VARIOUS WELD DEFECTS AND QUALITY CONTROL

SCOPE
WELD DEFECTS TYPES
THEIR ORIGIN

HOW TO AVOID THEM

QUALITY CONTROL

TYPES OF WELD DEFECTS

Group 1 - Root defects
Incomplete penetration Lack of root fusion Execess penetration
Root concavity Shrinkage groove Burn through

GROUP 2 - CONTOUR DEFECTS

Incompletely filled groove

Bulbous contour

Unequal legs

GROUP 3 - SURFACE IRREGULARITIES

Undercut

Overlap
Gas pore Crater pipe

GROUP 4 - SURFACE CRACKS

Longitudinal/Centre-line Parent metal/HAZ

Transverse Crater

GROUP 5 - MISCELLANEOUS
Stray flash/arc burn/arc strike

Spatter

GROUP 5 - MISCELLANEOUS

Overlap

Excess weld metal

GROUP 5 - MISCELLANEOUS

Excess penetration

Root concavity

Weld defects: Their effect

Indications with major dimensions greater than 1.6 mm are termed as relevant indications (ASME Sec VIII) Cracks Pose the danger of Having a length > than 3 growing under stress during times the width service All relevant linear indications Lack of penetration-reduces are unacceptable the load carrying crosssection, corresponds No tungsten inclusions are geometrically to a crack acceptable Lack of fusion corresponds geometrically to a crack

Weld defects: Their effect

Porosities/Slag inclusion reduce the load carrying cross-section Undercut create notch effect at weld toe/trap slag - up to 0.8 mm acceptable if it lies parallel to the applied force - up to 0.25 mm acceptable if it lies transverse to the applied force. Rounded indication (circular or elliptical with length =< 3 times width Up to 4.8 mm are acceptable 4 or more rounded indications in a line separated by 1.6 mm or less edge to edge distance are unacceptable

Weld defects: Their effect

Excess reinforcement Stress concentration at the weld toe Root side concavity
Permitted when the weld thickness is at least equal to the thickness of the thinner member of the two sections and Contour of the concavity is smooth

Arc strikes/Spatters
Cause hardened spots/may become crack initiation spots during service In DSS, spatters can lead to inbalance in Ferrite/austenite ratio

Cracks in welds How to avoid

Cold cracks
Ferritic steels

Proper preheat/ postheat - Use of thoroughly baked electrodes /fluxes

Cracks in welds How to avoid

Hot cracks
ASS Use of Welding consumables with adequate ferrite content Use of low heat input Ensuring high degree of cleanliness during welding Proper W/D ratio

Cracks in welds How to avoid

Effect of weld shape on cracking tendency: a) W:D = 1, sound weld b) W:D = 1.4, sound weld c) W:D = 0.7, weld tends to crack d) W:D = 2.0, weld tends to crack

Cracks in welds How to avoid

Effect of shape of root run: a) Incorrect, top concave b) Correct, flat or slightly convex

Cracks in welds How to avoid

Effect of weld shape in multipass welds: a & b) Concave with tendency to crack c) Slightly convex weld beads

Cracks in welds How to avoid

Cracking tendency of deep penetration weld: a) Incorrect shape b) Correct shape

Bridging large gap gives concave weld

Cracking of deep penetration fillet weld

Cracks in welds How to avoid

Control joint fit-up to reduce gaps. Clean off all contaminants from the material Welding sequence will not lead to a build-up of thermally induced stresses. Select parameters/technique to produce a weld bead with an adequate D to W ratio, or with sufficient throat thickness (fillet weld) (recommend a depth to width ratio of at least 0.5:1).

Cracks in welds How to avoid

Too large a D to W ratio which will encourage segregation and excessive transverse strains in restrained joints. As a general rule, weld beads whose D to W ratio exceeds 2:1 will be prone to solidification cracking. Avoid high welding speeds (at high current levels) which increase the amount of segregation and the stress level across the weld bead. At the run stop, ensure adequate filling of the crater to avoid an unfavourable concave shape.

Porosity in welds How to avoid

Types of porosity
distributed surface breaking pores wormhole crater pipes

Porosity in welds How to avoid

Nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen absorption due to poor gas shielding As little as 1% air entrainment in the shielding gas will cause distributed porosity and greater than 1.5% results in gross surface breaking pores.

Porosity in welds How to avoid

Air entrainment
- Seal any air leak - Avoid weld pool turbulence - Use filler with adequate level of deoxidants - Reduce excessively high gas flow - Avoid draughts

Hydrogen
- Dry the electrode and flux - Clean and degrease the workpiece surface

Porosity in welds How to avoid

Crater pipe
- Sudden drop of welding current &/or stopping wire addition during termination of welding cause crater pipe formation - Can be avoided by using down slope in P/S and with adequate wire addition

Lamellar tearing
Transverse strain - the shrinkage strains on welding must act in the short direction of the plate ie through the plate thickness Weld orientation - the fusion boundary will be roughly parallel to the plane of the inclusions Material susceptibility - the plate must have poor ductility in the throughthickness direction

Designs to avoid lamellar tearing

Welding quality control

Availability of approved Welding Procedures complying with Codes/ Specifications Verification of Welder Performance Qualification Records Familiarity with workmanship standards and all phases of good shop practice

Welding quality control

Review materials/welding consumables to be used Review storage and issue procedures of welding consumables Check condition of Power Sources and Calibration Records

Welding quality control

Check fit-up and alignment of weld joints as per the Drawing Requirement Check adequacy of preheating/ postheating arrangements

Welding quality control

Proper included angle
sufficient for reaching root of joint to ensure fusion to side walls

Proper root opening/root face

To ensure proper penetration Too large a root face no penetration Too small a root face burn through

Welding quality control

Proper Alignment Cleanliness of the joint
Free from dirt, rust, scale, grease, oil and moisture

Proper size of electrode/current

To reach the root To get good fusion

Welding quality control

Proper Tack welds
TACKING SHALL BE 50 mm (MIN) LENGTH FOR PLATE THICKNESS 6mm-32 mm and 75 mm LENGTH FOR PLATE THICKNESS >32 mm LOCATION OF TACKS SHALL BE ~75 mm FROM EITHER END OF THE L-SEAM AND AT AN INTERVAL OF 400mm IN THE REMAINING LENGTH NO TACK WELDS ON THE ENDS OF THE LONG SEAMS TACKS FOR THE CIR.SEAMS ~500 APART FROM EACH OTHER

Welding quality control

NO TACKS FOR THE CIR.SEAMS#LONG SEAMS -TJOINTS
START AND END POINTS CAN BE GROUND SMOOTHLY/FEATHERED SO THAT THEY MAY BE INCORPORATED INTO THE FINAL WELD WHILE TACK WELDING IN TWO LAYERS, TOP WELD IS SHORTER IN LENGTH THAN BOTTOM LAYER

Welding quality control

Proper Preheat and Interpass Temperatures Proper sequencing of beads

Welding quality control

Proper travel speed
Too slow Molten metal & slag run ahead

Welding quality control

Proper purging in GTAW
Volume of backing gas should be 6 times the volume of the system Mandatory for Inconel (Ni-base alloys), Titanium, Aluminium, SS, Duplex, LAS welds As a good practice, required for the first 2 passes (5 mm)

Welding quality control

Consumable inserts in GTAW
For better quality root passes For achieving smooth and uniform root contour without root concavity/excess penetration Less welder skill is required Best results achieved with gas backing

Welding quality control Weaving in SMAW

3*D D-electrode dia

Smooth finish low heat input welding-high speed

Irregular finishHigh heat input Welding-low speed

How Material Properties are Affected by Increasing Heat Input for SMAW

Property Yield Strength Tensile Strength Percent Elongation Notch Toughness (CVN)
Hardness

reduced by reduced by increased by reduced by reduced by

* Change 30% 10% 10% 50%, for 1.9 H <4 KJ/mm 10%

* SMAW with a heat input range of 0.6 to 4 KJ/mm.

Welding quality control

In FCAW/GMAW welding, replace the gas nozzles/contact tips at regular intervals - coagulation of spatter, wire wobbling Use anti-spatter spray for easy removal of spatter In SAW, replace the contact tips at regular intervals to avoid wire wobbling

CLAD JOINTS
NO WELD SPATTERS SHOULD FALL IN THE CLAD MATERIAL

SEPARATION FROM THE BASE MATERIAL AND THE CLAD SHALL BE CLEAR
ENSURE THAT THE CLAD IS REMOVED BEFORE WELDING THE BASE MATERIAL BY CuSO4 SOLUTION PREHEATING TO BE DONE IN SUCH A WAY THAT DIRECT IMPINGEMENT OF FLAME ON CLAD MATERIAL IS AVOIDEDA ENSURE MIN. 50% OVERLAP DURING CLADRESTORATION OR OVERLAY IN SMAW AND FCAW RATERIAL HE E THAT THE CLAD IS REMOVED BLDING

Welding quality control

Controls specific to Al & Al alloys
Pre-clean the surface to remove the tenacious, refractory oxide by mechanical methods such as wire brushing, scraping and filing. For brushing stainless steel wire brushes must be used and they must be maintained scrupulously clean Use of He or He+Ar gas mixtures compared to Ar for welding thick sections

Welding quality control

Controls specific to Nickel alloys
Use of a larger groove angle compared to CS/SS to permit proper manipulation of the filler metal and deposition of stringer weld beads As Nickel and its alloys are susceptible to embrittlement by sulphur, phosphorus and low melting point metals such as lead, zinc and tin, oils, paints, marking crayons, cutting fluids and shop dust are to be removed. Oxides should be thoroughly removed from the surfaces to be welded. Wire brushes used for cleaning should be made of austenitic stainless steels. Preheat is not required.

Welding quality control

Controls specific to Titanium
During edge preparation, attention must be paid to the scrupulous removal of all foreign matter like oil, grease, grinding debris, oxide or other compounds etc,. Degreasing with acetone and pickling in a solution containing HCl and HNO3 is usually recommended. Filler rods must also be so cleaned and must be handled only with a pair of clean gloves. It will be a good practice to remove the oxidised end of the wire prior to welding. Purity of Argon shall be 99.9978% and use clean nonporous flexible gas hose (such as Tygon or Vinyl plastic) for carrying gas to the torch (Do not use rubber hose as it is porous and Ar can pick up moisture) If protected chamber welding is not possible, effective protection can be obtained by providing argon not only with the welding torch but also on the trailing side through a separate feed-tube and nozzle attached to the torch. Argon is also supplied on the under side through a longitudinal groove in a copper backing plate. Argon shielding must be provided till the HAZ has cooled to below about 300 C. It is generally advisable to use a wider nozzle and get better coverage.

Welding quality control

Controls specific to Stainless steel
Avoid the the presence of carbonaceous material such as grease/oil on b.m/f.m, marking made with a graphite pencil while welding Ensure complete removal of flux/slag from the completed weldments Do not blend the welds autogenously as this practice impairs corrosion resistance Heat tint or temper colouration as well as a heavier oxide scale can affect corrosion resistance - remove such heat tints/oxide scales Avoid contamination with sulfur, iron, copper

Welding quality control

Cleaning of Weld
No slag No tool impressions or blow marks

Profile and Dimensions of Weld

Complete penetration and full fusion Complete filling of weld groove Free from coarse ripples, grooves, overlaps and abrupt ridges and valleys Consistency in Weld Width