During side bend testing of, for example, austenitic stainless steel weld overlay on carbon steel, we often have a problem of cracking that start between the runs of the top layer. If we look at ASME IX, QW163 acceptance criteria for bend test, it state that open discontinuities occurring at the corners of the specimen shall not be considered, unless it is a welding defect. If the overlap of the welder is not close to 50%, these inter run area can be very severe stress raisers. What I would like to know is if you normally remove the weld cap to eliminate these stress raisers or do you leave them in place. And secondly, how do you evaluate cracks starting from the corners, visual inspection or under a microscope, and how long can these cracks be?
Regards
Joe