9/10/2020 Defects - Solidification Cracking - TWI
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DEFECTS - SOLIDIFICATION
CRACKING
Weld repair on a cast iron exhaust manifold
A crack may be de ned as a local discontinuity produced by a fracture which can arise from
the stresses generated on cooling or acting on the structure. It is the most serious type of
imperfection found in a weld and should be removed. Cracks not only reduce the strength
of the weld through the reduction in the cross section thickness but also can readily
propagate through stress concentration at the tip, especially under impact loading or
during service at low temperature.
Identi cation
Visual appearance
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Solidi cation cracks are normally readily distinguished from other types of cracks due to the
following characteristic factors:
they occur only in the weld metal
they normally appear as straight lines along the centreline of the weld bead, as shown
in Fig.1, but may occasionally appear as transverse cracking depending on the
solidi cation structure
solidi cation cracks in the nal crater may have a branching appearance
as the cracks are often 'open', they can be visible to the naked eye
Fig.1 Solidi cation crack along the centre line of the weld
On breaking open the weld, the crack surface in steel and nickel alloys may have a blue
oxidised appearance, showing that they were formed while the weld metal was still hot.
Metallography
The cracks form at the solidi cation boundaries and are characteristically interdendritic.
The morphology re ects the weld solidi cation structure and there may be evidence of
segregation associated with the solidi cation boundary.
Causes
The overriding cause of solidi cation cracking is that the weld bead in the nal stage of
solidi cation has insu cient strength to withstand the contraction stresses generated as
the weld pool solidi es. Factors which increase the risk include:
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insu cient weld bead size or shape
welding under high restraint
material properties such as a high impurity content or a relatively large amount of
shrinkage on solidi cation.
Joint design can have a signi cant in uence on the level of residual stresses. Large gaps
between component parts will increase the strain on the solidifying weld metal, especially if
the depth of penetration is small. Therefore, weld beads with a small depth-to-width ratio,
such as formed in bridging a large gap with a wide, thin bead, will be more susceptible to
solidi cation cracking, as shown in Fig.2. In this case, the centre of the weld which is the last
part to solidify, is a narrow zone with negligible cracking resistance.
Fig.2 Weld bead penetration too small
Segregation of impurities to the centre of the weld also encourages cracking. Concentration
of impurities ahead of the solidifying weld front forms a liquid lm of low freezing point
which, on solidi cation, produces a weak zone. As solidi cation proceeds, the zone is likely
to crack as the stresses through normal thermal contraction build up. If liquid from the
weld pool can feed into an incipent crack, it can be prevented. For this reason, an elliptically
shaped weld pool is preferable to a tear drop shape, and fast welding speeds, which result
in a large separation between the weld pool and cracking locations, increase the risk of
cracking. Welding with contaminants such as cutting oils on the surface of the parent metal
will also increase the build up of impurities in the weld pool and the risk of cracking.
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As the compositions of the plate and the ller determine the weld metal composition they
will, therefore, have a substantial in uence on the susceptibility of the material to cracking.
Steels
Cracking is associated with impurities, particularly sulphur and phosphorus, and is
promoted by carbon whereas manganese and silicon can help to reduce the risk. To
minimise the risk of cracking, llers with low carbon and impurity levels and a relatively high
manganese content are preferred. As a general rule, for carbon-manganese steels, the total
sulphur and phosphorus content should be no greater than 0.06%.
Weld metal composition is dominated by the consumable and as the ller is normally
cleaner than the metal being welded, cracking is less likely with low dilution processes such
as MMA and MIG. Plate composition assumes greater importance in high dilution situations
such as when welding the root in butt welds, using an autogenous welding technique like
TIG, or a high dilution process such as submerged arc welding.
In submerged arc welds, as described in EN 1011-2:2001 Annex E, the cracking risk may be
assessed by calculating the Units of Crack Susceptibility (UCS) from the weld metal chemical
composition (weight %):
UCS = 230C* + 190S + 75P + 45Nb - 12.3Si - 5.4Mn - 1
C* = carbon content or 0.08 whichever is higher
Although arbitrary units, a value of <10 indicates high cracking resistance whereas >30
indicates a low resistance. Within this range, the risk will be higher in a weld run with a high
depth to width ratio, made at high welding speeds or where the t-up is poor. For llet
welds, runs having a depth to width ratio of about one, UCS values of 20 and above will
indicate a risk of cracking. For a butt weld, values of about 25 UCS are critical. If the depth to
width ratio is decreased from 1 to 0.8, the allowable UCS is increased by about nine.
However, very low depth to width ratios, such as obtained when penetration into the root is
not achieved, also promote cracking.
Aluminium
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The high thermal expansion (approximately twice that of steel) and substantial contraction
on solidi cation (typically 5% more than in an equivalent steel weld) means that aluminium
alloys are more prone to cracking. The risk can be reduced by using a crack resistant ller
(usually from the 4xxx and 5xxx series alloys) but the disadvantage is that the resulting weld
metal is likely to have non-matching properties such as a lower strength than the parent
metal.
Austenitic Stainless Steel
A fully austenitic stainless steel weld is more prone to cracking than one containing
between 5-10% of ferrite. The bene cial e ect of ferrite has been attributed to its capacity
to contain harmful impurities within the grains which would otherwise form low melting
point segregates and consequently interdendritic cracks. Therefore the choice of ller
material is important to suppress cracking so a type 308 ller is used to weld type 304
stainless steel.
Best practice in avoiding solidi cation cracking
Apart from the choice of material and ller, the principal techniques for minimising the risk
of welding solidi cation cracking are:
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Control joint t-up to reduce gaps.
Before welding, clean o all contaminants from the material
Ensure that the welding sequence will not lead to a build-up of thermally induced
stresses.
Select welding parameters and technique to produce a weld bead with an adequate
depth to width ratio, or with su cient throat thickness ( llet weld), to ensure the weld
bead has su cient resistance to the solidi cation stresses (recommend a depth to
width ratio of at least 0.5:1).
Avoid producing too large a depth to width ratio which will encourage segregation and
excessive transverse strains in restrained joints. As a general rule, weld beads whose
depth to width ratio exceeds 2:1 will be prone to solidi cation cracking.
Avoid high welding speeds (at high current levels) which increase the amount of
segregation and the stress level across the weld bead.
At the run stop, ensure adequate lling of the crater to avoid an unfavourable concave
shape.
Acceptance standards
As solidi cation cracks and crater cracks are linear imperfections with sharp edges, they are
not permitted for welds meeting the quality levels B, C and D in accordance with the
requirements of BS EN ISO 5817:2007. Crater pipes may be permitted for quality level D,
depending on their size.
Detection and remedial action
Surface breaking solidi cation cracks can be readily detected using visual examination,
liquid penetrant or magnetic particle testing techniques. Internal cracks require ultrasonic
or radiographic examination techniques.
Most codes will specify that all cracks should be removed. A cracked component should be
repaired by removing the cracks with a safety margin of approximately 5mm beyond the
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visible ends of the crack. The excavation is then re-welded using a ller which will not
produce a crack sensitive deposit.
This Job Knowledge article was originally published in Connect, November/December 1999.
It has been updated so the web page no longer re ects exactly the printed version.
For more information please email:
[email protected]
Granta Park, Great Abington, Cambridge, CB21 6AL, UK
+44(0)1223 899000
[email protected]
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