TECHNICAL
It is common knowledge that from time to time (in fact quite rarely) steel
AN UPDATE ON
LAMINATIONS/
LAMELLAR
TEARING IN PLATE
By Spencer Erling,
Education Director, SAISC
The suggested good practice proposal
for flanges thicker than 20mm is that
a safety check using ultrasonic
methods should be done to ensure
that there are no laminations (or if
there are laminations they of an
acceptable amount) in the steel
before welding webs to the flange.
32 Steel Construction Vol. 36 No. 1 2012
plates thicker than 20mm suffer from a problem called laminations.
What is a lamination and/or lamellar tear?
Laminations (strictly speaking they should be called centre line laminations)
constitute a phenomenon that occurs in the continuous casting process and
subsequent rolling process of plates where, if there is a reasonable concentra-
tion of sulphide and oxide inclusions/crystals in the steel, they migrate to the
centre of the casting as cooling occurs from outside to inside. They remain near
the centre in the subsequent rolling process and if there are sufficient inclu-
sions/crystals present then separation can occur, called a lamination.
Lamellar tearing is a phenomenon that occurs during or after welding, also as a
result of the inclusions/crystals mentioned above in certain weld situations. This
can occur where complete joint penetration welds (CJP also commonly called
full strength butt welds) are required in ‘Tee’, cruciform and box side to top
connections, resulting in through thickness stresses as depicted in Figure 1.
In what circumstances are laminations or lamellar tears not desirable?
In dynamically loaded elements of a steel structure, careful consideration
should be given to not having laminations or lamellar tears, or when they do
occur, keeping the occurrences down to an acceptable level. The risk relates
to welded plate girder, box or ‘Tee’ construction for bridges, crane girders,
supports for vibrating equipment and the like.
What are the methods available to the engineer or contractor to
ensure he has lamination acceptable steel?
Both ArcelorMittal and Evraz Highveld Steel will supply plates that have been
ultrasonically tested to determine the level of laminations found in the steel
after rolling. This is subject to an extra charge.
Please be advised that even if steel to SANS50025 S355JR is called up in an
order, there is no requirement for the steel mill to do Charpy notch tests for
ductility (as inferred in the name of the steel) unless specifically called up in
the order for the steel. Neither is any ultrasonic testing required unless called
up in the order for the plate.
Figure 1: Formation of lamellar tears.
 TECHNICAL

Evraz Highveld has a clause (see below) on the subject relating to lamina-
tions in their conditions of sale document which highlights the commercial
risk to the purchaser of not calling up this requirement with their order on
the mill.
Conditions of Sale – Domestic Steel
“5.2.3. Unless specified by the purchaser at the time of ordering, there is no
obligation on the supplier to carry out ultrasonic testing. Where design
considerations require plates to comply with a minimum ultrasonic accept-
ance level, verification by ultrasonic testing should be carried out.
The requirements should be indicated at the time of ordering and will be
subject to a price extra. No claims for ultrasonic failure will be considered
unless this requirement has been met.”
This is a difficult standard to achieve unless
properly trained persons using the correct equip-
ment carry out and interpret the NDT.
In summarised format, S1 permits individual
defects up to 1 000mm2 each (which equates to
a 35mm diameter if circular, or 31mm square). 15
such defects are allowed in the most populated
1m x 1m square.
How can you reduce the risk of lamellar
tearing during welding?
There are several well known factors that can
affect lamellar tearing:

What acceptance criteria should be called up when requiring ultra- I How thick is the steel?
sonic testing of plates?
I What is the weld size and detail?
The acceptance criteria are defined in ISO10160 for laminations (and/or lamel-
lar tears as described below) and should be limited to those described in ISO I Does the weld procedure specification call
10160 for category S1. This document gives details of the probe type and sensi- for pre-heating to the weld? (A weld proce-
tivity settings required for UT machines or testing of CJP welds and for detection dure specification (WPS) is a document
of laminations and lamellar tearing to ensure standardisation and that only usually prepared by a welding engineer or
correct readings are assessed to conform to S1 acceptance criteria. similar qualified person to cover each type of

Steel Construction Volume. 36 No. 1 2012 33

 TECHNICAL

weld, by size, by process, by position and
covers every variable aspect of the weld. By
adhering to the recommendations of the
procedure, which is subject to testing to
prove the procedure does in fact work, before
putting into a production environment, and
by using a welder who is trained and quali-
fied to perform the weld to the procedure
there is a very good chance of getting a good
weld to specification.)
I How restrained is the steel i.e. can it shrink
and change shape freely?
I The detail of the weldment.
length size per AWS) (Za and Zc)
3. Webs are usually without web stiffeners so have the possibility of free
shrinkage (Zd)
4. No preheating of welds (Ze= 0)
If one now determines the Z risk factor you find
Za + Zb + Zc + Zd + Ze= 12 +0 +8/2 +0 + 0=16
Most modern steel mills produce steel that will normally fall into the range
of Z15-Z25 and in addition if there is any doubt if preheating to over 100°C
is applied Ze now becomes -8 reducing the Z risk to 8.
This highlights how unlikely it is that for a run-of-the-mill static girder
lamellar tearing will be a risk.

Euronorms (EN1993-1-10:2005/AC Eurocode 3:

So the suggested good practice proposal for flanges thicker than 20mm is
Design of steel structures-Part 1-10: Material
that a safety check using ultrasonic methods should be done to ensure that
toughness and through-thickness properties)
there are no laminations (or if there are laminations they should be of an
have evolved a method of reviewing various
acceptable amount) in the steel before welding webs to the flange. If the
connection details to determine the ‘risk’ of
girder is a relatively big girder with large loads some random testing for
lamellar tears occurring.
lamellar tearing would be in order.

Table1 defines the method for engineers to

determine the risk of lamellar tearing in fabrica-
tions and connections. ΣZ is calculated and if
less than 25 for example Z25 plate would be
specified.

The engineer determines the risk. He can then

call up special grades of plate to be used i.e. Z15,
Z25 or Z35.

These plates are enormously expensive and

should really only be used in very high risk
connections. Specific care must be taken to
ensure the correct grade of plate is called up and
used in the right place by the workshops.

In the UK, because the additional cost of this

quality of plate is directly associated with the
test method, they have opted to only work with
Z35 quality plate where required.

What are the risks associated with welded

plate or box girders in a static application?

With reference to Table 1 the following parame-

ters are usually associated with statically loaded
girders:

1. Flange to web welds, continuous fillet welds

(Zb)

2. Typical flange thickness up to 40mm thick

usually requiring only an 8mm fillet weld (leg Table 1: Determining the risk of lamellar tearing in a connection.

34 Steel Construction Vol. 36 No. 1 2012