Not all weld discontinuities are weld defects, but all weld defects are discontinuities. Understanding the difference will let you know if you need to scrap a part, repair it or simply add more weld. There are many codes depending on what type of product you are welding on. The codes are used as guidelines by […]
Can our selection of shielding gas affect the strength of a weld and other important mechanical properties? Absolutely! The difference is more pronounced when using flux-cored (FCAW) wires than when using mig (GMAW) wires, especially as the wire’s tensile strength goes up. Although we can affect strength by using different gases, what we should be […]
We receive several calls about welding stainless and the beautiful rainbow colors, or lack thereof, on the weld and heat affected zone. Is the tinting an indication of quality? Are these colors acceptable? Do they show that the weld had enough heat to penetrate? Why do they need to be cleaned? The questions are endless. […]
In our previous two articles we talked about categorizing cracks based on when they occur and in which direction they propagate. Today on our third and final article on understanding why your welds crack we look at the importance of location. If you want to review or if you missed our previous two articles simply […]
In our previous post we discussed categorizing cracks based on when they occur. If you missed this you can read it at Understanding Why Welds Crack: Timing. As discussed in this previous article, cracks can and should be categorized based on three criteria: Timing – did the crack occur immediately after welding (hot crack), did […]
Cracks on welds are never good. Welding codes always have allowances for porosity, undercut, weld sizes, and even weld profiles. However, there is never an allowance for cracks. Being a linear discontinuity, a crack will tend to propagate through the weld and into the base metal with relative ease, especially in cyclically loaded structures. So […]
Stainless steels are iron based alloys that contain a minimum of 10.5% chromium. This chromium reacts with the air and forms a very thin but very tenacious chromium oxide layer which is what prevents stainless from rusting. There are 5 types of stainless steels which are categorized depending on additional alloying elements. One thing they […]
Hydrogen Induced Cracking (HIC), also called hydrogen assisted cracking (HAC) and cold cracking, is a common welding defect when welding heavy steel sections and steels with high carbon content. If you would like to learn more about the causes of HIC read Factors Influencing Hydrogen Induced Cracking. In the above mentioned article we explained that […]
Our last post (Factors Influencing Hydrogen Induced Cracking) went over the factors that contribute to hydrogen-induced cracking. We will now go over how to prevent HIC from happening. If you recall, we mentioned you need all three factors to be present in order to have HIC: These factors are 1. a susceptible microstructure, 2. threshold […]
Hydrogen-induced cracking (HIC) is a far too common type of failure. It is also called hydrogen assisted cracking (HAC) and delayed cracking since it does not occur right after welding, but a few hours or days after the weld has completely cooled down to ambient temperature. Cracking occurs due to a significant loss in ductility […]
