Journal of Materials Processing Technology 179 (2006) 239–243

Porosity variation along multipass underwater wet welds and

its influence on mechanical properties
Ezequiel Caires Pereira Pessoa a,∗ , Alexandre Queiroz Bracarense a ,
Eduardo Maluf Zica a , Stephen Liu b , Faustino Perez-Guerrero b
a Federal University of Minas Gerais – UFMG, Laboratory of Robotics, Welding and Simulation, Mechanical Engineering Department,
Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627 – Pampulha, 31270-901 – Belo Horizonte – MG, Brazil
b Colorado School of Mines – CSM, Center for Welding, Joining and Coatings Research, Golden, CO 80401, USA

Abstract
The objective of this work is to evaluate the influence of porosity variation on multipass V-groove weld metal properties. Commercial covered
electrodes (E6013 and E7024) and three different steels (A-36, A-572 and API 5L grade B) were used to perform the wet welds at 50 and 100 m
depth. A pressurized chamber with 20 atmospheres capacity was used to simulate the depth with fresh water. A gravity feeding system was used
to perform the welds. The porosity in transverse cross-sections, Charpy V-notch tests, side bending tests and tensile tests were determined for
correlation. Samples for porosity measurement removed in four different points along the weld length showed decreasing porosity. Mechanical
tests showed better properties in the samples extracted from the end of the welds.
© 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Keywords: Underwater wet welding; Covered electrode; Joule effect and porosity

1. Introduction
In a way similar to the changes in weld metal chemical com-
position along the length of a weld bead during surface welding
as observed by Bracarense [1], Pessoa et al. [2] reported that
weld metal porosity reduced along the length of underwater wet
welds. In surface welds, the significant changes in microstruc-
ture and mechanical properties along the weld length were
because of variations in oxygen, manganese and silicon con-
tent. It was also observed that the variation is bigger for higher
values of current. Manganese and silicon contents increased 7.1
and 10.7% for the E6013 welds and 6.3 and 14.5% for the E7018
welds electrode at current of 100 and 150 A, respectively. This
phenomenon was related to electrode heating, i.e. Joule effect,
which allowed for the growth of the pendant liquid metal droplet,
decreasing oxygen pickup as welding time increases.
In the wet welds, the amount of oxygen present in the weld
pool is higher due to water dissociation in the electric arc.
The controlling factor for the variations along the length of
welds is probably, the increase in the droplet size, due to elec-
trode heating by Joule effect. Ibarra et al. [3] explained that
wet welds present inferior mechanical properties compared to
surface welds because of the chemical reactions of oxygen,
hydrogen and carbon with important alloying elements in the
weld pool. Christensen [4] mentioned that variations of man-
ganese and carbon contents affected weld metal hardenability,
while oxygen content variation modified weld metal toughness.
Porosity is another factor responsible for mechanical proper-
ties reduction. Liu et al. [5] stated that the influence of porosity in
the weld metal is similar to that in sintered steels, where poros-
ity caused reduction of toughness, ductility, yield and ultimate
strength limits. These authors also reported depth (pressure),
electrode coating and arc stability as the main factors that con-
trolled weld metal porosity.
As it was evidenced by the non-uniform distribution of poros-
ity in underwater wet welds, a study of the influence of porosity
distribution on the mechanical properties became necessary. The
objective of this work is to describe and to discuss the variations
observed in porosity and micro-structural distribution.

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +31 3499 5245; fax: +31 3443 3783. 2. Materials and methods
E-mail addresses: epessoa@mines.edu (E.C.P. Pessoa),
bracarense@ufmg.br (A.Q. Bracarense), e.maluf@ig.com.br (E.M. Zica), Three different steel plates, 12.7 mm thick ASTM A-36 steel with 220 MPa
sliu@mines.edu (S. Liu), fperezgu@mines.edu (F. Perez-Guerrero). specified minimum yield strength (SMYS) and 400 MPa specified minimum ten-

0924-0136/$ – see front matter © 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V.

doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2006.03.071
240 E.C.P. Pessoa et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 179 (2006) 239–243

Fig. 1. V-groove coupons used to made wet welds.

Table 1
Current values used for electrodes and depths
E6013 E7024

Depth (m) 50 100 50 100

Current (A) 260 280 310 310 Fig. 4. Dimensions (mm) of “sub size” Charpy V-notch test samples.

Fig. 5. Dimensions (mm) of tensile test samples.

Fig. 2. Position of sample extraction for tests.
sile strength (SMTS), 12.7 mm thick A-572 grade 50 steel with 345 MPA SMYS
and 450 MPA SMTS and 18.0 mm thick API L grade B steel with 250 MPa
SMYS and 400 SMTS were used in the experiments.
Two commercial covered electrodes E6013 and E7024 with 5.0 mm electrode
diameter and length of 250.0 and 350.0 mm, respectively, were waterproofed
with varnish for the experiments.
V-grooves with 45◦ were prepared on 160 mm × 250 mm plates. Backing
bars were used for the 6.0 mm root opening. The weld joint is shown in Fig. 1.
The welds were made at depth of 50 and 100 m using a gravity feeding
system inside of a pressurized chamber filled with fresh water.
The current values applied are showed in Table 1.
DCEP current polarity was used in all V-groove welds with travel speed
changing from 3.0 to 5.0 mm/s depending on electrode type, current and water
depth.
To fill the groove, an average of 10 passes was made. All beads began at the
same side of the groove. One weld was made for each condition, i.e. current,
travel speed, etc.
Samples for porosity and macro- and micro-structural studies, Charpy V-
notch tests, side bending tests and tensile tests were extracted as shown in Fig. 2.
Four side bend specimens, three Charpy V-notch specimens and two tensile
test samples were extracted along the V-groove welds.
Quantitative porosity analysis was performed by optical metallographic mea-
surements in the short transverse face of the side bend samples. Qualitative
analysis was done by examining the radiographic image. Since four side bend
samples were removed from each plate (two in the beginning and two in the end
of each weld as shown in Fig. 2) it was possible to study the porosity variation
along the length of the weld.
All specimens for the mechanical tests were produced following the 1988
ASME Section IX Boiler and Pressure vessel Code [6] as shown in Figs. 3–5.
Bend tests were made with 85.7 mm plunger radius and Charpy tests conducted
made at 0 ◦ C.

Fig. 3. Dimensions (mm) of side bend test samples.

 E.C.P. Pessoa et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 179 (2006) 239–243 241

Fig. 6. Weld bead photo and radiograph – E6013 electrode, A-36 steel at 50 m depth.

Fig. 7. Weld bead photo and radiograph – E6013 electrode, A-36 steel at 100 m depth.

3. Results and discussion
Visual analysis of radiographic image clearly showed poros-
ity reduction along weld length as shown in Figs. 6 and 7.
Photographs and porosity measurements on transverse cross-
sections and top surfaces of the Charpy and bend specimens
confirmed the trend observed in the radiographs, as showed in
Figs. 8 and 9.
None of the specimens successfully qualified in the side bend
tests, i.e. wrapping around the plunger to form a U-shape without
crack formation on the transverse and top surfaces. All cracked
before bending to 180◦ showing the low ductility of welded
joint in these conditions. This low overall ductility, as strongly
cited in the literature, is probably due to the high cooling rate that
promotes the formation of martensite, which is of low toughness,
and high porosity. Accepting the fact that wet welds possess low
ductility, the maximum load supported by the samples until crack
opening was observed to increase from the beginning to the end
of the weld bead. The load difference clearly demonstrates the
effect of porosity reduction along the length of the weld.
Considering the depth, the loads supported by welds made
at 50 m were higher than those made at 100 m, indicating the
relation between porosity increase and water depth, as well as
the loss of alloying elements and the deterioration of mechani-

Fig. 8. Photographs of longitudinal sections (top view) of Charpy and bend test samples made with E7024 electrode, A-572 steel at 50 m depth.

Fig. 9. Photographs of cross-sections porosity of weld bead made with E6013 electrode, A-36 steel at 100 m depth.
242 E.C.P. Pessoa et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 179 (2006) 239–243

Fig. 10. Results of side bend tests and porosity measurements of welds made with E6013 electrode at 50 and 100 m depth.

Fig. 11. Results of side bend tests and porosity measurements of welds made with E7024 electrode at 50 and 100 m depth.

cal properties with increasing water depth. The maximum load et al. [10], the welds made at 50 m reached values close to the
supported by the side bend test samples and porosity values mea- absorbed energy values found for oxidizing electrodes without
sured on their transverse sections are shown in Figs. 10 and 11, nickel addition, made at 1.1 m depth. Others researchers [8,11]
where D1, D2, D3 and D4 are samples extracted as showed in also presented results around 28 J at 0 ◦ C for welds made at 50 m
Fig. 2. and 20 J at 0 ◦ C at 100 m, in agreement with the results obtained
The weld metal porosity content produced by E6013 elec- in this work. The fact that the Charpy results did not show clear
trode satisfied the macroetch test acceptance criteria from AWS relationship with porosity (or position along the weld bead) is not
D3.6M Standard [7] for class B welds, while, for E7024 elec- surprising since at low temperatures, crack propagation depends
trode, only welds made at 50 m depth, had porosity inferior to far more on the microstructure and less on defects (e.g. porosity)
5%, as demanded in the standard. and cleanliness (e.g. inclusions) as in higher temperature impact
Tensile tests results confirmed the trend observed in bend testing.
tests. Samples extracted from the end of weld bead presented
higher strength than samples extracted from the beginning of the Table 2
weld bead, as shown in Table 2, where T1 and T2 are samples Tensile tests results for underwater wet welds
extracted as showed in Fig. 2. The lower amount of porosity at Plate Specimen Ultimate strength (MPa)
the end of the weld contributed to the improvement in tensile
E6013 E7024
properties.
The values obtained in this program are close to the values A-36, 50 m T1a 450.9 461.2
reported by Rowe and Liu [8] for welds made at 50 m depth T2b 425.5 403.5
(between 400 and 500 MPa) but a little below the welds made A-36, 100 m T1 393.9 263.3
at 100 m (about 400 MPa). None of specimens extracted from T2 425.5 326.5
E6013 welds produced results in the range specified by elec- A-572, 50 m T1 456.8 430.4
trodes manufacturer [9] (US 480–520 MPa). The same occurring T2 467.8 473.9
for welds made with E7024 electrodes (US 550–600 MPa), indi- A-572, 100 m T1 381.8 292.1
cating the effect of porosity and high cooling rate on weld metal. T2 409.0 363.5
Note, however, that those ranges were determined for surface dry API, 50 m T1 429.5 412.4
welds. T2 455.1 457.5
Charpy tests did not reveal any relationship between the API, 100 m T1 393.6 295.9
absorbed energy and porosity reduction along weld bead. T2 419.0 311.1
Figs. 12 and 13 show Charpy results (each point corresponds a The specimen T1 (E6013) slid during the test and, due to mechanical hard-
to the average of three tests). However, the absorbed energy ening, presented an US value higher than that of specimen T2.
decreased with depth increase and this trend occurred for all b The specimen T2 (E7024) had a machining defect that influenced negatively

electrodes and steels. Comparing with the data reported by Pope in US value.
 E.C.P. Pessoa et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 179 (2006) 239–243
Fig. 12. Absorbed energy – E6013 electrode at 50 and 100 m depth.
Fig. 13. Absorbed energy – E7024 electrode at 50 and 100 m depth.
The mechanical properties of underwater wet welds strongly
depend on water depth and the alloying loss due to oxidation
and porosity increase. Since the chemical activities of oxygen
and hydrogen in the liquid weld pool increase with water pres-
sure, the increasing presence of oxygen will lead the weld metal
hardenability reduction and the formation of coarse microstruc-
ture containing grain boundary ferrite (GBF or PF(G)). Conse-
quently, poor mechanical properties are expected. High amounts
of hydrogen in weld pool promote porosity increase in weld
metal resulting in reduction of effective load-bearing cross-
section of tensile test samples, ensuing in the decrease of yield
and ultimate strength limits, and elongation.
4. Conclusions
Based on the results obtained, it was possible to conclude
that:
1. Porosity reduced along the weld length in multipass wet
welds, when the individual weld beads were laid in the some
direction.
243
2. Tensile strength and ductility of multipass wet welds were
influenced by the porosity variation. Samples extracted from
the end of the welds showed higher strength and ductility.
3. The use of gravity feeding system produced E6013 welds
that met the macroetch test acceptance criteria as described
in AWS D3.6M class B standard (regarding porosity) for both
50 and 100 m depth.
4. The use of gravity feeding system produced E7024 welds
that met the macroetch test acceptance criteria according to
AWS D3.6M class B standard, in the porosity aspect only at
50 m depth.
5. The welds met the impact test acceptance criteria from AWS
D3.6M class B standard at 0 ◦ C temperature.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the support of the U.S. DOI
– Minerals Management Service, the Instituto Mexicano del
Petroleo, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientı́fico
e Tecnológico – CNPq, Brazil and USIMINAS – Usinas
Siderúrgicas de Minas Gerais S/A, Brazil.
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