1.

Porosity – Cavities in the weld caused

by trapped gas during solidification of the
weld metal. Common causes are lack of
shielding gas, excessive arc length, or
dirty base material. Another no so
common cause can be arc blow, where
magnetic fields cause an erratic arc. By
codes or manufacturer specs porosity
may be present but each individual hole
should not exceed a certain length and the
total length of all holes cannot exceed a certain value per inch of weld.

2. Lack of Fusion – Also called lack of penetration or cold lap. Lack of

fusion refers to the base material not
being fused properly to the other piece or
weld metal itself. This is caused by
having welding parameters that are too
low. Although this cannot be detected, at
least not easily, after welding, the welder
himself can see this while welding. A
trained welder is able to recognize if the
arc is digging properly into the base
material. It is difficult, but not impossible, to detect lack of fusion while
welding.
3. Undercut – This is a grove that appears
at one of both toes of the weld. This is
caused by lack of fill. The lack of fill can
be due to excessive voltage or too low wire
feed speed. Can also be caused by incorrect
welding technique. As with porosity, some
undercut may be acceptable.

4. Incorrect Bead Placement – As the name states, this discontinuity

occurs when the weld bead is not in the
right location. It can mean missing the
joint completely or not having equal legs in
a fillet weld. Incorrect bead placement can
be a weld defect if the root is missed or if
the smallest leg size does not meet the
specification minimum. Undercut is a
groove that is melted into the base
material at the toe or toes of a weld.

5. Spatter – This are small drops of weld metal that escape the arc and land
on the adjacent base material fusing themselves to it. Spatter is not a weld
defect, but again the maximum allowable is per the customer’s specification.
Spatter is caused by incorrect welding procedures, including amps, volts,
welding speed, travel and work angles, and even shielding gas. Spatter
does not decrease weld strength but it may create clearance issues and it
looks awful.
6. Incorrect Weld Size – This can be either a weld that is too big or too
small. Although big welds are preferred over small welds it is still
detrimental at times to have a big weld due to excessive heat input, weld
stresses and distortion. Weld size is affected by travel speed and welding
procedures, specifically wire feed speed. It can be easily measured by the
use of weld gages.

7. Slag Inclusions – This consists of slag

trapped between passes. This is
impossible to detect via weld inspection
after welding is complete and very hard
to detect while welding.
weld surface between passes. It can
also occur in single pass welds when
slag gets trapped in the root and toes
of the weld.

8. Excessive Reinforcement – This is a

weld that is too big or has too much
convexity (too much build-up). Usually
caused by low travel speeds or incorrect
procedures. Excessive reinforcement
does not add strength to the weld.

9. Melt Through – This occurs when welding procedures and/or technique

provide too much penetration and metal
comes out of the back of the joint.
It will be welding specifications that
determine whether any of the above are
acceptable and to what degree.
However, keep an eye out especially for
lack of fusion, slag inclusions and
incorrect bead placement. Even in small
amounts these have the potential for
weld failure.
10. Concave Root Surface (Suck-back) - A root bead which is properly
fused but in the center of the bead is slightly below the inside of the pipe
wall. It mostly occur in the overhead position or at 6 O`clock due to the pull
of gravity. However, leaking is not possible since it is properly fused but it
fails the standards of measurement because it can be describe as
undersized reinforcement.