Looks like something happened during the rolling of the beam, possibly it got too cool before shaping. Regardless of the cause, I wouldn't trust it for any structural application due to the potential for the mechanical properties of the steel to be compromised, in addition to the obvious physical flaws. Seems like a straightforward cause for rejection to me. Send it to the scrap heap and make them supply a new beam.

Agree with HR10....looks like a cold shut...which is a rolling defect. Reject it.

I knew there was a name for it...thanks Ron.

Ron has a name for everything... :)

Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA)

There are plenty of steel beams with the same defect.. what could be the source of such problem? These beams came from a recognized european steel mill company.

They are caused by restraint in the rolling/forming devices as the steel cools. Process is essentially the same as concrete shrinkage cracks occurring from restraint....substitute cooling for hydration! They are also called hot tears.

Thanks Ron.. I am trying to find info about this problem on website!!

Hey guys.. some news about this issue.. contractor wants to repair the "hot tears" with welding (defects no too Deep) and installing some reinforced pads and welding all around in defects deeply.. These beams are not high tensile demanded.

I wouldn't.

You would be being Mr. Nice Guy here and taking all the liability in order to save others money, sweeping the safety issue under the rug.

REJECT THE BEAM!

Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA)

Agree with Mike! The liability is not worth it. There are other metallurgical issues that may co-exist with the current issue. Mike is exactly right!

If I remember right, in either the A36 or the A6 spec, there is some provision for repairing surface defects in plate by grinding or welding. I don't recall if that applies to structural also- but would be worth a look at the spec to see. In any case, it may give you a more definite cause for rejection than "guys on the internet said so".

From the photos- I can't tell much about it, can't tell if that's a crack all the way through or surface scratch or what.

Is that white paint, or developer from dye penetrant testing ?

Just to echo the others saying to reject the beam..

Those cracks have been open for an unknown (to us on the forum) amount of time- but in any case, there is almost certainly the start of crevice corrosion in those cracks (due to exposure to moisture in the air) and in order to truly, properly repair this beam you would need to grind back all possibly corroded material, in every crack, all the way to the crack root, over the full length.

You're talking about a significant time investment with an uncertain end result; it only takes a tiny area to be missed during grinding to result in an internal inclusion which could cause problems in service.

A real repair to this beam would require a great deal of grinding, a great deal of welding, and then a great deal of x-ray/NDT.

Unless this beam has already been shipped to a jobsite in outer Mongolia where it's hard to get a replacement in time, the easier solution for everyone is to replace the beam and it is not close.

The other benefit of rejecting this beam is that if this is a mill or supplier with whom you expect any future business, it is a good precedent for you to set; accept this reject, and they'll 1) be more comfortable shipping you rejects in the future and 2) will try to use this acceptance as justification to strong arm you into accepting substandard material in the future. I.E. 'why can't you accept this beam, you accepted one like this last year and everything was fine'.

Stand your ground- do your present self/project and your future self/projects a favor and send it to the heap.

The Contractor wants to repair the damages that they are aware of. There can be all types of laminar defects hidden below the surface. It wasn't built to AISC spec so the values don't apply. This is SCRAP METAL. If this beam was spotted by a QC Rep at a Mill, guess what they do... they reject it and send it back to the metal supply bay... they don't "fix" it.... And if anybody is set up to fix the beam, it would be a steel mill. What makes a field contractor so special that they can fabricate engineered goods from scrap metal?

Eduardo,
You stated that there are "plenty" of beams on your project with this type defect. I think you should reject all this steel, and make it the problem of the steel mill.