Causes of weld cracking
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I have a piece of equipment made of 316L material, with an operating pressure of 0.2 Mpa. The root weld of the level gauge on this equipment developed cracks after some time of use; the surface appearance suggested signs of tearing. I asked the welder, and he said that the welding rod used was suitable for the task, and that only this one weld had problems – no issues were found in other areas. Please ask an expert for advice.
What medium does the device use? Is it highly corrosive?
The conditions specified by the poster are far too insufficient. What are the devices, media, pressure, temperature and pressure conditions, device location, and so on? It would be best to have illustrations. Is there a possibility of collision?
I have encountered such problems before – welding stress combined with corrosion; I have seen entire pipes break as a result.
If the welding technical specifications (preheating, electrode selection, welding quality, external stresses, whether alignment is required, post-weld treatment, etc.) can be ruled out as being problem-free, then material damage that may have occurred during processing at the manufacturing facility could be considered as a possibility.
What medium does the device use? What’s the temperature? Are there any photos? We have had instances here in the past where small cracks appeared near the welds.