What causes cracks to appear after flange welding?
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I have a question: What causes cracks to appear in 304 stainless steel flanges after welding?
One possibility is a flaw in the flange quality; the other is that the welder used too high a current.
Material issue of the flange. Last edited by lonelyghost_li on 2008-12-10 20:48]
1. It could be a problem with the quality of the flange. Second, the welder is using too high an operating current. III. There may also be issues with the quality of the welding electrodes.
The manufacturing procedure for cracked flanges should involve cast flanges, as the residual stresses in such flanges cause cracks after welding.
If cracks are present in the flange base material, it indicates that the flange itself contains a higher level of nickel alloy in its chemical composition compared to the standard 304L grade; this is also caused by excessively high interlayer temperatures during welding (which should be kept around 150 degrees). :lol :lol
Which part is cracked, the weld itself or the flange body? If it is the weld itself, it may be caused by excessive welding heat input, too fast welding speed, or an inappropriate choice of welding electrode; if it is the flange body itself, the most likely reason is that the quality of the flange material is inadequate. For reference!
The issue with the flange material. The material should be rechecked first
Are your flanges forged or cast? If it is cast, any cracks that appear in the flange during welding are definitely due to a problem with the flange itself: it may have pores or its material quality does not meet the standards. It’s easy to see: small pores or impurities in the material can be observed at the crack site. There are too many defective 304 flanges on the market these days. I once suffered a lot because of them: unfortunately, the first few pieces did not crack, but after cracks were detected, all of them had to be reworked. Even if such pieces don’t crack right away, they still can’t be used, as cracks will eventually appear over time.