Radiography Defects/Processes

Weld Defects
Defects which may be detected by visual inspection can be grouped under five headings

Cracks
Surface irregularities Contour defects Root defects Miscellaneous
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Weld Defects

Other associated defects

Cavities Solid inclusions Set up irregularities

Parent material defects

Weld Defects

Cracks
Classified by Shape Classified by Position HAZ Centerline Crater

Longitudinal
Transverse Branched Chevron

Fusion zone
Parent metal
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1. Cracks

Longitudinal parent metal crack

Transverse weld metal crack

Longitudinal weld metal crack

Lamellar tearing
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Cracks

Transverse Crack:

A fracture in the weld metal running across the weld

Radiographic Image:

Feathery, twisting line of darker density running across the width of the weld image

Cracks

Longitudinal Crack:

A fracture in the weld metal running lengthwise in the welding direction

Radiographic Image:

Feathery, twisting line of darker density running lengthwise along the weld at any location in the width of the weld image

Cracks
Crater / Star Crack:
Cracks which occur in the end crater of a weld run due to incorrect welding technique can be found either at the stop or start of a weld run

Radiographic Image:

Fine dark wavy lines with a feathery appearance usually emanating from the centre of the weld crater in the shape of a star. Sometimes as a single wavy line longitudinal or transverse to the crater.

Cracks
HAZ Crack:
A crack which runs parallel to the edge of the weld cap. It may be situated in the weld metal, weld junction, heat affected zone or the parent metal.

Radiographic Image:

Fine dark wavy lines (often discontinuous) with a feathery appearance and situated close together depending on the severity of the crack.

Cracks
Longitudinal Root Crack:
A fracture in the weld metal at the edge of the root pass.

Radiographic Image:

Feathery, twisting lines of darker density along the edge of the image of the root pass. The twisting features helps to distinguish the root crack from incomplete root penetration

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Root Defects
Lack of Root Penetration (LOP):
The edge of the pieces have not been welded together, usually at the bottom of single V-groove welds

Radiographic Image:

A darker density band, with very straight line parallel edges, in the center of the width of the weld image

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Root Defects
Lack of Root Fusion:

Lack of union between weld metal and parent metal at the root face of the weld preparation.

Radiographic Image:

A very fine straight dark line running along one edge of the lighter image of the root penetration bead.

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Root Defects
Internal Concavity (suck back):
A depression in the center of the surface of the root pass.

Radiographic Image:

An elongated irregular darker density with fuzzy edges, in the center of the width of the weld image.

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Root Defects
Excessive Penetration (LORP):
Extra metal at the bottom (root) of the weld..

Radiographic Image:

A lighter density in the center of the width of the weld image, either extended along the weld or in the isolated circular drops.

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Root Defects
Burn Through:
A severe depression or a crater-type hole at the bottom of the weld but usually not elongated

Radiographic Image:

A localized darker density with fuzzy edges in the center of the weld image. It may be wider than the width of the root pass image.

Burn Through

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Lack of Fusion
Lack of Sidewall Fusion (LOF):
Elongated voids between weld beads and the joint surfaces

Radiographic Image:

Elongated, parallel, or single, darker density lines sometimes with darker density spots dispersed along the LOF lines which are very straight in the lengthwise direction and not winding like elongated slag lines

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Lack of Fusion
Interpass Cold Lap:
Lack of fusion areas along the top surface and edge of lower passes.

Radiographic Image:

Small spots of darker densities, some with slightly elongated tails, aligned in the welding direction and not in the center of the width of the weld image.

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Lack of Fusion
Lack of Sidewall Fusion with slag:
Elongated voids between weld beads and the joint surfaces

Radiographic Image:

Elongated, parallel, or single, darker density lines sometimes with darker density spots dispersed along the LOF lines which are very straight in the lengthwise direction and not winding like elongated slag lines

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Slag
Slag Inclusion:

Weld slag or the other foreign matter trapped in the weld metal. Usually formed by slag from a previous weld run that has not re-melted

Radiographic Image:

Dark indications with irregular shapes sometimes elongated with sharp pointed ends, usually following
the line of the weld run.

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Slag
Interpass Slag Inclusion:
Usually non-metallic impurities that solidified on the weld surface and were not removed between weld passes

Radiographic Image:

An irregular shaped darker density spot, usually slightly elongated and randomly spaced

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Slag
Elongated Slag Lines (wagon tracks):
Impurities that solidify on the surface after welding and were not removed between passes

Radiographic Image:

Elongated, parallel or single darker density lines, irregular in width and slightly winding in the lengthwise direction

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Inclusion
Tungsten Inclusion:
Random bits of tungsten fused into but not melted into the weld metal

Radiographic Image:

Irregularly shaped lower density spots randomly located in the weld image

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Copper
Copper Inclusion:
An inclusion in the weld metal of small particles of copper which are deposited from the contact tip used in MIG / MAG and Submerged Arc Welding processes.

Radiographic Image:

It appears in the radiograph as light spots of any shape with indistinct edges due to partial alloying with the weld metal and can be differentiated from tungsten inclusions because of this.

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Undercut
External Undercut (Cap):
A gouging out of the piece to be welded, alongside the edge of the to or external surface of the weld..

Radiographic Image:

An irregular darker density along the edge of the weld image. The density will always be darker than the density of the pieces being welded

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Undercut
Internal Undercut (Root):
A gouging out of the piece to be welded, alongside the edge of the to or internal surface of the weld..

Radiographic Image:

An irregular darker density near the center of the width of the weld image and along the edge of the root pass image.

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Incomplete Filled Groove

Insufficient Fill
A depression in the top of the weld, or cover pass, indicating a thinner than normal section thickness..

Radiographic Image:

A weld density darker than the density of the pieces being welded and extending across the full width of the weld image.

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Excessive Weld Cap

Excessive Reinforcement (cap):
A heavy deposit of the final weld run giving a convex shape with an abrupt change in thickness at the boundary between the parent metal and the weld reinforcement.

Radiographic Image:

A high contrast between the density of the image of the parent metal and the image of the weld with little or no sign of the image of the root run.

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Porosity
Cluster porosity
Rounded or slightly elongated voids grouped together.

Radiographic Image:

Rounded or slightly elongated darker density spots in clusters with the clusters randomly spaced

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Porosity
Gas Pore or Single porosity
A cavity generally under 1.5mm in diameter, formed by gas trapped in the weld metal during solidification.

Radiographic Image:

The image appears as a dark round spot with sharp contours.

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Porosity
Scattered Porosity
Rounded voids random in size and location.

Radiographic Image:

Rounded spots of darker densities random in size and location

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Porosity
Root Pass Aligned Porosity
Rounded and elongated voids in the bottom of the weld aligned along the weld centerline.

Radiographic Image:

Rounded and elongated darker density spots, that may be connected, in a straight line in the center of the width of the weld image

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Porosity
Surface Porosity
Groups of gas pores formed by entrapped gas during solidification of the weld metal.

Radiographic Image:

Gas inclusions form spherical blow holes or bubbles, their images appear as dark round spots with sharp contours randomly distributed. Surface breaking porosity usually appears spread out to the extremities of the image of the weld cap rather than more centrally distributed as when found in the weld body.
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Porosity
Herring Bone Porosity:

Radiographic Image:

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Missalignment
Offset or Mismatch:
A missalignment of the pieces to be weled.

Radiographic Image:

An abrupt change in film density across the width of the weld image.

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Missalignment
Offset or Mismatch with LOP:
A missalignment of the pieces to be weled and insufficient filling of the bottom of the weld or root area.

Radiographic Image:

An abrupt change in film density across the width of the weld image with a straight longitudinal darker density line at the center of the width of the weld image along the edge of the density change.

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Spot Weld
Spot Weld Gas & Crack:

Radiographic Image:

Spot weld crack

Spot weld gas

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Arc Strike
Arc Strike:
A localized coalescence outside the weld zone

Radiographic Image:

Irregularly shaped lower density spots located in the parent metal image

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Miscellaneous Defects
Spatter
Spatter:
Small droplets of weld metal deposited on the surface of the parent metal and sometimes on the surface of the weld.

Radiographic Image:

Small round light spots on the image of the parent metal and on the image of the weld.

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Debris
Debris:

Radiographic Image:

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Artifacts
Film Scratch:

Radiographic Image:

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Artifacts
Chemical Marks:

Radiographic Image:

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Artifacts
Light Leaks:

Radiographic Image:

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Artifacts
Static Discharge:

Radiographic Image:

Causes:

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Artifacts
Reticulation:

Radiographic Image:

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Artifacts
Diffraction Mottle:

Radiographic Image:

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Artifacts
Dust, Lint and Grime Marks:

Radiographic Image:

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Artifacts
Light Leaks:

Radiographic Image:

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Artifacts
Crimping Marks:

Radiographic Image:

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Artifacts
Unknown Artifacts:

Radiographic Image:

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