DEFECT
DESCRIPTION
FIGURE
REASON
excessive weld metal is added to
the joint
Excess Reinforcement
This is weld metal lying outside the plane
joining the weld toes
too much filler metal for the travel
speed used
In multi-run welding a poor
selection of individual bead sizes
can result in a bead build-up
pattern that overfills the joint
A wide spreading arc (high arc
voltage) with insufficient fill (low
current or high travel speed) is the
usual cause
Undercut
This is an irregular groove at the toe of a
run in the parent metal
when weaving, and the way the
welding torch is angled can both
cause and be used to overcome
undercutting
High welding current will also
cause undercut
Overlap
This is an imperfection at a toe or root of a
weld caused by metal flowing on to the
surface of the parent metal without fusing
to it. It may occur in both fillet and butt
welds.
This is often caused by poor
manipulation of the electrode or
welding gun, especially when the
weld pool is large and 'cold'
This is a continuous, or intermittent,
channel in the surface of a weld, running
Incomplete filled groove
along its length, due to insufficient weld
metal
This problem arises when there
has been insufficient filler metal
Excess Penetration
Linear misalignment
Excess weld metal protruding through the
root of a fusion (butt) weld made from one
side only
This imperfection relates to deviations from
the correct position/alignment of the joint
Penetration becomes excessive
when the joint gap is too large, the
root faces are too small, the heat
input to the joint is too high or a
combination of these causes.
This is primarily a result of poor
component fit-up before welding,
which can be compounded by
variations in the shape and
thickness of components (egout of
roundness of pipe).
Tacks that break during welding
may allow the components to
move relative to one another,
again resulting in misalignment.
Root concavity is caused by
shrinkage of the weld pool in the
through-thickness direction of the
weld
Root Concavity
A shallow groove that may occur in the root
of a butt weld
Melting of the root pass by the
second pass can also produce root
concavity
poor preparation leaving the root
gap either too small or, in some
cases, too large
Excessively high welding speeds
make the formation of root
concavity more likely
Fillet welded joints
Excess Convexity
weld metal lying outside the plane joining
the weld toes
Poor technique and the deposition
of large volumes of 'cold' weld
metal
Over size fillet weld
welds with a throat larger than required by
the design
high welding current, slow travel
speeds
Under sized fillet weld fillet welds smaller than those specified
Asymmetric fillet weld
Poor fit up
high welding speeds and low
welding currents
fillet weld where the legs are of unequal
length
Due to incorrect electrode
positioning or to gravity pulling the
molten pool towards one face of
the joint.
excessive gap between the mating faces of
the materials
Poor workshop practice, poor
dimensioning and tolerance
dimensions on drawings
Porosity
Formed due to gas entrapment in weld pool
Improper shield of weld
area,presence of moisture
PRECAUTION
ACCEPTANCE
If the imperfection is a result of welder
technique then welder retraining is
required. For mechanised techniques an
increase in travel speed or voltage will help
to reduce cap height
The acceptability of this
imperfection is very dependent on
the application in which the
product will be used. Most
standards have limit, related to
material thickness (eg10%)
This imperfection may be avoided by
reducing travel speed and/or the welding
current and by maintaining the correct arc
length
from 0.5mm (stringent) to 1mm
(moderate) for thickness (t)
greater than 3mm (more stringent
limits are required for t 0.5 to
3mm), while AWS D1.1 has a limit
of 1mm
reduction in weld pool size (obtained by
Overlap can be very difficult to
reducing current or increasing travel speed) detect
expects the joint to be adequately filled,
but not too much so (see excess weld
metal).
Not Acceptable
It is important to ensure that joint fit-up is
as specified in the welding procedure
1mm /max. 3mm
AWS D1.1 allows 10% of the wall
thickness up to a maximum of
1mm
joint fit-up is as specified in the welding
h 0.2t but max 2mm for
procedure and that the defined parameters
Stringent
are being followed
Width of weld face
Welder technique is the major cause of this W 8mm - 2mm
problem and training may be required
W <8 to <25mm- 3mm
W 25mm-3mm
specified weld size
maximum of 3mm
Use sufficient current and appropriate
travel speed
maximum 1mm
Provided the leg length requirement is
achieved there would not be a loss of
strength
Acceptance is related to the throat
thickness.
Proper root gap shall be followed as
specified by standard
maximum of 3mm
proper storage of electrode and precaution max 3.2 mm measured in any
measures.
direction
