Underwater Welding and Non-

Destructive Testing in Support of

U.S. Navy Ship Repair Operations

Pete LeHardy and Ken Elliott

15 September 2010

UNDERWATER SOLUTIONS WORLDWIDE

 Overview
• Since 1985, NAVSEA approved
underwater welding has supported the
Fleet.

• NAVSEA’s Office of Supervisor of

Salvage and Diving – Underwater Ship
Husbandry Division (00C5) has led the
Underwater welding
development of this capability.
offers the Fleet a
technically sound, cost
• In the past 4 years alone, NAVSEA
effective, and “low
00C5 has executed 67 underwater
impact” repair option.
welding repairs on CVNs, FFGs, DDGs,
and SSNs.

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 Outline

• Underwater Welding History

• Underwater Welding and NDT –

The Basics

• NAVSEA Underwater Welding and

NDT – Today

• NAVSEA Underwater Welding and

NDT – Tomorrow

• Conclusion

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 History
•1930’s: Russian metallurgist Konstantin
Khrenov made the first underwater weld - in
lab tests.

•1940’s: Underwater welding advanced

through WWII, particularly during Pearl
Harbor salvage ops.

•1970’s: Whitey Grubbs and Dale Anderson

of Chicago Bridge & Iron (CB&I) qualified an
underwater wet welding procedure to
American Welding Society (AWS) standards.

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 History (cont)
•1975: NAVSEA 00C5 (via the NAVSEA Diving Services contractor)
hired CB&I to wet weld over 200 sea chest blanks on the
decommissioned Heavy Cruiser USS NEWPORT NEWS (CA 148) in
Norfolk, VA.

•1976 – 1985: NAVSEA 00C5 -

•Worked with contracted and U.S. Navy divers to wet weld
sea chest blanks on inactive ships.
•Worked with contractors to develop an improved
underwater wet welding electrode.
•Developed an underwater MT system.
•Developed of section 6.9 of NSTM Ch 074.

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 UW Welding – The Basics
• Wet and Dry – typically SMAW

• Same components as topside welding, w/ unique electrode

• Pressure – key factor

• Safety concerns:
• DC vice AC
• Proper grounding
• “Hot/Cold” switch

• Ch 074 requires:
• Confirmation welds
• Third Party Monitor

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 UW NDT – The Basics

• Underwater weld inspection criteria – same as

topside

• Inspection methods:
• Visual
• Magnetic Particle
• Ultrasonic Thickness
• Ultrasonic Shear Wave
• Liquid Penetrant (dry only)
• Radiography (dry only)

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 Wet Welding - Today

• NAVSEA approved WET welding procedures:

• Group S-1 carbon steels, ordinary and high strength to include:

•ASTM A 515 Gr. 70
•MIL-S-15083 Gr. B
•MIL-S-22698 DH-36
•MIL-C-24707/1 ASTM A757 Gr. A1Q, A2Q, HTS.

• Group S-11A Quenched and Tempered Alloy Steels to include:

•MIL-S-16216 HY-80

• Additional wet welding procedures are pending NAVSEA approval

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 Wet Welding - Today

• Ch 074 Wet Welding Limitations (Category “E”):

• Fairwater repair and replacement
• Sonar dome fairing and closure plate repairs
• Rope guard repairs
• Splitter bar repairs
• Bilge keel repairs
• Ship deactivation as per NSTM, CH 050
• Repair of air channel on struts
• Cover plate repairs non-structural members

• Per Ch 074 – Base metal chemistries required for wet welding

• Per Ch 074 – Wet welding is not considered permanent

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 Dry Welding - Today

• NAVSEA approved DRY welding procedures:

• Group S-1 carbon steels, ordinary and high strength to include:

•ASTM A 516 Gr. 70
•MIL-S-15083 Gr. B
•MIL-S-22698 DH-36
•MIL-C-24707/1 ASTM A757 Gr A1Q, A2Q, HTS

• Group S-11A Quenched and Tempered Alloy Steels to include:

•MIL-S-16216 HY-80

• Additional dry welding procedures are pending NAVSEA approval

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 Dry Welding - Today

• Dry welding
typically requires a dry chamber:
• Side mount or overhead
• UWSH Manual Chapter 16 compliant
• Dry chamber mating surface
• NAVSEA 00C5 approved rigging plan

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 Underwater NDT – Today

• NAVSEA approved NDT procedures:

• Underwater Wet Visual Testing
• Dry Chamber Visual Testing
• Underwater Wet Magnetic Particle Test
• Dry Chamber Magnetic Particle Test

• NDT procedures pending NAVSEA approval:

• Underwater Wet Ultrasonic Thickness
• Dry Chamber Ultrasonic Thickness
• Underwater Wet Ultrasonic Shear Wave
• Dry Chamber Ultrasonic Shear Wave

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 NAVSEA Underwater
Welding Systems
• Navy Van 1 in Norfolk

• Drive and Dive in Norfolk

• Navy Van 2 in San Diego

• Air Transportable System 1 in Hawaii

• Air Transportable System 2 in Japan

• Bahrain Transportable System in Bahrain

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 NAVSEA Underwater Welding
Statistics - since 2006
• 22 DDG rudder repairs
• 15 FFG rudder nut inspections and
alterations
• 7 Hull repairs (DDGs, FFGs, SSN Dry Dock)
• 5 “emergent” repairs (including: USS
NEWPORT NEWS, USS NEW ORLEANS,
USS HARTFORD)
• Repair locations: Norfolk, San Diego,
Mayport, Everett, Japan, Bahrain, Spain,
and Antarctica.
• 25 wet weld repairs
• 48 dry weld repairs
• Over 2000 linear feet of weld bead

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 UW Welding and NDT -
Tomorrow
• Dry Chamber Aluminum Welding
• USS Independence (LCS 2)

• Improved Metal Sample Analysis

• portable analyzers, underwater tool, etc

• Improved Underwater Pre-Heating

• Induction heating

• Improved UW Ultrasonic Testing

• Phase array

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 Conclusion

• Underwater welding – a NAVSEA approved

ship repair capability since 1985.

• Offers a technically sound and cost effective

ship repair alternative – with minimal impact to
ship operational schedules.

• NAVSEA 00C provides onsite technical

expertise and experience – for all underwater
welding operations.

• NAVSEA underwater welding and NDT is a

proven capability - through 25 years of success
in supporting the Fleet.
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