While heavy plates may tend toward distortion, thin plates are easily warped during a welding application. When working with thin gage material, care must be exercised to avoid warping it. This defect may not structurally weaken the part, but the finished weldment will look poor. Additionally, the warped weldment may not function properly. Warping, in some instances, may be removed by flame heating applications. However, it is best to follow a welding program that will keep warping to a minimum.

1. Improper penetration of the joints to be welded.



2. The wrong welding procedure.



3. Failure to clamp parts properly.



4. Excessive local heating in the area of the weld.



5. Shrinkage of deposited weld metal.

1. Be careful of the fit-up when it comes to joint preparation. Do not have excessive space between the parts to be welded. Where there is likely to be shrinkage despite all normal precautions, hammer the joint edges thinner than the rest of the sheet before welding. This will elongate the edges so that weld shrinkage will cause them to pull back to their original shape.



2. To avoid shrinkage use a back step or skip-sequence welding procedure.



3. Clamping the parts adjacent to the joint will tend to eliminate shrinkage. If possible use a back-up bar to increase the speed of cooling the weld.



4. In welding thin-gage material, weld as rapidly as possible to prevent excessive local heating in the vicinity of the weld.



5. To avoid shrinkage of the weld metal, use a high-speed welding electrode with moderate penetrating characteristics.