DIFFICULTIES AND DEFECTS IN WELDING

Is welding hard to learn?

Welding is easy if you have acquired proper training for it. There are different
demands of welding tasks, and each one is different with varying levels of
complexity. For instance, welders who work in shops manufacturing metal
furniture have it easy compared to underwater welders tasked to construct oil rigs.
Welding is easy if you have the right tools, too, but the level of complexity may
rise depending on the type of welding tool used. For example, welders using inert
tungsten gasses need specialised training to use their equipment while stick
welders may not require extensive training.
Still, welding is easy if you have a lot of experience with the activity. Newbies
may find it too complicated and may fail once, twice or thrice, but it's a guarantee
that with time and continued practice, this will be an easy and worthwhile
activity.
Cont…
The difficulty of learning to weld depends on the person, ranging from moderately
to very hard. Welding is not easy, and videos and books are insufficient sources for
learning this skill, which requires hands-on practice. Some people practice for
months and years to attain the desired level of craftsmanship. Basic difficulties
include:

• Holding the electrode holder

• Keeping the welding electrode in angle
• Maintaining an arc length
• Local exhaust
• Much practice is required to master the skill of stick welding. Stick electrodes
come in a broad range of types, which have different mechanical properties.
Specific welding power sources are necessary to operate each type.
Cont…
Maintaining an arc length requires synchronised holder hand; head screen; and eye, power
adjustment, and personal protection. Adjustable and fixed exhaust hood positioning must
maintain a 100 ft/sec capture velocity and keep air contaminants below allowable limits.

Welding also takes a toll on the body. The UV radiation can damage eyesight and
potentially damage the skin. The welding fumes are often toxic or carcinogenic (Hossain
et al., 2015). Positions required to weld cause arthritis and back problems. There are not a
lot of "old" welders because welding has the potential to shorten one's lifespan.

There is a welder shortage in the U.S.; therefore, many companies hire welders on the
spot who pass the welding test. It is possible to earn a comfortable living with limited
technical training, and advanced degrees and certifications are paths to low six-figure
yearly incomes.
Cont…
Welding is a skill that you won't pick up right away, but with practice and
application of a few simple techniques, you'll be laying down beads you can be
proud of.
So, is welding hard? It depends on the type of welding and the material you intend
working with. Stick and Mig are pretty easy to pick up, Tig and Gas welding will
require more skill. The type of materials play a part too, and mild steel is easiest to
work with, stainless steel and aluminium will require a higher level of skill.
If you're interested in classic car repair, you'll want a Mig. If precision and a super
pretty weld are important, you'll need a Tig, and if most of your work is outdoor on
heavy gauge steel and aesthetics isn't a concern, a Stick is perfect.
Cont…
These welders are all different and require particular knowledge and skill, some
more than others. In this post I'll outline what it's like to use each of them, the skills
and knowledge you'll need, by the end of this article, you'll have a better idea of
what type of welder is right for you.
I like to keep things simple, the four most common types of welding are Shielded
Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) known as Stick welding, Gas Metal Arc Welding
(GMAW) also known as MIG welding, Gas Tungsten Arc Gas Welding (GTAW)
also known as TIG welding and Oxygen Acetylene welding also known as Gas
welding.
 What is Welding Defects?
Welding defects are generated in a welding job due to the faulty or poor technique
used by the inexperienced or unskilled welder or due to fundamental difficulties in
the welding operation.
Types of Welding Defects:
Welding defects are broadly classified into two categories, and those are:
• External welding defects (Defects occur on the upper surface of the welded
work).
• Internal welding defects (Defects occur under the surface of the welded work).
Now External welding defects are classified into the following types:
• Incorrect profile (Welding is not done properly).
• Crater (A large Cavity occurs where electrode sparks continuous on a single
point).
• Cracks.
• Spatter and surface porosity (On the welded parts there some drops occur).
• Incomplete filled groove (Not filled completely).
• Distortion (This occurs were not welded properly).
 and Internal welding defects are classified into the following category:
• Blowholes and internal porosity.
• Cracks.
• Inclusions.
• Lack of fusion.
• Incomplete fusion.
Internal welding defects are classified into the following category:
Several Welding Defects
 These are the few Welding Defects Causes and Remedies:
Incomplete Penetration:
Incomplete penetration occurs when the Depth of the welded joint is insufficient.
Penetration is defined as the distance from the base plate top surface to the
maximum extent of the weld nugget.
Causes of Incomplete penetration:
• Improper joints.
• Too large root face, root gape, and bevel gear.
• Wrong hold position of the electrode.
• Too large electrode diameter and longer arc length.
• Less arc current and faster arc travel speed.
• Incorrect polarity while welding with DC.
 Remedies of Incomplete penetration:
• Increasing the heat input.
• Reducing travel speed during welding.
• Ensuring that the surface to be joint fit properly.
• Changing the joint design.
• Inclusion:
• This is maybe in the form of slag or any other foreign material, which does not
get a chance to float on the surface of the solidifying weld metal and thus gets
entrapped inside the same.

Inclusion lowers the strength of the joint and makes it weaker.

 Causes of Inclusion:
• Too high or too low arc current.
• Long arc and too large electrode diameter.
• The too-small included angle of the joint.
• Insufficient chipping and cleaning of previous passes in multipass welding.
• Wrongly placed tack welds.
• Remedies of Inclusion:
• Cleaning the weld bed surface before the next layer is deposited, by means of a
wire brush.
• Providing sufficient shielding gases.
• Redesigning the joint so as to permit sufficient space for proper manipulation of
the puddle of molten weld metals.
 Porosity and Blowholes:
Porosity is a group of small voids and blowholes are comparatively bigger isolated
holes or cavities.
They are mainly generated due to entrapped gases.

Causes of Porosity and Blowholes:

• Use of improper electrode and longer arc
• faster arc travel speed.
• Too low and too high arc currents.
• Due to gas entrapment during solidification of the weld.
• Unclean job surface i.e. presence of scales, rust, oil, and grease, etc on the surface
of the job.
 Remedies of Porosity and Blowholes:
• Proper selection of electrode and filler materials.
• Improve welding techniques such as preheating of the weld area or an increase in
the rate of heat input.
• Reducing welding speed to allow time for gas to escape.
• Proper cleaning and the prevention of contaminants from entering the weld zone.
• Spatter:
• Spatter is the small metal particles that are thrown out of the arc during welding
and get deposited on the base metal around the weld bead along its length.
 Causes of Spatter:
• Excessive arc current.
• Use of longer arc, damp electrodes.
• Electrode being coated with improper flux ingredients.
• Due to the expansion of gas bubbles entrapped in the molten globules of metal.
• Remedies of Spatter:
• Use proper arc current to weld, arc length, fresh electrodes.
• Use of AC power to reduce arc blow.
 Distortion:
• Distortion is the change in the shape and difference between the position of two
plates before and after welding due to the temperature gradient present at various
points along the joints.
• In general, we can say that distortion is due to unequal expansion and contraction
of the weld metal and all kinds of distortion increase with the volume of metal
deposited.
• Distortion of the weldment can be divided into three types:
• Longitudinal shrinkage (Occurs Parallel to the weld lines).
• Transverse shrinkage (Perpendicular).
• Angular shrinkage (rotation around the weld lines).
• Causes of Distortion:
 Causes of Distortion:
• A great number of passes with small diameter electrodes.
• Slow arc travel speed.
• High residual stresses in the plate to be welded.
• Using improper welding sequences.
• Remedies of Distortion:
• Use the proper amount of weld metal as per the requirement of the joint. It will
reduce the contraction forces.
• Use an appropriate number of weld passes.
• Place the weld near the neutral axis.
• Use proper welding sequences.
Also, there are other remedies to prevent distortion, those are:
• Reduce the welding time so that too great a volume surrounding metal cannot be
expanded.
• While the large weldments into sub-assemblies.
• Peening should be done to remove the shrinkage force during or after welding.
• If needed you can use a vernier caliper to take the perfect measurement
frequently, so that dimensional accuracy will be accurate.
• Undercut Welding defects:
• An undercut is a kind of weld defect which forms a groove in the parent metal
along with the sides of the weld bead.
• Groove reduces the thickness of the plate and also reduces the strength of the
weld.
Cont…
 Causes of Undercut:
• Wrong manipulation and inclination of an electrode and excessive weaving.
• Too large electrode diameter.
• Longer arc.
• Faster arc travel speed.
• Magnetic arc blow.
• Higher current.
• Remedies of Undercut:
• Use proper arc current, electrodes.
• Weaving should be proper and as per the requirement.
• Use proper arc travel speed.
 Hot Tear Welding defects:
• In this welding defect, the deposited metal being hot starts developing crack from
the nearby edge so that after it has been solidified the crack increase.
• The hot tear is also known as solidification cracking, due to tearing of the grain
boundaries of weld metal before complete solidification has taken place and metal is
still in the plastic state.
• Causes of Hot tear:
• Improper selection of proper materials.
• Welding current is not proper.
• Improper electrode thickness.
 Remedies of Hot tear:
• Select the proper electrode material.
• Welding current should be optimum as per the requirement.
• Electrode thickness should be optimum and according to the base metal to be
welded.
Most defects encountered in welding are due to an improper welding procedure.
Once the causes are determined, the operator can easily correct the problem. Defects
usually encountered include incomplete penetration, incomplete fusion,
undercutting, porosity, and longitudinal cracking.

Among the commonly known welding defects, incomplete penetration and fusion,
porosity and slag inclusions are the most common to affect welding strength.