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What is a Seal Weld?

Sonal Panse
Sonal Panse

A seal weld is a weld that performs the primary function of sealing joints. Seal welds are commonly used in gas or liquid containers to contain the gaseous or liquid substances and to prevent leakage. The presence of seal welds also prevents the gases or fluids from entering specific, off-limits areas where they may cause corrosion or other damage.

Seal welds are applied to parts that are to be galvanized. There are two types of ready-to-be galvanized joints, regular and vented, that can be welded together respectively with seal welding; there is also a third ready-to-be galvanized joint that does not require a seal weld. With regular joints, care must be taken to ensure that the seal welds are not so porous as to allow any kind of leakage. Vented joints are joints that have vents or holes in them to allow gas to escape out. When applying seal welds to vented joints, it is important to ensure that the vents are placed in proper locations; a build-up of gas might damage the joints otherwise.

A seal weld may be installed by a welder to prevent gases or fluids from entering off-limit areas.
A seal weld may be installed by a welder to prevent gases or fluids from entering off-limit areas.

It must be borne in mind that seal welds are placed only as containment measures and should not be expected to add to the joint strength. It is essential that the designer and the fabricator check that the seal placements agree with the code requirements specified by the American Welding Society (AWS), although code violations are allowed in certain cases that could affect the flexibility of the joints. It is also necessary to ensure that the seal weld does not inadvertently end up performing some undesirable structural function, or that the presence of the seal welds does not affect ultrasonic inspections too adversely.

A seal weld is used to seal joints.
A seal weld is used to seal joints.

The welder must be well-qualified to do the job, and needs to follow sound welding practices when making seal welds. Sound seal welding practices include adhering to specified weld sizes and heat input, selecting the right shaped electrode, and following the correct welding procedures. The proper heating time and welding pressure are necessary to ensure that complete fusion is achieved and that there is no chance that the seal weld may crack.

Seal welds are often used on pipes in order to prevent leakage.
Seal welds are often used on pipes in order to prevent leakage.

Application of seal welds is common in the food processing and engineering industries. Apart from pipes and containers, exposed steel elements undergo seal welding before being painted to avoid rusting. A pinch weld seal, which is also known as a trim seal or a rubber lock, is used in both refrigerator and car doors.

Discussion Comments

anon989059

Seal weld refers to a weld's function just as fillet is a type of weld. The weld MUST meet the AWS requirements; the code does not allow violations. Reference AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2010, para. 5.14, "...weld size shall apply in all cases, unless the design drawings specify welds of a larger size." Whether by design or not, all welds will be sharing the load.

zultestex

Interesting question alex, I looked it up, but couldn't find much pertinent information. It seems others are having similar problems, though.

alexethan

Last year I seal welded some of the gas tanks in our shop, and recently we realized some of them have been leaking. Is there a reliable weld out there that's strong enough to stand up to the ethanol in gas? The weld worked fine before, which makes me think that it's ethanol related.

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    • A seal weld may be installed by a welder to prevent gases or fluids from entering off-limit areas.
      By: NorGal
      A seal weld may be installed by a welder to prevent gases or fluids from entering off-limit areas.
    • A seal weld is used to seal joints.
      By: cbphoto
      A seal weld is used to seal joints.
    • Seal welds are often used on pipes in order to prevent leakage.
      By: roman023
      Seal welds are often used on pipes in order to prevent leakage.
    • Galvanization -- the applying of protective zinc coatings to steel or iron -- is often performed using special machines at production factories.
      By: Moreno Soppelsa
      Galvanization -- the applying of protective zinc coatings to steel or iron -- is often performed using special machines at production factories.