Guide for theVisual Inspectionof Welds

AWS B1.11:2000An American National Standard

550 N.W. LeJeune Road, Miami, Florida 33126550 N.W. LeJeune Road, Miami, Florida 33126

AWS B1.11:2000An American National Standard

Approved byAmerican National Standards Institute

January 7, 2000

Guide for the Visual

Examination of Welds

Supersedes ANSI/AWS B1.11-88

Prepared byAWS Committee on Methods of Inspection

Under the Direction ofAWS Technical Activities Committee

Approved byAWS Board of Directors

AbstractThis guide contains information to assist in the visual examination of welds. Included are sections on prerequisites,fundamentals, surface conditions, and equipment. Sketches and full-color photographs illustrate weld discontinuitiescommonly found in welds.

Key Words—Visual inspection, visual examination, surface conditions, instruments, equipment, records, discontinuities, nondestructive examination

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Table of ContentsPage No.

Personnel .................................................................................................................................................................... iiiForeword....................................................................................................................................................................... vList of Figures.............................................................................................................................................................vii

1. General ...................................................................................................................................................................11.1 Application.....................................................................................................................................................11.2 Scope..............................................................................................................................................................11.3 Safety and Health ...........................................................................................................................................11.4 References ......................................................................................................................................................1

2. Prerequisites ...........................................................................................................................................................22.1 General ...........................................................................................................................................................22.2 Visual Acuity..................................................................................................................................................22.3 Equipment ......................................................................................................................................................22.4 Experience and Training ................................................................................................................................22.5 Procedures ......................................................................................................................................................22.6 Certification Programs ...................................................................................................................................22.7 Safety .............................................................................................................................................................2

3. Fundamentals of Visual Examination.....................................................................................................................23.1 General ...........................................................................................................................................................23.2 Prior to Welding .............................................................................................................................................33.3 During Welding..............................................................................................................................................33.4 After Welding.................................................................................................................................................4

4. Weld Surface Conditions ........................................................................................................................................44.1 General ...........................................................................................................................................................44.2 Porosity ..........................................................................................................................................................44.3 Incomplete Fusion..........................................................................................................................................64.4 Incomplete Joint Penetration..........................................................................................................................64.5 Undercut.........................................................................................................................................................84.6 Underfill .........................................................................................................................................................84.7 Overlap.........................................................................................................................................................114.8 Lamination ...................................................................................................................................................114.9 Seams and Laps............................................................................................................................................124.10 Cracks...........................................................................................................................................................124.11 Slag Inclusions .............................................................................................................................................154.12 Excessive Reinforcement .............................................................................................................................164.13 Convexity and Concavity .............................................................................................................................164.14 Arc Strikes....................................................................................................................................................164.15 Spatter ..........................................................................................................................................................164.16 Melt-Through ...............................................................................................................................................164.17 Weld Size .....................................................................................................................................................174.18 Surface Oxidation.........................................................................................................................................17

5. Examination Equipment .......................................................................................................................................175.1 Introduction..................................................................................................................................................175.2 Calibration and Handling of Examination Equipment.................................................................................18

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Page No.

5.3 Linear Measuring Devices ...........................................................................................................................195.4 Temperature Measuring Devices..................................................................................................................195.5 Weld Gauges ................................................................................................................................................215.6 Fiberscopes and Borescopes ........................................................................................................................245.7 Ferrite Gauges ..............................................................................................................................................245.8 Light Source .................................................................................................................................................245.9 Ammeters .....................................................................................................................................................27

6. Records .................................................................................................................................................................27

Annex A—List of Standards Commonly Used in the Welding Industry ......................................................................29Annex B—Supplementary Reading Material ..............................................................................................................31Annex C—Guidelines for Preparation of Technical Inquiries for AWS Technical Committees .................................33

AWS Document List ....................................................................................................................................................35

vii

List of Figures

Figure Page No.

1 Scattered Porosity ..........................................................................................................................................52 Surface Appearance of Piping Porosity .........................................................................................................53 Aligned Porosity with Crack..........................................................................................................................64 Elongated Porosity .........................................................................................................................................65 Various Locations of Incomplete Fusion .......................................................................................................76 Incomplete Fusion..........................................................................................................................................77 Incomplete Fusion at the Groove Face...........................................................................................................78 Incomplete Fusion Between Weld Beads.......................................................................................................89 Incomplete Fusion Between the Weld and Base Metal..................................................................................810 Incomplete Joint Penetration..........................................................................................................................811 Incomplete Joint Penetration with Consumable Insert ..................................................................................912 Incomplete Joint Penetration..........................................................................................................................913 Examples of Undercut....................................................................................................................................914 Undercut at Fillet Weld Toe .........................................................................................................................1015 Underfill .......................................................................................................................................................1016 Underfill Using Flux Cored Arc Welding in Steel .......................................................................................1017 Overlap.........................................................................................................................................................1118 Overlap.........................................................................................................................................................1119 Laminations..................................................................................................................................................1120 Types of Cracks............................................................................................................................................1221 Longitudinal vs. Transverse Cracks .............................................................................................................1322 Longitudinal Crack and Linear Porosity ......................................................................................................1323 Transverse Cracks ........................................................................................................................................1424 Throat Crack ................................................................................................................................................1425 Crater Crack .................................................................................................................................................1526 Longitudinal Cracks Propagating from Crater Crack ..................................................................................1527 Toe Cracks....................................................................................................................................................1528 Toe Cracks....................................................................................................................................................1629 Underbead Cracks ........................................................................................................................................1630 Slag Inclusion...............................................................................................................................................1731 Weld Reinforcement.....................................................................................................................................1732 Convex Fillet Weld.......................................................................................................................................1833 Convexity .....................................................................................................................................................1834 Concave Fillet Weld .....................................................................................................................................1935 Spatter ..........................................................................................................................................................1936 Melt-Through ...............................................................................................................................................2037 Surface Oxidation (Sugaring) in a Stainless Steel Gas Tungsten Arc Weld ................................................2138 Temperature-Sensitive Crayon.....................................................................................................................2139 Surface Contact Thermometer .....................................................................................................................2240 Pyrometer .....................................................................................................................................................2241 Evaluating a Convex Fillet Weld..................................................................................................................2342 Evaluating a Concave Fillet Weld ................................................................................................................2343 A Multipurpose Gauge.................................................................................................................................2444 A Taper Gauge .............................................................................................................................................2545 Hi-Lo Mismatch Gauge ...............................................................................................................................2546 A Fiberscope in Use.....................................................................................................................................2647 Ferrite Indicator (Ferritescope) ....................................................................................................................2648 Tong Test Ammeter......................................................................................................................................27

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AWS B1.11:2000

1. General

1.1 Application. Information contained in this guide ap-plies to the general duties and responsibilities of visualinspectors of weldments and is useful to them in carryingout their duties and responsibilities defined in particularcodes or specifications. This document is primarily in-tended for those who are responsible for the final accep-tance of weldments. However all welders, supervisors,technicians, and engineers who are required to routinelyinspect work performed by them or under their authoritywill benefit from the use of this document. This docu-ment will provide general guidelines for the visual exam-ination of weldments.

The inspector should be knowledgeable concerningeach of the principles and methods of examination re-quired on a particular weldment. It is the responsibilityof those charged with the administration and supervisionof inspection to make certain that the principles andmethods set forth are properly understood and uniformlyapplied. This responsibility also includes the qualifica-tion and certification of inspectors, where such certifica-tion is required by codes, specifications, or civil laws.AWS QC1, Standard for AWS Certification of WeldingInspectors, indicates the importance AWS assigns tovisual examination.

Contract documents should specify the requirementsfor visual examination. In the absence of such require-ments, the manufacturer should be requested to establish,in writing, the extent and the methods of examination tobe required.

Acceptance standards should be clearly understood byboth the manufacturer and the buyer before any weldingis started. This is not only to make more effective use ofthe examination methods but to prevent disagreementover whether a weldment is satisfactory and in accor-dance with the contract specifications.

1.2 Scope. This guide includes an outline of the funda-mental prerequisites for personnel performing visual ex-amination of welds. Such prerequisites include physicallimitations or capabilities, as well as technical knowl-edge, training, experience, judgment, and certification.

This guide essentially provides an introduction to vi-sual examination of welding. These examinations fall intothree categories based on the time they are performed, asfollows: (1) prior to welding, (2) during welding, and (3)after welding. An extensive treatment is provided on weldsurface conditions, including reference to frequentlyused terminologies associated with preferred and non-preferred conditions. Visual examination may be per-formed by different people or organizations. Personnelperforming welding examination include welders, weld-ing supervisors, the contractor’s welding inspector, thepurchaser’s examiner, or the regulatory inspector. For thepurpose of simplicity, these individuals referred to asvisual inspectors in the remainder of this standard in thatthey perform visual inspection. Fabrication documents,contract specifications, and regulatory agencies mayspecify who performs final inspections.

Also provided is a review of visual examinationequipment aids routinely used, such as gauges and light-ing equipment. Formal documentation of visual exami-nation results is contained in Section 6, Records. Finally,the guide suggests additional reading or references, thatmay provide more detailed requirements for specificvisual examination applications.

1.3 Safety and Health. This technical document does notaddress all welding and health hazards. Pertinent infor-mation can be found in ANSI Z49.1, Safety in Welding,Cutting, and Allied Processes, and other safety-relateddocuments including federal, state, and local regulations.

1.4 References. The following documents are cited inthis document. Copies may be obtained from the AmericanWelding Society.

Guide for theVisual Examination of Welds