CLASSIFICATION OF WELD JOINT DISCONTINUITIES Weld discontinuities can be classified based on the metallurgical or design related welding process or welding procedure. Included in the design group of welding process or procedure related dis- continuities are flaws such as: @ = Undercut © Concavity or convexit 2 : In the metallurgical group the following types of discontinuities are found: Arc craters Spatters. © Misalignment © Cracks or fissures, which may be hot cracks, cold or delayed cracks, stress © Improper reinforcement cracks or cracks due to reheat © Excessive reinforcement ¢ Lamellar tearing © Burn-through © Porosity: spherical, elongated or worm holes © Overlap e HAZ alteration of microstructure : © Weld metal and HAZ segregation e Incomplete penetration ee e e Base plate lamination. e Lack of fusion © Shrinkage The design related discontinuity group might include discontinuities such © Surface irregularity as stress concentration due to changes in sections, or type of weld joint design. e Arc strike e Inclusions like slag or tungsten @ Oxide film ° °TYPICAL WELD DEFECTS Some typical weld defects are shown in Figure 2-8-1. These are some of the commonly detected defects in a typical weld; however their presence, variance and appearance may differ according to the welding process. The soundness of any weld is dependent on the type of defect and its analysis in respect to the end use of the weldments. The seriousness of any discontinuities should be made on the basis of their shape; the terms used to describe these are planar or Uuree-dimensivnal. The cracks, laminations, incomplete fusions and inadequate penetrations that have more pronounced stress amplification are the planar type of discon- tinuity. Inclusions and porosity would be examples of a three-dimensional discontinuity. While characterizing these discontinuities, the size, acuity (sharpness) and orientation with respect to the principal stress and residual stress direc- tions, the proximity to the weld and the surface of the material are all essential factors to consider. {ot IN YF (e) Lake of fusion FIGURE 2-8-1 Typical weld defects. ' (b) Cracks (@) Slag inclusions CY (f Lake of penetration As there are several types of constructions, they generate several types of weld defects and combinations of definitions. These definitions also vary according to the use of the inspection process, and the specification in use. Generally, all these are based on the end use of the weldment. The following is a description of some of the basic types of weld discontinuity.Porosity Porosity is the result of gas being entrapped in solidifying weld metal and is gener- ally spherical but may be an elongated void in the weld metal. Uniformly scattered porosity may be scattered throughout single weld passes or throughout several passes of a multi-pass weld. Faulty welding technique, defective materials or poor weld hygiene gen- erally cause porosity. Cluster porosity is a localized grouping of pores that can result from improper arc initiation or termination. Linear porosity may be aligned along a weld interface, root, or between beads. It is caused by con- tamination along the boundary. Piping porosity is elongated and, if exposed to the surface, indicates the pres- ence of severe internal porosity. Porosity has little effect on strength, some effect on ductility, and significant effects on fatigue strength and toughness. External porosity is more injurious than internal porosity because of the stress concentration effects. Porosity is considered as a spherical and non-planar imperfection, thereby not a serious threat to weld in normal loading and even in fatigue conditions. The tolerance of porosity in such conditions is liberal, and often up to 5% porosity in a standard radiograph length is accepted. However if the weld is required to have good toughness to resist brittle fracture at lower temperatures, especially where the Charpy impact values of the weld metal are required to be 40 J (30ft-Ibf) or higher, the porosity is treated as a planar imperfection.Inclusions Slag inclusions are non-metallic particles trapped in the weld metal or at the weld interface. Slag inclusions result from faulty welding technique, improper access to the joint, or both. Sharp notches in joint boundaries or between weld passes promote slag entrapment. With proper technique, slag inclusions rise to the surface of the molten weld metal. Tungsten inclusions are tungsten particles trapped in weld metal deposited with the GTAW process. Dipping the tungsten electrode in the mol- ten weld-metal or using too high a current that melts the tungsten can cause inclusions. Incomplete Fusion Incorrect welding techniques, improper preparations of materials, or wrong joint designs promote incomplete fusion in welds. Insufficient welding current, lack of access to all faces of the joint and insufficient weld joint cleaning are additional causes. This is a stress-concentrating flaw and can in most cases ini- tiate cracks. Inadequate Joint Penetration When the actual root penetration of a weld is less than specified, the discon- tinuity at the root is called inadequate penetration. It may result from insuf- ficient heat input, improper joint design (metal section too thick), incorrect bevel angle, or poor control of the arc. Some welding procedures for double groove welds require back-gouging of the root of the first weld to expose sound metal before depositing the first pass on the second side to ensure that there is not inadequate joint penetration. Like incomplete fusion discussed above, incomplete penetration is a stress- concentration point, and cracks can initiate in the un-fused area and propagate as successive beads are deposited. Cyclic loading can initiate catastrophic fail- ures from incomplete penetration.Undercut Visible undercut is associated with improper welding techniques or exces- sive currents, or both. It is a groove running parallel along the toe of the weld, either on the root or the side faces of the weld. The undercuts are of varying depth and area, but it is their relative depth and length that are of importance as acceptable or not acceptable flaws. Undercut creates a mechanical notch at the weld toe. In addition to the stress raiser caused by the undercut notch, fatigue properties are seriously reduced. Underfill Underfill results from the failure to fill the joint with weld metal, as required. It is corrected by adding additional layers of weld metal. If left uncorrected, this becomes a stress concentration point and may subsequently be a cause of the failure. Overlap Incorrect welding procedures, wrong welding materials or improper prepara- tion of the base metal causes overlap. It is a surface discontinuity that forms a severe mechanical notch parallel to the weld axis. Fatigue properties are reduced by the presence of the overlap, as they are capable of initiating cracks.Cracks In most cases cracks occur when the localized stresses exceed the tensile strength of the material. Cracking is often associated with stress amplification near discontinuities in welds and base metal, or near mechanical notches asso- ciated with weldment design. Hot cracks develop at elevated temperatures during or just after solidifica- tion. They propagate between the grains. Cold cracks develop after solidifica- tion, as a result of stresses. Cold cracks are often delayed and associated with hydrogen embrittlement. They propagate both between and through grains. Throat cracks run longitudinally in the face of the weld and extend toward the root. Root cracks run longitudinally and originate in the root of the weld. Longitudinal cracks are associated with high welding speeds (such as during SAW) or with high cooling and related restraint. Transverse cracks are perpendicular to the weld and may propagate from the weld metal into the HAZ and base metal. Transverse cracks are associated with longitudinal shrinkage stresses in weld metal that is embrittled by hydro- gen. Crater cracks are formed by improper termination of the welding arc. They are shallow hot cracks. Toe cracks are cold cracks that initiate normal to the base metal and propa- gate from the toes of the weld where residual stresses are higher. They result from thermal shrinkage strains acting on embrittled HAZ metal. Under-bead cracks are cold cracks that form in the HAZ when three condi- tions are met: e Hydrogen in solid solution © = Crack-susceptible microstructure © High residual stresses.None of the above can be detected by visual inspection and do not nor- mally extend to the surface. Cracking in any form is an unacceptable discontinuity and is the most det- rimental type of welding discontinuity. Cracks must be removed. Surface Irregularities Surface pores are caused by improper welding technique such as excessive current, inadequate shielding, or incorrect polarity. They can result in slag entrapment during subsequent welding passes. Variations in weld surface layers, depressions, variations in weld height or reinforcement, non-uniformity of weld ripples, and other surface irregularities can indicate that improper welding procedures were not followed, or that the welding technique was poor. BASE METAL DISCONTINUITIES Base metal properties such as chemical composition, cleanliness, lamina- tions, stringers, surface conditions, and mechanical properties can affect weld quality. Laminations are flat, elongated discontinuities found in the center of wrought products such as plate. They may be too tight to be detected by ultra- sonic tests. De-lamination may occur when they are subjected to transverse tensile stresses during welding. Lamellar tearing is a form of fracture resulting from high stress in the through-thickness direction. Lamellar tears are usually terrace-like separations in the base metal caused by thermally induced shrinkage stresses resulting from welding. Weld profiles affect the service performance of the joint. Unfavorable sur- face profiles on internal passes can cause incomplete fusion or slag inclusions in subsequent passes.BURN - THROUGHCLUSTERED POROSITYEXCESSIVE PENETRATIONEXTERNAL UNDERCUTINTERNAL CONCAVITYINTERNAL SLAG LINEINTERNAL UNDERCUTINTERPASS COLD LAPINTERPASS SLAG INCLUSIONINCOMPLETE PENETRATIONLACK OF FUSIONLONGITUDINAL ROOT CRACKMISMATCHROOT PASS ALIGN POROSITYTRANSVERSE CRACKTUNGSTEN INCLUSION1. NO DEFECTRRS 2.0 WUE5. DISTRIBUTED POROSITY6. DISTRIBUTED POR!7. DISTRIBUTED POROSITY8. DISTRIBUTED POROSITY9. DISTRIBUTED POROSITY10. DISTRIBUTED POROSITY11. DISTRIBUTED POROSITY14. CLUSTERED POROSITY15. CLUSTERED POROSITY16. CLUSTERED POROSITY17. CLUSTERED PM217 iE LINEAR POROSITY22. WORM HOLE23 WORM HOLE24. WORM HOLE25 Worm Hole26 Worm Hole28. ELONGATED CAVITY29. ELONGATED CAVITY30. Worm Hole31 Isolated Slag InclusionLx I wi Vol ad 32. Linear Slag Inclusion33. Linear Slag Inclusion dan Undercut34 Linear Slag InclusionLinear Slag Inclusion36. Linear Slag Inclusion37. Intermitten Undercut38. Intermiten Undercutinuous UndercutContinuous Undercut41. Root ConcavityVoy Neyer’ 12. Root Concavity43. Worm Hole dan Excessive45. Incomplete Penetration46. Incomplete Penetration47. Incomplete Penetration48. Incomplete Penetration49. Incomplete Penetration51. Incomplete Penetration52. Incomplete Penetration53. Incomplete Penetration54. Incomplete Penetration55. Root Fusion57. Side Wall Fusion58 Longitudinal Crack irBe Bettie irl er- le eM Wo m\y Carl60. Transversal Crack in Weld Meta62 Longitudinal Crack in Weld Metal(Ree Roster eco arm CMY Cor64. Longitudinal Crack in Weld Metal65. Transversal Crack in Weld MetalMisalignment102. Incomplete Penetrationion Mottle105. Longitudinal Crack and Distributed Porosity106. Longitudinal Crack and 1 Porosity107. Longitudinal Crack and tribute i109. Longitu1 Crack