Sugar/Sugaring

By Bulldog-01 Date 12-03-2004 20:13

I have been hearing the term sugar/sugaring alot lately. I work mainly with nickel based alloys. The sugaring appears typically around the weld in the HAZ. It looks as if someone took a vibroscribe and went around the weld. Could anyone decribe what this is and what the root cause is?

By Lawrence (*****)

Date 12-03-2004 20:22

Welcome to the forum Bulldog!

The term "sugaring" that I'm familliar with describes unshielded melt thru on stainless steel welds. Sugaring often occurs when stainless pipes are purged improperly and the visible appearence is black, rough and grainey...definately unacceptable.

I'm not really getting a clear mental picture by your description. When you say "vibroscribe around the weld" are you talking about a shiney thin line along the toes of the weld, that might be a very thin margin of undercut?

Anyhow.. tell us a little more about what your encountering, lots of folks will chime in.

By Bulldog-01 Date 12-03-2004 20:59

Lawerence,

Thanks for your input, It appears as you describe in your later comment. It is shiny and appears as a fine line of undercut. The welders describe it as if the base material is dissolving as they weld along. If the area is lightly ground or blended and then re-welded the problem is much less severe.

Bulldog