Hydrogen-Induced Cold Cracking: Cracks Adjacent to Welds.

Experience shows that butt welds are less endangered by welding hydrogen than fillet welds. While in fillet welds normal inclusions tend to have the effect of producing internal loads and forming internal cracks, they usually serve as hydrogen buffers and crack arresters in butt welds. On the other hand, butt welds are more liable to attack by grain-boundary sulfides originating in overheating, which manifests itself in intercrystalline fracture.