Weldability of Annealed, Normalized, Quenched and Tempered Steels

We frequently receive requests for help developing welding procedures for welding on quenched and/or quenched and tempered steels.  Sometimes the call for help is to determine why these steels cracked after welding and how to prevent it from happening in the future. Understanding the supplied condition of the steel you are going to be welding […]

How Carbon Content Affects the Weldability of Steels

And its effects on strength, hardness, ductility and machinability

Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon along with several other elements in small quantities, all of which have an impact on its properties. Steels can contain varying amounts of carbon and are typically categorized as low, medium or high carbon steels. Low carbon steels are those containing 0.30% carbon or less.  Medium carbon […]

The Advantage of Using Undermatching Filler Metals on High Strength Steels

High strength steels are becoming more and more popular in steel construction.  Higher strength means we can reduce the thickness of the base material and thus reduce weight.  This is very important not just in vehicles but in static structures as well.   However, higher strength steels usually bring about a few issues that if not […]

Importance of Weld Failure Analysis

Basic guidelines to troubleshoot weld failures

When a weld fails we don’t always know what caused it.  We may try something different and if it doesn’t fail the next time we adopt that as the new standard.  However, it is very important to know the root cause of weld failures.  If we don’t know what caused the failure how can we […]

Troubleshooting Weld Cracking – The importance of crack location

One of the first steps in analyzing cracks to find their root cause and take corrective action is to categorize the cracks.  We categorize cracks based on three elements. Location Direction Timing In today’s article we discuss the importance of crack location when trying to determine what caused it.  What follows is an excerpt from […]

Weld Troubleshooting for Non Welding Engineers

NOW AVAILABLE! Troubleshoot common welding and welding equipment problems the way welding engineers do. For more information CLICK HERE or the image  below. Learn and follow the process used by welding engineers to find the root cause of welding problems and their solutions. This troubleshooting guide goes beyond your typical troubleshooting charts on the back […]

How to Weld High Carbon Steels

High carbon steels are those containing 0.45% carbon or higher. They are typically considered “hard to weld” because they are crack sensitive and are susceptible to undergoing significant changes in their physical and mechanical properties after welding.  However, high carbon steels can be welded successfully and without problems by having a sound understanding of the […]

Dangers of not Maintaining Proper Interpass Temperature

Last week we had the pleasure of working with a fabricator of pressure vessels in order to help them reduce manufacturing costs.   As mandated by the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code this fabricator had welding procedure specifications (WPSs) and procedure qualification records (PQRs) in place.  These were properly written, tested and documented. The WPS […]

10 Types of Welding Discontinuities Explained

Not all discontinuities are defects

Cracks can lead to catastrophic failure in a relative short amount of time.

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 […]

Understanding Why Your Welds Crack – Part 3

Location of Cracks

Cracks can be categorized by their location: weld metal, heat affected zone and unaffected (by heat) base metal.

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 […]