Physical Tests.

WELDING OPERATIONS I - OD1651 - LESSON 1/TASK 2

terrain; and welded armor plate and other heavy structural

members can be tested by gunfire.

But, test firing of weapons

and testing of armor plate by gunfire is not feasible for

maintenance units in the field.

The succeeding paragraphs,

therefore, describe only those physical type tests that can be

conducted in intermediate direct and general support maintenance

units, in field depot maintenance operations, and in CONUS

(continental United States) depot maintenance operations.

c.

Physical Tests.

(1) General.

These types of tests are designed to check the

skill of the welder, the quality of the weld metal, and the

strength of the welded joint. Some of these tests, such as the

free bend and nick break tests, are destructive. In these tests,

the specimen is tested until it fails in order that the desired

information can be gained.

Other physical tests, such as the

hydrostatic and magnetic particle tests, are not destructive.

Then there are simple physical tests, such as the appearance,

fracture, and grinding tests, that can be performed with tools

found in a field maintenance company shop. These simple physical

tests are described in the following subparagraph.

The

destructive and nondestructive type tests are described in the

succeeding subparagraphs.

(2) Simple Physical Tests.

(a) Appearance Test.

This is a nondestructive test.

In this

type test, a visual examination is made of the weld to check for

such defects as brittleness, cracks, craters, undercut, overlap

and slag inclusions. All these defects are unacceptable and the

joint must be reconstructed and rewelded.

(b) Fracture Test.

This is a destructive test.

To perform

this test, a cross section specimen must be cut off from the

welded metal. The specimen is then fractured to expose the weld.

The welded zone is then visually examined to check for unevenness

of the weld metal grain, cracks, craters, and inadequate

penetration of the weld into the base metal.

(c) Grinding Test.

This is a nondestructive test.

It is

particularly applicable to seal bead welds made for waterproofing

and sealing cracks in

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