
Root undercut is an erosion of the base metal next to the root of the

 
weld. It appears in radiographic images as a dark irregular line offset
from the centerline of the weldment. Undercutting is not as straight
edged as LOP because it does not follow the straight edge

                                                                                        

    

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       Imperfect Shape

 
      
      
      

      
      
      

                                                                                         

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Imperfect Shape
Root concavity or suck back is a condition where the weld metal

 
has contracted as it cools down & has been drawn up into the root of
the weld. On a film it appears similar to the lack of root penetration
but the line has irregular wide edges and placed in the middle.

                                                                                        

    

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Imperfect Shape

Excessive reinforcement is an area of a weld added in excess of


that specified by the drawings and codes. The appearance on a
radiograph is a localized & less darker area. A visual examination
will easily determine if the weld reinforcement is in excess.

 
    
                                                                                       

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Imperfect Shape

Underfilling is an area where the deposited weld metal is less than


the required thickness. It is easy to determine by RT films, because

 
the image density in the area of inadequacy will be darker than the
surrounding image density.

                                                                                        

    

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Imperfect Shape

 
      

      
      
      

      
      
      
                                                                                         

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Imperfect Shape
      

 
      
      
      

      
      
      
                                                                                         

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Imperfect Shape

      

 
      
      
      

      
      
      

                                                                                         

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Imperfect Shape

 
      

      
      
      

      
      
      
                                                                                         

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Imperfect Shape

      

 
      
      
      

      
      
      

                                                                                         

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Imperfect Shape
Misalignment: The radiographic image is a noticeable difference in
density between the two mismatched pieces. The difference in

 
density is caused by the difference in material thickness. The dark,
straight line is caused by failure of the weld metal to fuse with the
land area.
                                                                                        

    

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Imperfect Shape

Distortion:

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Whiskers are the short lengths of electrode wire, visible on
the top or bottom surfaces of the weld or contained within the

 
weld. On radiograph they appear as light, "wire like" indications.
Burn through (icicles) results when too much heat causes weld to
pierce through. Lumps of weld metal sag through the seam creating
a thick globular condition on the root face. On a radiograph, burn
                                                                                       
through appears as dark spots surrounded by light globular areas.
    

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Miscellaneous discontinuities
      

 
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
                                                                                         
                                                                                               

      
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Lamellar Tearing:

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Miscellaneous discontinuities

Arc Strike
Spatters
Torn Surface
Grinding Marks
Chipping Marks
Underflushing
Poor Start

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