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