The deviations in welded structures are classified to the following main categories:

Porosity
It refers to the gas pockets or voids free of any solid material, frequently found in welds. Porosity
is caused when gas is released as a weld metal cools and its solubility is reduced, and from gases
formed by chemical reactions in the weld. Porosity may be scattered uniformly throughout the
weld, isolated in small areas, or concentrated at the root. Though in many cases, porosity is
spherical, in some it is worm-shaped, and elongated in the so1idification direction of the weld
metal. Porosity may be caused by excessive welding temperatures or incorrect manipulation.

Porosity

Porosity
Slag inclusions
This term is used to describe the oxides and other non-metallic solids that become entrapped in
the weld metal or between the weld metal and the base metal. They generally come from the
electrode covering material or from fluxes employed in the welding operations. In multilayer

welding operations, failure to remove the slag between layers will result in slag inclusions in
these zones.

Slag inclusions
Tungsten inclusions
In the gas tungsten-arc welding processes, the occasional touching of the electrode to the work or
to the molten weld metal, particularly in the manual process, may transfer particles of the
tungsten into the weld deposit. These tungsten inclusions generally are undesirable, and for
critical work a limit on the size and numbers of these inclusions is specified.

Tungsten inclusions
Incomplete fusion
Incomplete fusion, or lack of fusion as it is frequently termed, is used to describe the failure to
fuse together adjacent layers of weld metal or adjacent weld metal and base metal. This failure to
obtain fusion may occur at any point in the welding groove. Incomplete fusion may be caused
by: failure to raise the temperature of the base metal (or previously deposited weld metal) to the

melting point, or failure to remove slag, mill scale, oxides or other foreign material present on
the surfaces to which the deposited metal must fuse.

Incomplete fusion
Inadequate joint penetration
In this condition the joint penetration is less than that specified. Hence, partial joint penetration
may or may not be a defect, depending on what is specified for that particular joint. Often
inadequate joint penetration is used (improperly) to describe what is defined as incomplete
fusion in WS 3.0-61 Definitions Welding and Cutting. The AWS (American Welding
Society) rationale is that fusion should be used when describing how completely the weld is
bonded to or fused to the surface of the joint: Penetration, on the other hand, describes how far
the weld extends into a joint.

Inadequate joint penetration

Undercut
This term is used to describe a groove melted into the base metal adjacent to the toe of a weld
and left unfilled by the weld metal. It also describes the melting away of the sidewall of a

welding groove at the edge of a layer of bead, thus forming a sharp recess in the sidewall in the
area to which the next layer or bead must fuse.

Undercut

External undercut
Arc strikes
Although arc strikes are not normally considered defects, fractures (brittle and fatigue)
frequently initiate from arc strikes. Arc strikes are formed during the unintentional melting or
heating of areas outside the intended weld deposit area. They usually are caused by the welding
arc but can be produced beneath an improperly secured ground connection. The result is a small
melted area that can produce undercut, hardening, or localized cracking, depending upon the
base metal.
Cracks
Cracks result from ruptures of metals under stress. Although sometimes large, they are often very
narrow separations in weld or adjacent base metal. Cracks are one of the most harmful of
welding defects and are prohibited by most specifications. However, small cracks, often called

fissures or microfissures, may not reduce the service life. There are three types of cracks, having
as criteria the position and the place that we find them, and are: i) longitudinal, ii) transverse and
iii) crater. Specifications are reluctant to specify an allowable maximum crack size, rather, they
tacitly admit that any cracks too small to be resolved by the required inspection procedure are
permitted. Cracks in metallic structures can be characterized as ductile or brittle cracks,
according to the type of fracture that takes place.

Cracks
Fracture is categorized according to the type of loading. Generally, fatigue cracks cannot cause
the total failure of the metallic structure of the ship, and they are often observed in regions in the
secondary structure of the ship. While the brittle cracks growths rapidly, for the fatigue cracks
may need to pass years before they cause total failure to the structure. The cracks in metal
structures can lead to the failure of the material either with a ductile either with a brittle fracture.
The description of the cracks includes information about the behaviour of the cracks in the
microstructure level, in order to become comprehensible the behaviour of the cracks in the level
of the structure. Cracks in metallic structure of the ship are mostly ductile and derive from the
fatigue of the structure.

Fracture Categories
The metal structure of the ship is vulnerable in cracks. Many statistical studies have shown that
the presence of cracks is a serious danger for the ship. For certain type of ships, like Bulk
Carriers, cracks are often met. Statistical studies has shown that the region of midship section is
the most frail in the whole length of the ship, in the longitudinal distribution of cracks and the
same is for the crack distribution in the bottom structure.

Damages in Side Plates in a BC