Failures of welded joints

For a failure at a welded joint, the important factors are : (a) presence of defects in the form of physical discontinuities, (b) a bad microstructure, and (c) residual stresses. A few important examples of bad microstructures leading to failures in stainless steel and alloy steels are presented in the paper. Apart from the references cited in the text, a list of general references are included to help the reader to get a better perspective on the conditions under which the failure of a weld joint takes place.