Welding, Brazing & NDE

Start here: ten words every newcomer needs

Overheard on the job

Real-sounding lines from the floor, translated into plain English.

• Run the root with 6010 downhill, hot pass right behind it, then fill and cap uphill with 7018 out of the oven.

  TranslationMake the first pass with a deep-penetrating cellulosic rod traveling top to bottom, follow immediately with the second pass, then complete the weld bottom to top with dry low-hydrogen electrodes.

• Shot came back with wagon tracks and IP at six, that's a bust, grind it out or it's a cutout.

  TranslationThe radiograph showed slag lines along the root and incomplete penetration at the bottom of the pipe, so the weld failed and must be repaired or removed entirely.

• You dipped the tungsten and the root's sugared, your purge died, check the dams and regrind before you touch it again.

  TranslationThe TIG electrode touched the weld pool and the back of the stainless root oxidized because the inert gas inside the pipe was lost, so fix the purge and sharpen a clean tungsten first.

• Watch the puddle and get some burn-in on the sidewalls, that's cold lap at the toe, I can pick it with my nail.

  TranslationPay attention to the molten pool and make sure the weld melts into the groove walls, because the bead edge is lying on the surface without fusing.

• Hang the stinger up, your ground's on the painted side and the arc blow's walking the bead off the joint.

  TranslationPut the electrode holder down safely, then move the work clamp to bare metal on the other side, because the current path from where it sits is setting up magnetic forces that deflect the arc.

• Preheat 250 minimum, interpass 500 max, and stay inside the heat input on the WPS or the CWI will red-tag it.

  TranslationHeat the joint before welding, keep it below the maximum temperature between passes, and respect the energy limits in the welding procedure, or the inspector will reject the work.

• Fit-up's got an eighth of hi-lo and no gap, get the dogs back on it before anybody tacks it.

  TranslationThe two pieces are misaligned and have no root opening, so use clamping lugs and wedges to correct the fit before the parts are tack welded.

• Burner left drag lines all over the bevel, grind it bright, feather the tacks and walk the cup on the root.

  TranslationThe torch-cut edge is rough, so grind it clean, taper the tack welds for tie-in, and run the TIG root by rocking the gas cup along the groove.

The arc and resistance welding processes and the ways metal crosses the arc.

• FCAWalso flux core, dual shield
  Flux-cored arc welding: arc welding with a tubular wire filled with flux, with or without shielding gas.
• GMAWalso MIG, MAG
  Gas metal arc welding: a continuously fed wire electrode shielded by gas, known in the shop as MIG.
• GTAWalso TIG, heliarc
  Gas tungsten arc welding: an arc from a non-consumable tungsten electrode under inert gas, known as TIG.
• Resistance spot weldingalso spot welding, RSW
  Joining overlapping sheets by clamping them between electrodes and passing a large current through them.
• SAWalso sub arc, subarc
  Submerged arc welding: an arc buried under a blanket of granular flux, used for long, heavy welds.
• Short-circuit transferalso short arc, short circuiting transfer
  GMAW mode in which the wire touches the pool and shorts many times a second, giving a cool, controllable arc.
• SMAWalso stick, stick welding
  Shielded metal arc welding: arc welding with a flux-coated consumable electrode, known in the shop as stick.
• Spray transferalso spray arc, axial spray
  GMAW mode in which a stream of fine droplets sprays across the arc, giving high deposition and deep fusion.

Machines, leads, torches, electrodes, wire, gas and flux, with the names welders actually use.

• 6010also sixty-ten, cellulose rod
  A deep-digging cellulosic stick rod run on DCEP, the classic choice for open-root pipe passes.
• 7018also seventy-eighteen, low hydrogen rod
  A low-hydrogen stick electrode with 70 ksi minimum tensile strength, the workhorse rod for structural and pressure work.
• Bottlealso cylinder, tank
  Shop word for a high-pressure gas cylinder of shielding gas, oxygen or fuel gas. Shop talk
• Buzz boxalso tombstone, AC welder
  Nickname for a small AC transformer stick welder, the classic farm and garage machine. Shop talk
• Cupalso nozzle, gas cup
  The ceramic or glass nozzle on a TIG torch that directs shielding gas; also a MIG gun nozzle. Shop talk
• DCEPalso DC+, reverse polarity
  Direct current electrode positive: welding polarity with the electrode on the positive terminal.
• Dipalso dipped tungsten, stick the tungsten
  TIG slang for touching the tungsten into the weld pool or filler, contaminating it and stopping the work. Shop talk
• Filler metalalso filler, filler wire
  The rod, wire, strip or electrode metal melted into a joint to build up a weld or braze.
• Fluxalso flux coating, brazing flux
  Material that shields molten metal from air and cleans oxides, as rod coating, wire core, granules or paste.
• Groundalso ground clamp, work lead
  Shop word for the work lead and its clamp, which completes the welding circuit through the part. Shop talk
• Hoodalso helmet, lid
  Shop word for the welding helmet, with the dark filter lens that protects eyes and face from the arc. Shop talk
• Rodalso electrode, stick
  Shop word for a stick welding electrode, as in burning rod or a box of 7018 rod. Shop talk
• Shielding gasalso shield gas, cover gas
  Gas that protects the arc and molten weld from the surrounding air in GMAW, GTAW and gas-shielded FCAW.
• Slagalso flux residue
  The glassy crust that forms on top of a stick, flux-cored or submerged arc weld and is chipped off.
• Stickoutalso electrode extension, ESO
  The length of wire or electrode extending past the contact tip or cup, which changes current and heat.
• Stingeralso electrode holder, rod holder
  Shop name for the electrode holder that grips a stick rod and carries welding current to it. Shop talk
• Suitcasealso suitcase feeder, portable feeder
  Shop name for a portable, enclosed wire feeder carried out to the work on a long lead. Shop talk
• Whipalso whip lead, whipping
  The short, flexible lead between the main welding cable and the stinger, or a whipping rod motion. Shop talk

Weld types, joint anatomy, passes, symbols and the positions welders test and work in.

• 6Galso 6G test, 6GR
  Pipe test position with the pipe fixed at 45 degrees, covering every welding position in one joint.
• Bevelalso prep, edge prep
  An angled edge prepared on a plate or pipe end so a groove weld can reach the root.
• Capalso cover pass, cap pass
  Shop word for the final layer of passes on the face of a groove weld, the cover pass in code language. Shop talk
• CJPalso complete joint penetration, full pen
  Complete joint penetration: a groove weld that fuses through the full thickness of the joint.
• Downhillalso vertical down, vertical-down
  Welding vertically from the top down, fast and with less heat, as done on cross-country pipelines. Shop talk
• Fillet weldalso fillet
  Weld with a triangular profile laid in the corner where two members meet, the usual weld on T, lap and corner joints.
• Groove weldalso butt weld
  A weld made in a prepared opening between two members, such as a beveled butt joint.
• Hot passalso second pass
  The second pass on a pipe weld, run hot and fast right after the root to burn out trapped slag.
• Landalso root face, nose
  Shop word for the flat root face left at the bottom of a bevel, called the root face in codes. Shop talk
• Legalso leg size, leg length
  How far a fillet weld reaches along each member from the corner, the dimension used to call out fillet size.
• Out of positionalso out-of-position
  Shop phrase for welding in any position other than flat, especially vertical and overhead. Shop talk
• Root openingalso gap, root gap
  The gap between members at the root of a joint, set during fit-up before welding.
• Root passalso root, root bead
  The first weld pass in a joint, laid at the root, which sets the quality of everything above it.
• Stringer beadalso stringer, straight bead
  A straight, narrow bead run along the joint without weaving, the opposite of a weave bead.
• Tack weldalso tack, tacks
  A short weld placed during fit-up to hold parts in line until the full-length welds go in.
• Throatalso effective throat, theoretical throat
  The thinnest section through a fillet weld, from the joint root to the face, which sets how much load it carries.
• Toealso weld toe, toes
  The edge of a weld bead, where weld metal blends into the surface of the base metal.
• Uphillalso vertical up, vertical-up
  Welding vertically from the bottom up, which gives deeper fusion and more fill per pass. Shop talk
• Weld positionalso position, welding position
  The orientation of a joint during welding, coded 1 to 4 for flat, horizontal, vertical and overhead.
• Welding symbolalso weld symbol, welding symbols
  The drafting shorthand on drawings that tells the welder the weld type, size, location and process.

Heat control, fit-up, hand technique and what welding does to the steel around the joint.

• Arc blowalso magnetic arc blow
  A DC arc pushed sideways off the joint by unbalanced magnetic fields in the work, making the bead wander.
• Burn-inalso burn in, bite
  Shop word for how deeply a bead melts into the base metal or sidewalls, especially at the root and toes. Shop talk
• Dogalso dogs, dogs and wedges
  A small steel lug tacked to a part so a wedge or bolt can pull pieces into alignment during fit-up. Shop talk
• Featheralso feather out, feathering
  To grind the start, stop or tack of a weld to a thin taper so the next bead can tie in smoothly. Shop talk
• Fit-upalso fitup, fitting
  Positioning and holding parts for welding with the right gaps, alignment and clean bevels.
• Golden armalso golden arms, top hand
  Slang for an exceptionally skilled welder whose work passes inspection every time. Shop talk
• HAZalso heat-affected zone, heat affected zone
  Heat-affected zone: base metal next to a weld whose structure changed from the heat but did not melt.
• Heat inputalso arc energy, HI
  Energy delivered to a weld per unit length, calculated from amps, volts and travel speed.
• Hi-loalso high-low, misalignment
  Shop name for misalignment between two pipe or plate edges, where one sits higher than the other. Shop talk
• Interpass temperaturealso interpass, interpass temp
  The temperature of the weld area just before the next pass starts, with minimum and maximum limits.
• Penetrationalso depth of fusion, fusion depth
  How deep the weld fuses into the base metal or the joint beyond the original surface.
• Preheatalso preheating, preheat temperature
  Heating base metal before welding to slow cooling and drive off moisture, preventing hydrogen cracks.
• Puddlealso weld pool, pool
  Shop word for the weld pool, the molten metal under the arc that the welder watches and steers. Shop talk
• Purgealso back purge, backpurge
  Inert gas flowed inside a pipe or behind a joint to keep the back of the weld from oxidizing.
• PWHTalso postweld heat treatment, stress relief
  Postweld heat treatment: heating a finished weld to relieve stress and temper the heat-affected zone.
• Stacking dimesalso stack of dimes, dimes
  Slang for a weld bead with even, tight ripples that look like a row of overlapping coins. Shop talk
• Tie-inalso tie in, tie-ins
  How well a weld fuses into the base metal, the bead beside it, or the end of an earlier weld. Shop talk
• Travel anglealso push angle, drag angle
  The tilt of the electrode or gun along the direction of travel, described as push or drag.
• Walking the cupalso walk the cup, cup walking
  TIG pipe technique of rocking the ceramic cup along the bevel to move the torch in a steady weave. Shop talk

Porosity, cracks, fusion problems and the shop names for ugly or rejectable welds.

• Arc strikealso stray arc, arc burn
  A spot where the arc touched base metal outside the weld, leaving a small melted or hardened scar.
• Bird poopalso bird poop welds, pigeon droppings
  Slang for an ugly, lumpy, poorly fused weld that looks like droppings sitting on the metal. Shop talk
• Burn-throughalso burnthrough, blow-through
  A hole melted through the root of a weld where the molten metal fell out.
• Cold lapalso cold lapping, overlap
  Shop term for weld metal that rolls over onto the base metal or a previous bead without fusing to it. Shop talk
• Discontinuityalso flaw, imperfection
  Any break in the normal makeup of a weld, such as a pore or inclusion, that becomes a defect only when it exceeds code limits.
• Hydrogen crackingalso cold cracking, delayed cracking
  Delayed cracking in steel welds caused by hydrogen, hard microstructure and stress acting together.
• Iciclesalso grapes, excess penetration
  Slang for drips of excess root metal hanging inside a pipe from too much heat or too wide a gap. Shop talk
• Incomplete penetrationalso IP, lack of penetration
  A root left unfused because the weld never reached all the way through a joint meant to be fully penetrated.
• Lack of fusionalso LOF, incomplete fusion
  Weld metal that failed to fuse with the base metal or a previous pass at some boundary.
• Porosityalso pores, gas pores
  Gas bubbles trapped in weld metal as it freezes, showing as round holes on the surface or on film.
• Slag inclusionalso slag inclusions, entrapped slag
  Nonmetallic slag trapped inside a weld instead of floating out to the surface.
• Spatteralso weld spatter, BBs
  Droplets of metal thrown out of the arc that stick to the work and everything around it.
• Suck-backalso suckback, root concavity
  Shop name for a concave root on pipe, where the inside of the weld sits below the pipe wall. Shop talk
• Sugaringalso sugar, sugared root
  Heavy oxidation on the back of a stainless or titanium weld that leaves a rough, grainy crust like sugar. Shop talk
• Undercutalso undercutting
  A notch the arc melts into the base metal beside the weld toe that the weld metal never fills back in.
• Wagon tracksalso wagon track, railroad tracks
  Radiographer slang for two parallel lines of slag trapped along the edges of a root pass. Shop talk
• Wormholesalso wormhole porosity, piping porosity
  Shop name for elongated gas pores that tunnel through a weld like worm tracks. Shop talk

NDE methods, procedures, qualifications and the floor talk around passing and failing them.

• Bend testalso guided bend test, root bend
  Bending a strip cut from a test weld into a U to open up lack of fusion, cracks and other flaws.
• Bustalso busted, fail
  Shop slang for failing a weld test or inspection, as in busting a bend or an X-ray. Shop talk
• Certalso welder cert, certs
  Shop word for a welder's qualification, or the test taken to earn it, as in a 6G cert. Shop talk
• Code welderalso coded welder, pressure welder
  A welder qualified to make welds under a governing code, such as pressure vessel, piping or structural work. Shop talk
• Cutoutalso cut out, cut-out
  Shop word for a rejected weld that has to be removed completely and rewelded, especially on pipe. Shop talk
• CWIalso welding inspector, inspector
  Certified Welding Inspector: the AWS inspection credential, and the usual job title for the person checking welds.
• MTalso mag particle, MPI
  Magnetic particle testing: finding surface and near-surface cracks in steel with a magnetic field and iron powder.
• PQRalso procedure qualification record, procedure qual
  Procedure qualification record: the documented test weld and results that support a WPS.
• PTalso dye pen, dye penetrant
  Penetrant testing: revealing surface-breaking cracks by drawing colored or fluorescent dye out of them.
• RTalso radiography, X-ray
  Radiographic testing: imaging a weld's interior with X-rays or gamma rays on film or a digital detector.
• Shotalso shoot, X-ray
  Shop word for a radiograph of a weld, or the act of X-raying it, as in the weld got shot. Shop talk
• UTalso ultrasonics, shear wave
  Ultrasonic testing: finding internal flaws by sending high-frequency sound into a weld and reading echoes.
• VTalso visual testing, visual inspection
  Visual testing: inspecting welds by eye with gauges, lights and magnifiers, the first and most-used NDE method.
• WPSalso procedure, weld procedure
  Welding procedure specification: the written instructions that tell welders exactly how to make a weld.

Capillary joining with filler metals and the torches and arcs that cut and gouge steel.

• Arc gougingalso air arc, arc-air
  Removing metal with a carbon electrode arc and a jet of compressed air, used to back gouge and dig out defects.
• Braze weldingalso bronze welding, braze weld
  Laying a bronze filler in a groove or fillet like a weld bead, without relying on capillary action.
• Brazingalso braze, hard soldering
  Joining metals with a filler melting above 450 °C but below the base metals, drawn in by capillary action.
• Burneralso torch man, cutter
  Shop name for the tradesperson who does torch cutting, or for the cutting torch itself. Shop talk
• Flashback arrestoralso flashback arrester
  A safety device on an oxyfuel torch or regulator that stops flame from burning back into hoses and cylinders.
• Joint clearancealso gap, fit
  The gap between mating parts in a brazed or soldered joint, which controls capillary flow and strength.
• Kerfalso cut width, kerf width
  The slot a torch, plasma arc, laser or saw leaves behind, and the width of metal it removes.
• Oxyfuel cuttingalso torch cutting, flame cutting
  Cutting steel by heating it to ignition with a flame, then burning it away with a jet of oxygen.
• Plasma arc cuttingalso plasma cutting, PAC
  Cutting with an arc squeezed through a small nozzle into a hot, fast gas jet that melts and blows out a narrow kerf.
• Rosebudalso heating tip, rose bud
  Shop name for a multi-flame oxyfuel heating tip used to preheat, bend and loosen parts. Shop talk
• Silver solderalso silver braze, silver brazing alloy
  Common shop name for silver brazing alloys, even though they melt well above solder temperatures. Shop talk
• Solderingalso solder, sweating
  Joining with a filler metal that melts below 450 °C, wetting the parts without melting them.
• Wettingalso wet, wet out
  Molten filler spreading across a clean surface and bonding to it, needed for a sound braze or solder.

Frequently asked questions

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