slight circular motion make the second, third, and fourth passes.

This motion of the electrode permits greater control and better distribution of the weld metal. Remove all slag and oxides from the surface of each pass by chipping or wire brushing before applying additional beads to the joint. WELDING DIFFICULTIES Many of the welding difficulties in metal-arc weld- ing are the same as in oxygas welding. A few such problems include undercut, cracked welds, poor fusion, and incomplete penetration. Table 7-3 provides an illustration of the most common welding problems encountered during the arc- welding process and methods to correct them. Every welder has the responsibility of making each weld the best one possible. You can produce quality welds by adhering to the rules that follow. 1. Use only high-quality welding machines, electrodes, and welding accessories. 2. Know the base material that you are working on. 3. Select the proper welding process that gives the highest quality welds for the base material used. 4. Select the proper welding procedure that meets the service requirement of the finished weldment. 5. Select the correct electrode for the job in question. 6. When preheating is specified or required make sure you meet the temperature requirements. In any case, do not weld on material that is below 32F without first preheating. 7. Clean the base metal of all slag, paint, grease, oil, moisture, or any other foreign materials. 8. Remove weld slag and thoroughly clean each bead before making the next bead or pass. 9. Do not weld over cracks or porous tack welds. Remove defective tack welds before welding. 10. Be particularly alert to obtain root fusion on the first pass of fillet and groove welds. 11. When groove weld root gaps are excessive, build up one side of the joint before welding the pieces together. 12. When fillet weld root gaps are excessive, be sure you increase the size of the fillet weld to the size of the root gap to maintain the strength requirement. In some cases, it is advantageous to make a groove weld l to avoid extremely large fillet welds. 13. Inspect your work after completion and immediately remove and replace any defective weld. 14. Observe the size requirement for each weld and make sure that you meet or slightly exceed the specified size. 15. Make sure that the finished appearance of the weld is smooth and that overlaps and undercuts have been repaired. PIPE WELDING Welding is the simplest and easiest way to join sections of pipe. The need for complicated joint designs and special threading equipment is eliminated. Welded pipe has reduced flow restrictions compared to me- chanical connections and the overall installation costs are less. The most popular method for welding pipe is the shielded metal-arc process; however, gas shielded arc methods have made big inroads as a result of new advances in welding technology. Pipe welding has become recognized as a profes- sion in itself. Even though many of the skills are com- parable to other types of welding, pipe welders develop skills that are unique only to pipe welding. Because of the hazardous materials that most pipelines carry, pipe welders are required to pass specific tests before they can be certified In the following paragraphs, pipe welding positions, pipe welding procedures, definitions, and related infor- mation are discussed. PIPE WELDING POSITIONS You may recall from chapter 3 of this manual that there are four positions used in pipe welding (fig. 3-30). They are known as the horizontal rolled position (1G), the horizontal fixed position (5G), pipe inclined fixed (6G), and the vertical position (2G). Remember: these terms refer to the position of the pipe and not to the weld PIPE WELDING PROCEDURES Welds that you cannot make in a single pass should be made in interlocked multiple layers, not less than one layer for each 1/8 inch of pipe thickness. Deposit each layer with a weaving or oscillating motion. To prevent entrapping slag in the weld metal, you should clean each layer thoroughly before depositing the next layer. 7-25

BASIC WELD JOINTS

There are four basic joints used in arc welding: Butt joints Tee joints Lap joints Corner joints

Each welding joint has several variations to provide for different needs. Two different types of welds are used when welding these joints. The groove-type weld (butt weld) fills in grooves that are cut on the inside of two pieces of metal that are positioned next to each other. The fillet-type weld fills in space on the outside of pieces of metal that are positioned at an angle to each other. Image of the four basic welding joints.

BUTT WELDED JOINTS

A Butt Weld is a circumferential butt welded joint, and the most common type of joint employed in the fabrication of welded pipe systems. A butt joint is the most universally used method of joining pipe to itself, fittings, flanges, valves, and other equipment. This welding technique is widely applied in situations where a quality weld desired, and the weld by X-ray technically should be investigated. When the material to be welded exceeds 3/16" in thickness, the ends of pipes, fittings and flanges must be chamfered at approximately 37.5, flared on a small upright side (Root face); in practice we talk about the Welding Bevel. The most used bevels are the "Plain bevel" from wall thicknesses (T) 4 to 22.5 mm, and the "Compound bevel" for wall thicknesses above 22 mm. Image of the typical welding bevel types. ASME B16.25 covers the preparation of buttwelding ends of piping components to be joined into a piping system by welding. It includes requirements for welding bevels, for external and internal shaping of heavy-wall components, and for preparation of internal ends (including dimensions and dimensional tolerances). These weld edge preparation requirements are also incorporated into the ASME standards (e.g., B16.9, B16.5, B16.34).

During the prefab from a pipe on a elbow, for example, a "Gap" of approximately 3-4 mm should be created, to obtain a proper weld penetration. The images below shows you 3 examples. Fig.1 A correct preparation and right gap, creates a proper penetration. Fig.2 A narrow gap, may be causes a hollow penetration. Fig.3 A large gap, may be causes a too heavy penetration.

FILLET WELDED JOINTS

Fillet welded joints such as tee, lap and corner joints are the most common connection in welded fabrication. In total they probably account for around 70 to 80% of all joints made by arc welding. No edge preparation is needed and assemblies in piping systems are simpler. Therefore, fillet welds are usually cheaper than butt welds. In pipe systems fillet welded joints are generally used for joining pipe to socket joints in sizes NPS 2 and smaller, and in systems where Slip On flanges will be used. The image below illustrates typical fillet welded joints in a socket weld pipe system.

ASME B31.1 1998 127.3 Preparation for Welding (E) Socket Weld Assembly says: In assembly of the joint before welding, the pipe or tube shall be inserted into the socket to the maximum depth and then withdrawn approximately 1/16" (1.6 mm) away from contact between the end of the pipe and the shoulder of the socket.

The purpose for the bottoming clearance in a socket weld is usually to reduce the residual stress at the root of the weld that could occur during solidification of the weld metal, and to allow for differential expansion of the mating elements. The disadvantage of a socket weld system is right the expansion gap and the space between the OD of the pipe and the ID of the fitting. By corrosive products, and mainly in stainless steel pipe systems, the crack between pipe and flange, fitting or valve can give corrosion problems. I am not an expert in this matter, but on the internet, you will find a lot of information about forms of corrosion. In service applications, where complete weld penetration to the inside of the piping is required, socket welds are not acceptable, and generally butt welds must be made.