Visual Inspection (VT)

Visual Inspection (VT)Visual inspection is often the most cost-effective method, but it must take place prior to, during and after welding. Many standards require its use before other methods, because there is no point in submitting an obviously bad weld to sophisticated inspection techniques. The ANSI/AWS D1.1, Structural Welding Code - Steel, states, "Welds subject to nondestructive examination shall have been found acceptable by visual inspection." Visual inspection requires little equipment. Aside from good eyesight and sufficient light, all it takes is a pocket rule, a weld size gauge, a magnifying glass, and possibly a straight edge and square for checking straightness, alignment and perpendicularity.
Before the first welding arc is struck, materials should be examined to see if they meet specifications for quality, type, size, cleanliness and freedom from defects. Grease, paint, oil, oxide film or heavy scale should be removed. The pieces to be joined should be checked for flatness, straightness and dimensional accuracy. Likewise, alignment, fit-up and joint preparation should be examined. Finally, process and procedure variables should be verified, including electrode size and type, equipment settings and provisions for preheat or postheat. All of these precautions apply regardless of the inspection method being used.
During fabrication, visual examination of a weld bead and the end crater may reveal problems such as cracks, inadequate penetration, and gas or slag inclusions. Among the weld defects that can be recognized visually are cracking, surface slag inclusions, surface porosity and undercut.
On simple welds, inspecting at the beginning of each operation and periodically as work progresses may be adequate. Where more than one layer of metal filler is being deposited, however, it may be desirable to inspect each layer before depositing the next. The root pass of a multipass is most critical to weld soundness. It is especially susceptible to cracking, and because it solidifies quickly, it may trap gas and slag. On subsequent passes, conditions caused by the shape of the weld bead or changes in the joint configuration can cause further cracking, as well as undercut and slag trapping. Repair costs can be minimized if visual inspection detects these flaws before welding progresses.
Visual inspection at an early stage of production can also prevent underwelding and overwelding. Welds that are smaller than called for in the specifications cannot be tolerated. Beads that are too large increase costs unnecessarily and can cause distortion through added shrinkage stress.
After welding, visual inspection can detect a variety of surface flaws, including cracks, porosity and unfilled craters, regardless of subsequent inspection procedures. Dimensional variances, warpage and appearance flaws, as well as weld size characteristics, can be evaluated.
Before checking for surface flaws, welds must be cleaned of slag. Shotblasting should not be done before examination, because the peening action may seal fine cracks and make them invisible. The AWS D1.1 Structural Welding Code, for example, does not allow peening "on the root or surface layer of the weld or the base metal at the edges of the weld."
 Visual inspection can only locate defects in the weld surface. Specifications or applicable codes may require that the internal portion of the weld and adjoining metal zones also be examined. Nondestructive examinations may be used to determine the presence of a flaw, but they cannot measure its influence on the serviceability of the product unless they are based on a correlation between the flaw and some characteristic that affects service. Otherwise, destructive tests are the only sure way to determine weld serviceability.