Surface porosity

Description
A gas pore that breaks the surface of the weld.
Causes Prevention
Damp or contaminated surface or
electrode
Clean surface and dry electrodes
Low fluxing activity (MIG/MAG) Use a high activity flux
Excess sulphur (particularly freecutting
steels) producing sulphur
dioxide
Use high manganese electrode
to produce MnS, note free-cutting
steels (high sulphur) should not
normally be welded
Loss of shielding gas due to long
arc or high breezes (MIG/MAG)
Improve screening against
draughts and reduce arc length
Too high a shielding gas flow rate
which results in turbulence
(MIG/MAG,TIG)
Optimise gas flow rate
Comments
The origins of surface porosity are similar to those for uniform porosity.
38