ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA OF

WELD DEFECTS AS PER

DIFFERENT CODES
 ASTM B 31.1 BOILER PIPING CODE
VISUAL EXAMINATION – Acceptance criteria

Cracks on external surface

Undercuts on external surface > 1 mm deep
Weld reinforcement more than specified
Lack of fusion on surface
Incomplete penetration in root if accessible
 ASTM B 31.1 BOILER PIPING CODE
MAGNETIC PARTICLE EXAMINATION –
Relevant indication is one from unacceptable mechanical
discontinuities. Size of indication is the criteria and not
the size of defect.
Acceptance criteria
Cracks or linear indication ( L > 3 W)
Rounded indications dimension > 4.8 mm
Four or more rounded indications in a line
separated by 1.6 mm edge to edge
Ten or more rounded indications in any 6 sq.
in. surface with major dimension < 6 in.
 ASTM B 31.1 and ASME VIII
RADIOGRAPHIC EXAMINATION –
Acceptance criteria
Cracks or incomplete fusion
Elongated indications
6.4 mm for thickness up to 19 mm
1/3 t for thickness from 19 - 56 mm
19 mm for thickness more than 56 mm
Group of aligned indications with aggregate
length more than t in a length of 12 t
Rounded indications as per chart
 ASME VIII BOILER & PR VESSEL CODE
ROUNDED INDICATIONS –
A sequence of 4 or more rounded indications are
aligned when they touch a line parallel to length of line
drawn through center of outer indications

thickness Relevant indication

1/8 “ t / 10
1/8 to 1/4” 1/64”
1/4 to 2” 1/32”
> 2” 1/16”
 ASME B 31.3 PROCESS PIPING CODE -
NON DESTRUCTIVE EXAMINATION REQUIRED
• Visual examination of randomly selected materials
• Visual examination of 5% min of fabrication
• 100% visual examination of longitudinal welds
• Random visual examination during erection of
piping for defects which require repair
• Minimum 5% of circumferential butt welds shall
be examined by random RT. For cyclic loaded
pipe, 100% RT needed
• When circ. joint intersects with long. joint at
least 38 mm of each intersecting weld shall be
examined
 Acceptance Criteria as per ASME B 31.3
Normal fluid service
(a) Crack, Lack of fusion (VT &RT) No evident imperfection
(b) Incomplete penetration (VT & RT) in Long grooves no
evident imperfection. In girth welds and branch conn.,
depth permitted is 1 mm and 0.2 t. Cumulative <38 mm in
any 150 mm weld length
(c) Internal porosity (RT) in girth, long, branch con., as per
ASME VIII
(d) Slag / W inclusion (RT) in girth, long and branch welds -
individual length < 2t, individual width < 3 mm & 0.5 t,
cumulative length <4t in any 150 mm weld length
(e) Undercut(VT) in girth, fillet and branch welds - depth < 1
mm & 0.25 t. For long welds no evident undercut
 Acceptance Criteria as per ASME B 31.3
Normal fluid service
(f) Surface porosity (VT) No evident imperfection
(g) Concave root surface in butt welds (VT & RT) - Total
joint thickness incl weld reinf > t
(h) Reinforcement or internal protrusion (VT)
t Max height
<=6 1.5
6 to 13 3
13 to 25 4
>25 5
 Acceptance Criteria as per ASME B 31.3
Severe cyclic condition
(a) Crack (VT,RT,MT,PT), Lack of fusion (VT,RT) - No
evident imperfection
(b) Incomplete penetration (VT & RT) in girth, long and
branch welds no evident imperfection.
(c) Internal porosity (RT) in girth, long, branch con., as per
ASME VIII
(d) Slag / W inclusion (RT) in girth, long and branch welds -
individual length < t/3, individual width < 2.5 mm & t/3,
cumulative length < t in any 12 t weld length
 Acceptance Criteria as per ASME B 31.3
Severe cyclic condition
(e) Undercut, surface porosity or exposed slag (VT) - no
evident imperfection
(f) Surface finish (VT) less than 500 Ra
(g) Concave root surface in butt welds (VT & RT) - Total
joint thickness incl weld reinf > t
(h) Reinforcement or internal protrusion (VT)
t Max height
<=6 1.5
6 to 13 3
13 to 25 4
>25 5
 Acceptance Criteria as per ASME B 31.3
Category D fluid service
(a) Crack (VT) - No evident imperfection
(b) Lack of fusion (VT) in long & branch weld - No evident
imperfection. In girth weld, depth < 0.2 t cumulative
length < 38 mm in any 150 mm length
(c) Incomplete penetration (VT ) in girth weld same as lack of
fusion. In long weld no evident imperfection. In branch
welds depth < 1 mm & 0.2 t. Cumulative length < 38 mm
in any 150 mm length
(d) Undercut (VT) in girth weld < 1.5 mm & < t/4. In long
weld no evident imperfection. In fillet and branch weld < 1
mm & t/4
(e) Surface porosity (VT) no evident imperfection
 Acceptance Criteria as per ASME B 31.3
Category D fluid service
(f) Concave root surface in butt welds (VT) - Total joint
thickness incl weld reinf > t
(g) Reinforcement or internal protrusion (VT)
t Max height
<=6 3.0
6 to 13 6
13 to 25 8
>25 10
 AWS D 1.1 STRUCTURAL WELDING CODE
Static load, Cyclic load & Tubular connections

(a) Crack Weld shall have no crack

(b) Weld / Base Thorough fusion shall exist bet’ WM/BM
metal fusion and adjacent layers of WM
(c ) Crater Crater to be filled to full cross section
except for stitch welds outside eff. Len.
(d) Weld profile In conformance with sketch
(e) Inspection VT to start after weld cools to room temp
(f) Underrun Underrun in fillet weld nominal size 1.6
mm provided it is < 10% length. In Web to
flange welds, it is not permitted
 AWS D 1.1 STRUCTURAL WELDING CODE

(g) Undercut In static loading, 1 mm permitted for t<25

and 1.6 mm in t>25mm. For t<25 mm, Max
1.6 mm permitted for accumulated l of 50
mm in 305 mm.
In cyclic loads and tubular connections,
undercut < 0.25 mm deep when weld is
transverse to tensile stress. For other cases,
1 mm is permitted

(h) Porosity In complete joint penetration butt joints

transverse to tensile stress, no visible piping
porosity permitted in static, cyclic & tubular
connection
AWS D 1.1 STRUCTURAL WELDING CODE
Porosity In static loading, for other grooves and
fillets sum of porosity with dia > 1mm,
should be < 10 mm in any linear inch of
weld and < 19 mm in any 305 mm weld
For cyclic loading and tubular connection,
the frequency of piping porosity in other
cases should be < one in 100 mm weld
length and max dia < 2 mm.
In cyclic loading and tubular connections,
for fillet welds connecting stiffeners to web,
the sum of dia of piping porosity<10 mm in
any linear inch of weld and shall be < 19
mm in any 305 mm weld
AWS D 1.1 STRUCTURAL WELDING CODE
29 or 19 mm max
more

Weld b- max size of

size or elongated discontinuities
throat
e, mm
2
3

57
Max clearance between edges c in mm,
c=3b=2e
AWS D 1.1 STRUCTURAL WELDING CODE
RADIOGRAPHY FOR STATICALLY LOADED STRUCTURE
• Elongated indication and spacing as per chart
• Rounded indications > E/3 not to exceed 6 mm (except for
t>2” it is 10 mm) and gap should be > 3 L
• Isolated discontinuities like clusters with sum of
dimensions not to exceed chart and gap < 3 L
• Sum of individual discontinuities each having max
dimension < 2 mm, shall not exceed 2 E /3 (10 mm max)
in any linear inch of weld.
• In line discontinuities with sum of greatest dimension < E
in any 6E length of weld