Weld Joint Discontinuities

• Misalignment (hi-lo) • Inclusions • Base Metal

• Undercut – Slag Discontinuities
– Wagontracks – Lamellar tearing
• Underfill
– Tungsten – Laminations and
• Concavity or Convexity • Spatter Delaminations
• Excessive reinforcement • Arc Craters – Laps and Seams
• Improper reinforcement • Cracks • Porosity
• Overlap – Longitudinal – Uniformly Scattered
• Burn-through – Transverse – Cluster
– Crater –
• Incomplete or Insufficient Linear
– Throat
Penetration – Piping
– Toe
• Incomplete Fusion – Root • Heat-affected zone
• Surface irregularity – Underbead and microstructure alteration
– Overlap Heat-affected zone • Base Plate laminations
– Hot • Size or dimensions
• Arc Strikes
– Cold or delayed
 Misalignment (hi-lo)

• Cause: Carelessness. Also due to joining different

thicknesses (transition thickness)

• Repair: Grinding. Careful on surface finish and direction of

grind marks. Inside of Pipe /Tube difficult.
 Undercut
• Cause: High amperage, electrode
angle, long arc length, rust

• Prevention: Set machine on scrap

metal. Clean metal before welding.

• Repair: Weld with smaller electrode, sometimes must be

low hydrogen with preheat. Sometimes must gouge first.
 Insufficient Fill
• Cause: Improper welding techniques, Poor workmanship
• Repair: Simply weld to fill. May require preparation by
grinding.
Insufficient Fill on the Root Side
(suckback)
• Cause: Typically improper joint preparation or excessive
weld pool heat.
• Repair: Backweld to fill. May requireremoval of weld
section by grinding for access to the joint root.
 Excessive Concavity or Convexity
• Cause: Amperage and travel speed
• Prevention: Observe proper parameters and techniques.
• Repair: Grind off or weld on. Must blend smoothly into the
base metal.
Concavity
Convexity
 Reinforcement
The amount of a groove weld which extends beyond the surface
of the plate
• Excessive
Face Reinforcement
• Insufficient
• Improper
contour

Root Reinforcement
 Improper Weld Contour
• Definition: When the weld exhibits less than a 1350
transition angle at the weld toe.1350

• Prevention: Use proper techniques. A weave or whip

motion can often eliminate the problem.
• Repair: The weld face must be feathered into the base plate.
 Overlap

• Definition: When the face of the weld extends beyond the

toe of the weld
• Cause: Improper welding technique. Typically, electrode
angles and travel speed.
• Prevention: Overlap is a contour problem. Proper welding
technique will prevent this problem.
• Repair: Overlap must be removed to blend smoothly into
the base metal. Be careful of deep grind marks that run
transverse to the load. Also be careful of fusion
discontinuities hidden by grinding. Use NDT to be sure.
 Overlap
Overlap is measured with
a square edge such as a
6” rule. No amount of
overlap is typically
allowed.
 Burn-through (non-standard)
• Definition: When an undesirable open hole has been
completely melted through the base metal. The hole may or
may not be left open.
• Cause: Excessive heat input.

• Prevention: Reduce heat input by increasing travel speed,

use of a heat sink, or by reducing welding parameters.
• Repair: Will be defined by standards. Filling may suffice.
Otherwise, removal and rewelding may be required. Some
standards may require special filler metal and/or PWHT.
 Incomplete or Insufficient Penetration

• Definition: When the weld metal does not extend to the

required depth into the joint root
• Cause: Low amperage, low preheat, tight root opening, fast
travel speed, short arc length.
• Prevention: Correct the contributing factor(s).

• Repair: Back gouge and back weld or remove and reweld.

 Incomplete Fusion

• Definition: Where weld metal does not form a cohesive

bond with the base metal.
• Cause: 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.

• Repair: remove and reweld, being careful to completely

remove the defective area. This is sometimes extremely
difficult to find.
 Arc Strike

• Definition: A localized coalescence outside the weld zone.

• Cause: Carelessness
• Prevention: In difficult areas, adjacent areas can be
protected using fire blankets.
• Repair: Where applicable, arc strikes must be sanded
smooth and tested for cracks. If found, they must be remove
and repaired using a qualified repair procedure and
inspected as any other weld.
 Inclusions
• Slag
• Wagontracks
• Tungsten
 Slag Inclusion
• Definition: Slag entrapped within the weld

• Cause: Low amperage, improper technique, Trying to weld

in an area that is too tight. Slow travel in Vertical Down
• Prevention: Increase amperage or preheat, grind out tight
areas to gain access to bottom of joint.
• Repair: Remove by grinding. Reweld.
 Tungsten Inclusion
• Definition: A tungsten particle embedded in a weld.
(Typically GTAW only)
• Cause: 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 cause

• Repair: Grind out and reweld

 Spatter

• Definition: Small particles of weld metal expelled from the

welding operation which adhere to the base metal surface.
• Cause: Long arc length, severe electrode angles, high
amperages.
• Prevention: Correct the cause. Base metal can be protected
with coverings or hi-temp paints.
• Repair: Remove by grinding or sanding. Sometimes must be
tested as if it were a weld.
 Arc Craters

• Definition: A depression left at the termination of the weld

where the weld pool is left unfilled.
• Cause: Improper weld termination techniques

• Prevention:

• Repair: If no cracks exist, simply fill in the crater. Generally

welding from beyond the crater back into the crater.
 Cracks
• Longitudinal
• Transverse
• Crater
• Throat
• Toe
• Root
• Underbead and Heat-affected zone
• Hot
• Cold or delayed
 Longitudinal Crack
• Definition: A crack running in the direction of the weld axis.
May be found in the weld or base metal.
• Cause: Preheat or fast cooling problem. Also caused by
shrinkage stresses in high constraint areas.
• Prevention: Weld toward areas of less constraint. Also
preheat to even out the cooling rates.
• Repair: Remove and reweld
 Transverse Crack
• Definition: A crack running into or inside a weld, transverse
to the weld axis direction.
• Cause: Weld metal hardness problem
 Crater Crack
• Definition: A crack, generally in the shape of an “X” which
is found in a crater. Crater cracks are hot cracks.
• Cause: The center of the weld pool becomes solid before the
outside of the weld pool, pulling the center apart during
cooling
• Prevention: Use crater fill, fill the crater at weld termination
and/or preheat to even out the cooling of the puddle
• Repair:
 Throat Crack
• Definition: A longitudinal crack located in the weld throat
area.
• Cause: Transverse Stresses, probably from shrinkage.
Indicates inadequate filler metal selection or welding
procedure. May be due to crater crack propagation.
• Prevention: Correct initial cause. Increasing preheat may
prevent it. be sure not to leave a crater. Use a more ductile
filler material.
• Repair: Remove and reweld using appropriate procedure.
Be sure to correct initial problem first.
 Toe Crack
• Definition: A crack in the base metal beginning at the toe of
the weld
• Cause: Transverse shrinkage stresses. Indicates a HAZ
brittleness problem.
• Prevention: Increase preheat if possible, or use a more
ductile filler material.
• Repair:
 Root Crack
• Definition: A crack in the weld at the weld root.
• Cause: Transverse shrinkage stresses. Same as a throat
crack.
 Underbead 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.

 Hot Crack
• Definition: A crack in the weld that occurs during
solidification.
• Cause: Micro stresses from weld metal shrinkage pulling
apart weld metal as it cools from liquid to solid temp.
• Prevention: Preheat or use a low tensil filler material.
 Cold Crack
• Definition: A crack that occurs after the metal has
completely solidified
• Cause: Shrinkage, Highly restrained welds, Discontinuities

• Prevention: Preheat, weld toward areas of less constraint,

use a more ductile weld metal
• Repair: Remove and reweld, correct problem first, preheat
may be necessary.
 Repairs to Cracks
• Determine the cause
• Correct the problem
• Take precautions to prevent reoccurrence
• Generally required to repair using a smaller
electrode
 Porosity
• Single Pore
• Uniformly Scattered
• Cluster
• Linear
• Piping
 Single Pore
• Separated by at least their own diameter
along the axis of the weld
 Uniformly Scattered Porosity
• Typically judged by diameter and proximity to
a start or stop
• often caused by low amperage or short arc
gap or an unshielded weld start
 Cluster Porosity
• Typically viewed as a single large discontinuity
 Linear Porosity
• being linear greatly affects the severity of this
discontinuity
 Piping Porosity
• Generally has special allowable limits
 Porosity
• preheat will help eliminate
• may need an electrode with more deoxidizers
• Use run-on/run-off taps
• restart on top of previous weld and grind off
lump
 Flashlight
Used to cast shadows to find porosity, undercut and overlap.