Aluminum Welding: The Cost and Cure of

Porosity
Porosity can be a problem in aluminum welding. Less than 3
percent by volume passes most industry codes and
standards. But go over, and costs build, hour by $50 dollar
hour.
December 5, 2011
inShare
THE COST
A welder lays down a gas-metal-arc bead on a thick-walled aluminum pressure vessel. Each
seam requires a dozen weld passes. Once finished, the welder has deposited 30 ft of weld.
According to NDE requirements, 1 ft must undergo spot X-Ray inspection. The pipe is wheeled
into an X-ray booth, and it takes a half hour for the inspector to set up and take a shot.
Simple enough. Unfortunately, the inspector sees relatively severe porosity that is unacceptable
by most codes. So, following the code, the inspector takes two more X-ray shots; setup and
implementation take an hour. One more shot shows more unacceptable porosity. Under this
circumstance, most codes tell inspectors to X-ray the entire weld. Thats 30 X-rays.
Instead of putting about a half hour into inspection, the shop is now about 10 hours into it, says
Frank Armao, group leader, non-ferrous applications, Lincoln Electric Co. (Cleveland, Ohio).
They havent even repaired anything yet.
Out of 30 inspections, five show porosity. The vessel is rolled back onto the floor. The areas of
unacceptable weld are removed all the way through (to ensure no porosity remains) and rewelded. Each removal and re-weld takes about an hour, totaling five hours rework. The welder
takes it back to the X-ray booth for five more shots. In the end, the entire ordeal takes 20 hours.
At $50 an hour, that shop just spent $1,000 in labor alone, Armao says, and thats just one
repair cycle.
THE CURE
Aluminum weld porosity is caused by hydrogen. Molten aluminum has a high solubility for
hydrogen; solid aluminum doesnt, so the hydrogen tries to escape before cooling. If the weld
pool cools too quickly, the hydrogen remains in the weld metal, causing porosity. This often calls
for a slower cooling rate from higher welding currents, slower speeds, preheating, or a change in
weld design. Multipass welds are ripe for trapping hydrogen.

Slower weld speed adds weld time, increasing costs; and alternative weldment design may not be
an option. But regardless, the first goal should be to eliminate the sources of excessive hydrogen.
Sources come from hydrocarbons and water vapor. Hydrocarbons come from oils and greases,
often blamed on wire with drawing compound remaining. Note, however, that aluminum welding
wire naturally develops an oxide coating when exposed to air. To test whether wire may have
drawing compound on it, wipe the wire with a white rag, then put the rag under a black light. If it
fluoresces, its grease; if it doesnt, its oxide coating that GMAW can easily break.
Hydrocarbons also come from oily drive rolls or oily liner in the welding gun, an oily workpiece,
even oil dropping from overhead cranes. (Ive heard them all, Armao says.). Much of it comes
from improper weld prep. Aluminum is shipped from the mill coated with a kerosene oil
intended to make sheets easier to stack and unstack. Its a hydrocarbon and so can cause porosity
if not removed before welding.
To avoid water vapor, never use wet gas with a dewpoint more than minus 76 deg F (according
to Armao, wet gas in cylinders is actually relatively rare). The vapor also comes from watercooled guns. Before any visual evidence of a leak, a gun can leak enough moisture to give
porosity.
In many welds, 20 ppm moisture in the weld area is enough. In humid weather, water flow in the
gun should not be continuous. If water flows during idle periods, water vapor from the
atmosphere may condense on the gas cup and other internal parts of the gun. Also, beware of
hooking a water-cooled torch to a water spigot. Most municipal water supplies are cooler than
the dewpoint of summer air, so condensation may occur.
Summer also can bring in whats called July Porosity. Outside breezes disrupt the shielding
gas, pulling in humid air. The water vapor lodges in the weld pool, resulting in porosity. Water
also comes from condensation on the plate, condensation from an improperly sealed hose . . .
indeed, any source of possible moisture. Humidity also limits appropriate places to store
aluminum. If you expose any aluminum alloy to air for more than a fraction of a second,
explains Armao, the metal will develop a very thin, 40- to 50-atoms-thick oxide layer.
GMA welding easily breaks down this layer, which, kept dry at room temperature, grows very
slowly. Once wet, though, it forms a hydrated oxide, a chemical combination of water and
aluminum oxide producing a gray stain or, if severe enough, a white powder. Welding over it
may result in incomplete penetration (an insulator, oxides resist welding) and, of course,
porosity.
You hit this hydrated oxide with a 10,000 deg arc, Armao says. Thats more than enough
temperature to break the water from the oxide on it. Weld procedures must include degreasing
and oxide removal, using solvents or chemicals to remove hydrocarbons, then using a stainlesssteel wire brush to remove the aluminum oxide.
WORTH CORRECTING
Proper weld-prep might take a half hour total $25 of labor, as opposed to up to perhaps $1,000

or more in inspection and rework costs. Proper storage and proper weld procedures upfront
should be fundamental in a shops welding budget. If not, costs can spiral out of control.
The Lincoln Electric Company, 22800 Saint Clair Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44117-8542, 888-9353876, frank_armao@lincolnelectric.com, www.lincolnelectric.com.

7 Comments
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fran oswald wrote:

May 30, 2011
If multi-pass welds cause hydrogen trappings, then how would someone take a 3/8 to 1/2
beveled weld test. Watch the interpass temp? Thanks.

o Frank G. Armao wrote:

Jun 2, 2011
Fran,
Multi pass welds do not cause hydrogen trapping. Porosity, which is due to
hydrogen contamination, is caused by 1 of 2 contaminants oils, greases, and
other hydrocarbons or water vapor. Eliminate them and you eliminate the
porosity. This usually means doing a better job of pre-weld cleaning, but there are
other causes as well-unfortunately too long to go into here.

Frank G. Armao, Director

Application Engineering, North Asia
Country Manager, South Korea
The Lincoln Electric Company
86-150-2133-5340 Mobile
86-21-6673-4530 X1026 Office
86-21-6602-5838 Fax

Bob Heffernan wrote:

Sep 9, 2015
Frank
Would you be interested in weld testing an Aluminum Oxide Remover that
we have developed? We have been able to remove heavily oxidized
aluminum plate down to clean metal in minutes.

o Ringo Tan wrote:

Nov 30, 2013
Try using mix shielding gas (25% Helium with 75% Argon) and weld in vertical
position.
Please let know the result is good or bad.

Ed Barry wrote:
Dec 6, 2012
Eliminating oils, greases, water vapor and other contaminants doesnt necessarily solve
the porosity problem. Even machining surface oxides along with these suggested cures
wont always solve the problem. The surface of aluminum can often be visually
acceptable, but laying beneath the surface is a field of porosity. Our shop has been trying

to solve this problem for months, using a controlled room (dehumidifier) ultra pure argon
and several other controls, but still no luck.

alain goulet wrote:

Apr 13, 2015
Yep! Having to deal with the same issues, pretty clean environment, using argon, clean
mechanically then wipe both parts and filler rod, preheat parts, and seems that it comes
from within the base materials. Sometimes I grind and reweld, and grind again and
reweld, but still have lots of porosity.

o Bob Heffernan wrote:

Sep 9, 2015
Alain
I am not sure where you are located in the world but would you be interested in
testing an Aluminum Oxide Remover. This chemical will remove any surface
oxides in minutes.

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