Quote Originally Posted by DVA View Post
You are lucky to be working for a utility that will train you to weld. Every outage at my plant we send a lot of welders packing and too many times before the welds are even radiographed.

Do you need to pass a radiograph? If not, what type of inspection is performed on the weld?

As for the weld, you still have IF (incomplete fusion). This will be rejected by an inspector if they are required to inspect the weld prior to using the 7018 for the rest of the weld. From what I see in the weld you need to slow down and make sure that you are keeping the puddle completely wetted and melting the puddle into both sides of the pipe. It looks from the freeze lines that you are not moving the puddle from side to side as you move around the pipe. You should be pushing the puddle from side to side as you work around to ensure that the metal is flowing and tying into the pipe. From the look of the IF you have, there is most likely some cold lap also as you are feeding too much filler and not tying in to the pipe well. If you need to pass a radiograph this will all show up. If ultra sound or phased array ultra sound are used this will show up.
Looks like the root is getting better from the first post of the thread. The large buggers would be rejected from your first post on this thread. As for the fourth photo this is incomplete penetration and looks like you lost shielding gas here as it looks like some porosity exists.
I work for a great power company here in Oklahoma. We are a coal fired power plant producing 960 MW of power. I am a mechanic there. The first test I have to do is steam card bend test. I get to cut the pipe and grind down both sides smooth then they put it on the bend machine. The inspector will visually check each pass. After I pass that test then I have to try to pass 10 company tests that are all different sizes and materials including enconel. Those are plant tests that are x-ray. The only one I am working on right now is the state test (bend test). We have a contracting company that works for us and they let go welders all the time during outages.