Importance of Welding

QA/QC Department
Represented By:

Muhammad Ramzan Nadeem

IC QC

Importance of Welding:
Welding and Joining processes are essential for the development of every manufactured product. It consume greater fraction of product cost. One of the complicated activity. A very large %age of product failures occurs at joints because they are usually located at the highest stress point of the assembly and are therefore the weakest parts of that assembly. Good welding practices produce a great reward in manufacturing economy and product reliability.
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 The choice of welding method depends upon part geometry, material, value of the end product, size of the production run and availability of joining equipment. Manufacturing / Welding Engineer is to determine which process will produce acceptable properties at the lowest cost. During Welding the thermal cycle due to heat cause physical state changes, metallurgical phase transformation, thermal stress, metal movement, discontinuities, residual stress and distortion.

Welding
An operation in which two or more parts are united by means of heat or pressure or both, in such a way that there is continuity in the nature of the metals between these parts.

Brazing
Above 840 F (450 C).

Soldering
Below 840 F (450 C).

Weld:
A union between materials caused by heat, and or pressure

Joint:
A connection where the individual components, suitably prepared and assembled are joint by melting or Brazing.

Types of Welds:
Configuration point of view
Butt weld Between mating members Best quality High weld preparation cost
Fillet weld Easy preparation Asymmetric loads, lower design loads

Plug & slot welds Modified fillet welds in lap joints, using holes through one member

Butt Weld Types

Single vee can be single or double welded

Single bevel

Double vee

Backed butt (permanent or temporary)

Fillet Welds
Simple & cheap to assemble & weld Stress concentrations at toes & root

Notch at root (fatigue, toughness)

Critical dimension is throat thickness Root gap affects throat thickness Radiography & ultrasonic testing is

of limited use Large fillets use a lot of weld metal & therefore are uneconomic

Fillet Weld Terms

Toe Weld face

Toe Root Gap

Throat Thickness

Apparent leg length

Types of weld:

Penetration point of View

Full Penetration Weld: Partial Penetration Weld:

Types of Joint:
Butt Joint. T-Joint Corner Joint. Edge Joint. Lap Joint. Cruciform Joint.

Butt

Tee

Corner

Edge
Cruciform

Lap

Weld Preparation:
Included angle
Fusion face Bevel angle

Reinforcement Toe

Root face
Root gap

Root run

Toe

Welding Processes:
Arc Welding Resistance Welding Gas Welding Welding with Pressure Beam Welding

Arc Welding processes in DEL

SMAW ( Shielded Metal Arc Welding) GTAW ( Gas Tungsten Arc Welding) SAW ( Submerge Arc Welding) FCAW ( Flux Cored Arc Welding) GMAW ( Gas Metal Arc Welding)

Welding Consumables
All those things used up in the production of a weld
Though generally, we refer to those elements that are used in a specific welding process i.e:

Electrodes, Wires, Fluxes and Gases

Welding Procedure Specifications (WPS)

It is written to provide direction for making production welds to code requirements. Its purpose is to define and document in detail the variables involved in welding a certain base metal. A WPS lists the variables , both essential and non essential, and acceptable range of these variables.

Procedure Qualification Record (PQR)

It is a record of the welding data used to weld a test coupon. It is record of variables recorded during welding of test coupons. PQR lists what was used in qualifying the WPS and test results.

Welding Inspection
Welding is a key process for any fabrication and mechanical work. No job will be reliable unless welding is quiet and sound. Welding need to be inspected by an expert (Welding Inspector). A Welding Inspector can not perform his duties without knowing his responsibilities. Following are the duties of a welding inspector before, during and after welding.

Before Welding:
All applicable documents are checked. Application standard is up to date with the latest edition, revision or amendment. The drawing is clear and issue number is marked. Welding Procedure Sheets (Specifications) are available and has been approved as required by the authority and is employed in production. Welder qualifications with identification and range of approval are verified and that only approved welders as required are used in production.
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Before Welding:
Safety permits such as gas free (entering enclosed space) certificate, hot work permit are available and valid. Calibrations certificates, material certificates (mill sheets) and consumer certificates are available. Quality plan is authorized and endorsed with signature, data and company stamp. Parent material identification is verified against documentation and marking. Material composition, type and condition are checked. Identification of welding consumables such as electrodes, special drying requirements for electrodes, filler wires, fluxes, shielding and backing gases are verified correct. Contd..

Before Welding:
Plant and equipment are in safe condition and adequate for job. Correct methods are applied in cutting and machining. Dimensions, tolerances, preparation, fit up and alignment are in accordance with the approved drawings. Cleanliness is maintained. Pre-heating for any tack welding is in accordance with specified procedure.

During Welding:
Welding processes such as root pass and tack welds must be monitored and inspected. Welding should be completed without undue interruption and within specified period. Hot pass must be timed. Essential variable such as current, voltage, travel speed and number of runs must be monitored. Inter pass cleaning, temperature and run sequence should be inspected (roving inspection). Welding is compliance with welding procedure sheet and application standard.

After Welding:
Dimensional accuracy must be checked. Visual Inspection is carried out. Post welding heat treatment if any should be monitored and recorded. NDT report is assessed. Delayed inspection is carried out 72 hours later to check hydrogen cracking. Factors influencing the formation of weld defects and their acceptability in relation to the written specification are appreciated. IF REPAIRS ARE REQUIRED THEN.
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After Welding:
Procedures and welder codes should be authorized. Defect area should be marked out positively. Partial and fully removal should be monitored with visual inspections and NDT. Re-welding should be monitored and reinspected (Visual and NDT) Collate all documents and reports; pass on for final inspection, approval and storage.

Destructive Testing & Non Destructive Testing

Destructive Testing
Tensile Test Bend Test Hardness Test: Rockwell Scale, Victor Pyramid, Brinell. Charpy V notch Test Izod Impact Test All weld tensile Test Fillet weld Fracture Test CTOD ( Crack Tip Opening Displacement)

Through thickness test

Macro Examination Test] Nick Break Test

Non Destructive Testing

Visual Examination Radiographic Testing Ultrasonic Testing

Dye Penetrant Testing

Magnetic Particle Testing

Welding Imperfections:
Imperfection are divided into main six groups.

Cracks Porosity/Cavities Solid Inclusions Lack of Fusion Profile & Lack of Filling Mechanical Damage Misalignment

Cracks
A crack is 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 must 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

Types of Cracks:
Longitudinal Cracks Transverse Cracks Radiating Cracks Crater Cracks Branching Cracks (a

group of connected cracks originating from the common cracks)

These Cracks can be situated:

In the weld metal In the HAZ In the parent metal Most cracks are initiated

from stress

concentrations Exception: Crater cracks are found only in the weld metal

Depending on their nature, these cracks can be:

Hot

Cracks (i.e. Solidification cracks liquation cracks ) Precipitation induced cracks (i.e. reheat cracks, present in creep resisting steels) Cold cracks (i.e. hydrogen induced cracks) Lamellar tearing

Cavities:
Gas Cavity: formed by entrapped gas
Uniformly distributed porosity

Clustered (Localized) porosity

Linear porosity Elongated cavity Worm- Hole Surface Pore

Gas pores and Porosity

Surface breaking porosity

Shrinkage cavity Coarse cluster porosity Fine cluster porosity Blow hole > 1.6 mm

Hollow root bead

An isolated internal porosity

Solid Inclusions
Surface breaking solid inclusion
Internal solid inclusion causing a lack of inter-run fusion Internal solid inclusion causing a lack of sidewall fusion

Internal solid inclusion

Solid inclusions caused by undercut in the previous weld run

Lack of Fusion
Lack of sidewall fusion & incompletely filled grove

Overlap (Causing cold laps)

Lack of inter-run fusion

Lack of sidewall fusion Lack of root fusion

Profile Imperfections
Spatter An Incompletely filled groove

Lack of root fusion

Arc Strikes Bulbous, or irregular contour Poor toe blend
B

Incomplete root penetration

Profile Imperfections
Shrinkage grooves

Crater pipe

Root concavity

Root oxidation in Stainless Steel Excess penetration, and burn through

Undercut in Butt Welds

Root Run or Hot pass undercut

Parent metal, surface undercut

Weld metal, surface undercut*

Undercut in Fillet Welds

Parent metal, top toe undercut*

Weld metal, surface undercut

Mechanical and Surface Damage

Any surface damage caused by: Grinding Hammering/chisel marks Slag chipping hammer marks

Torn cleats (Hammered off attachments)

Arc strikes All of the above may cause serious weakness to the weld area

Misalignment
Excess weld metal height Lowest plate to highest point

Linear

3 mm

Linear misalignment measured in mm

Angular
15

Angular misalignment measured in degrees

Lamellar Tearing
Crack type: Location: Steel types: Microstructure: Lamellar tearing Below weld HAZ High sulphur & phosphorous steels Lamination & Segregation

Occurs when: High contractional strains are through the short transverse direction. There is a high sulfur content in the base metal. There is low through thickness ductility in the base metal. There is high restraint on the work

Lamellar Tearing

Restraint

Lamellar tear High contractional strains

Control of Lamellar Tearing

Methods of avoiding Lamellar Tearing: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Avoid restraint Use controlled low sulfur plate Grind out surface and butter Change joint design Use a forged T piece (Critical Applications)

Control of Lamellar Tearing

Re-design weld
Grind and infill with ductile weld metal

Control restraint

For critical work a forged T piece may be used

Forged T Piece

Heat Treatments
All heat treatments applied to metals are cycles of 3 elements. 1) 2) Heating Soaking

Temp

3)

Cooling
2

1 Time

Heat Treatments
Used to make metals soft and ductile

Annealing

For steels, the component is heated above its UCT, or upper critical temperature, soaked for 1 hour/25mm of thickness and left in the furnace to cool Produces a coarse grain structure & low toughness

Normalising:

Used to make steels tough

As for annealing, but the steel is removed from the furnace after soaking to cool in still air Produces a fine grain structure with good toughness

Heat Treatments
Used to make some steels harder Hardening:
Used to increase the hardness of some plain carbon & alloy steels. Plain carbon > 0.3% The cycle is the same as previously but the cooling is rapid i.e. Quenched in water, oil, but sometimes air

Tempering:

Used after hardening to balance the properties of Toughness & Hardness

The temperature range is from 220 723 C The cooling part of the cycle should not be too rapid, but over heating will over temper the steel

Heat Treatments
PWHT: Used after welding to release residual stresses, caused by welding operations
Force/Stress required to induce plastic strain

Stress
The effect of heat on the position of the yield point

Strain

By heating the steel, the yield point is suppressed/reduced relieving residual stresses as plastic strain at a much lower level of stress

Heat Treatments
Used mainly on steels to retard the cooling rate of a hardenable steel and Pre-Heating: reduce the hardening effect (Martensite formation) Is also used to help diffusion of Hydrogen from the HAZ of hardenable steels to avoid hydrogen cracking. Typically < 350 C Is also used to produce a more uniform rate of cooling, and control distortion, or effects of high contractional strains

Plate Sample 6A Cap

Welding Process MMA (SMAW)
Incomplete Filled Groove Porosity Slag Inclusion Cap Undercut Intermittent Lack of fusion

?
Cap Undercut Intermittent

Cap Undercut Intermittent

Arc Strike

Arc Strike

Note: spatter and surface slag requires removal, arc strikes require blending and crack detection

Plate Sample 6A Root

Welding Process MMA (SMAW)
Excess Penetration Excess Penetration Gas Pore

? ?Lack of Root ?
Surface Slag Fusion

?
?
Root Undercut Linear Misalignment

Note: Spatter and surface slag require removal

Plate Sample 6B Cap

Welding Process MMA (SMAW)
Incomplete Filled Groove Porosity Lack of Sidewall Fusion

Lack of Sidewall Fusion

Surface Slag Overlap and Excess Cap Height Full Weld Length

Note: Surface slag requires removal and poor toe blending full weld length

Plate Sample 6B Root

Welding Process MMA (SMAW)

Crater Pipe

Slag Inclusion

?
Lack of Root Fusion

? Lack of Root
Penetration

?
Lack of Root Fusion

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