Combining a Computed Laminography Approach with Tomographic Analysis for a Study of Weld Joints

The quality of a weld joint is subject to several factors, from material characteristics to environmental conditions. Its mechanical behavior is a broad field of study with specific industrial standards. Within a study of a weld joint, we employed a combination of a computed laminography [1] approach with tomographic analysis in order to extract and analyze specimens that were afterwards tested to assess the welding stress-strain and fracture characteristics. The main objective was to study the effect of surface porosity-type flaws. For this purpose, instead of a blind extraction of specimens from a welded block, we proceeded to a pre-identification of large porosity defects and the specimens were then cut and machined such that the flaws would be situated on the surface of test samples. The positions of these flaws were extracted with the laminography approach and it was crosschecked with measurements with an ultrasound testing technique. Computed tomography was employed as a characterization step before the stress-strain and fracture tests.