How to weld dissimilar metals

Welding engineers know how crucial the right filler metal is, especially when joining dissimilar metals. It’s not just about welding two pieces together and getting them to hold; it’s about creating a welded connection that can withstand the intended service conditions. In the case of stainless steel and other nickel alloys we also want corrosion […]

Weld Failures: Why They Happen and How to Prevent Them

When a weld fails in the field, the consequences can be catastrophic. Our experience as welding engineering consultants has shown us that such failures often expose deeper issues within a company’s welding operations. These situations can lead to fears of additional failures in other products or structures, potential harm or fatalities, litigation, and even bankruptcy. […]

Demystifying Fatigue Fractures in Welding: The 3 Stages of Fatigue Fracture

In today’s article we’ll be discussing a critical aspect of welding which is crucial in ensuring the safety and long useful life of structures.  When engineers conduct a fitness for service analysis of structures they are looking for flaws. These flaws may be cracks, loose bolts, deformations, rust damage (thinning of structural members) and other […]

Why Welds Fail: It’s never just one thing

Weld failures happen all the time.  Some are more serious than others in terms of cost and potential for property damage and bodily harm.  If a weld failure is considered serious it typically gets a lot of attention. Forensics labs and industry experts get called to determine the root cause of the failure.  It may […]

Are Concave Fillet Welds Bad?

You may be surprised to know that sometimes they are desired

The following is an exerpt from:  TROUBLESHOOTING FOR NON-WELDING ENGINEERS There is nothing wrong with concave welds so long as they attain the desired throat dimension. AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2020 Structural Welding Code (Steel) states that “there is no restriction on concavity as long as minimum weld size (considering both leg and throat) is achieved.” Concave welds […]

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 […]

3 Keys to Troubleshooting Welding Problems

Troubleshooting of welds and other welding problems increases costs in welding, causes delays and affects weld quality.  Even a moderate understanding of welding problems, their symptoms, causes and potential solutions can help tremendously.  The more informed you are the better. To successfully troubleshoot and fix welding discontinuities, welding defects and other welding problems we need […]

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 […]

Why You Must Have Welding Procedure Specifications

Our previous article discussed the importance of having a specification for weld quality.  In this article we’re talking about the importance of one of its basic components: Welding Procedure Specifications (WPSs). Many fabricators don’t have WPSs. They rely in the experience of their welders to select the right parameters.  As much as we want every […]