02 WELDING

Fusion weld is used for shipbuilding, which a heat source is intense enough to melt the edges of
the material to be joined, arc welding, TIG, MIG etc.

1. The process of manual electric arc welding

a. A wire or electrode is connected to power supply with a return lead to the plate
being welded
b. The electrode makes contact with the plates , an electric current flows in the circuit
c. The electrode is to be remove to a short distance from the plate, so that electric
current will jump the gap to the plate, creating a high temperature electrical arc
d. The arc melts the plate edges and the end of electrode if this of a combustible type

2. Electrode type and process of welding high tensile steels

a. The core wire used for mild steel electrodes is rimming steel, which is ideal for
wire drawing purpose
b. The coating for electrodes normally consist of sidicates, oxides, fluorides,
carbonates, hydrocarbons and powdered metal alloys plus a liquid binder; the
coating should proved gas shielding for the arc, easy striking and arc stability, a
 protective slag, good weld shape, gas shield consuming the surrounding oxygen
and protecting the molten weld metal
c. Rutile- coating of high percentage of titania, this general purpose electrode is easy
to control and give good weld finish,
d. Basic (low hydrogen)- coating with high lime content and reduction of moisture
content to minimum for low hydrogen property; more superior than other type
when welding high tensile steel and high restraint area; electrode is not easy to
control, experienced welder needed

3. The purpose of flux during welding

a. Gas shielding for the molten weld pool by consuming the surrounding oxygen, thus
oxidation cannot take place
b. With a less dense material, it will float on the weld pool forming a thin layer called
slag which will slow down cooling process
c. Easy striking (arc stability), flux helps in initiation of arc, especially welding with
AC, polarity keeps on changing at a constant rate

4. Description of automatic arc welding processes

a. Machine move the plate at a set speed and the flux covered wire is fed
continuously to give the correct arc length and deposition of weld metal
b. Flux covering of the continuous wire is retained by means of aux wire spiral
i. tolerate dirty plates and can be used for welding outdoor at the berth where
climatic condition is not ideal
ii. allow higher welding speed at a higher welding current with CO2 shielding
and flux covering wire
c. Flux cored wire is used for automatic welding process, allowing higher welding
current with high deposition rate and improve quality than flux coated wire; rutile
or basic flux coated wire are common for one-side welding with ceramic backing

5. Description of electro-slag (for vertical welding of thick plate, up to 450mm in thickness)

a. An arc strike to start the weld , then follow by resistance path heating through the
flux
b. The current pass into the weld thru the wire, the copper water cooled shoes retain
the molten pool of welded metal, the shoe will moved upward as the weld is
completed
c. Flux is being added manually by operator
d. Square edge preparation is used on the plate and the final weld metal has a high
plate dilution
 e. “Run on” and “Run off” plates are required for stopping and starting the weld,
preferable to have a continuous weld (no stoppage), to avoid slag inclusion which
will require cut out of the original metal
f. Local normalizing treatment is required to turn coarse grain structure to fine grain
structure

6. Description of MIG (metal inert gas)

a. Wire feed motor supplies wire via guide rollers through a contact tube in the torch
to the arc
b. Inert gas is supplied to the torch for shielding (Argon for Aluminum; CO2 for mild
steel, because argon is rather expensive for mild steel welding and only for down
hand welding)
c. Electrical connection is made to the contact tube and work piece. Welding is
always done with DC, electrode (+) for regular transfer of metal.
d. Use actions of arc cathode to remove the oxide film when welding aluminum.

i. thick plate (downhand only)

1. Larger wire size and heavier current in MIG, metal transfer in the arc
by fine spray transfer. metal droplets being projected at high speed
across the arc with deep penetration
ii. thin plate
 1. At low current, use high pulse, the metal will be detached from the
electrode and accelerate across the arc with good penetration
2. “Dip Transfer” sequence
a. establish arc
b. wire fed into arc making contact with the plate
c. resistance heating of wire in contact with plate
d. pinch effect heated portion of wire detach as molten metal
droplet
e. re-establish the arc again

7. Description of TIG (tungsten inert gas)

a. Arc drawn between water cooled, non-consumable Tungsten electrode and the
plate
b. Ignition of the arc is obtained by means of a high frequency discharge across the
gap, since it is preferred not to strike an arc on the plate with tungsten electrode
c. Inert gas used for aluminum and steel is Argon, to protect weld metal from the
atmosphere, filler metal be added to the weld pool as needed
d. Suitable for welding plate thickness up to 6mm

8. Description of butt, lap, fillet

a. Butt (two joined plates are in the same plane)
i. The strongest joint subject to tensile pull, it has the strength equivalent to
mild steel plate, not considered as line of weakness
ii. The weld metal tends to have a higher yield strength than the plate material;
under tension, it is found that yield occurs adjacent to butt weld in the plate
when the yield strength of the plate material is reached locally
 b. Fillet weld (sections or plate are connected at an angle to an adjacent plate)
i. Fillet weld is used in lapped joints for connecting the plates
ii. Fillet weld will be in shear when plates are in tension, thus the strength is
very much less than butt joint. Such weld should be avoided in strength
members of a weld structure
iii. The fatigue strength is also less than butt joint

9. Various preparations of plate edge for welding

a. Bevel the edges of the plate for butt welding in order to achieve complete
penetration of weld metal
i. Gas burning heads with 3 nozzles out of phase, which can be set at different
angle to give required bevel

ii. Mechanical machining by using mill tool to obtain required bevel and
provide a better finish than Gas burning head- (ideal for high quality weld in
thick plate, high tensile steel)
10.Explain full penetration weld
a. A weld that completely consume the root groove of the joint
b. Higher strength and better corrosion resistance

11.Explain single pass, multi-pass and back run

a. Thicker plate can be welded by single pass with higher current, but at greater
thickness, multi-pass weld becomes necessary to obtain penetration
b. Back run to be made at the reverse of the join after cleaning out the slag, this
method can ensure complete weld penetration, without permanent backing bar or
one sided technique

12.Explain how welding can give rise to distortion and describe measures which are taken to
minimize it
a. Cause-
i. Heat is applied to the plate during welding operation; metal expands with
heat and contract with cool down. The weld cools and contracts, tend to pull
the plate with it
 ii. The constraining action of metal plate prevents the weld from contracting
fully, distortion created. The shrinkage in butt weld occurs along the length
of the weld.
b. Measures: high restrain to control the distortion should be avoided as this will
contribute to high residual stresses in the structure

i. Back step and wandering method, the length of each step being the amount
of weld metal laid down by an electrode to suit the required cross-section

ii. Correct welding sequence throughout the construction

1. (Shell panel)- Welding the central butt then gouge out the ends to
renew seam edge before welding the seam, working outward
transversely & longitudinally (to reduce high restraint across plate
strake and a crack in the butt)
2. (Stiffening members)- they are left unwelded across the butt & seam,
until welding of panel plates is completed

3. (Erection welding)- The upper seam (deck seam) to be welded before

the lower seam, otherwise the upper portion of the hull will be
shorten, causing the hull to rise from the blocks at the ends
 Nowadays, side shells and deck platings are erected in
blocks, and with suitable welding sequence, this
problem can be solved
4. (Repair work)- new shell plate to be welded
a. The seams and butts in the surrounding structure are cut back
300-375mm from the opening, do the same for stiffening in the
way of the opening
b. The inserted plate panel is then welded to within 300-375mm of
the free edges.
c. After the butts are completed, weld the longitudinal stiffening
across the butts.
d. Finally, seams are welded, and then completed with vertical
framing
13.The use of tack welding
a. Short light run of weld material used for holding plate and section in place after
alignment, and prior to completion of the full butt weld or fillet weld, they can be
weld over or cut out during final welding

14.Describe weld fault

a. Lack of infusion
i. The metal pre-solidifies which leads to a gap not filled with molten metal
ii. Cause: low current, speed too fast, improper angle, improper welding rod,
lack of experience
b. No inter-run penetration
i. Crevice between the weld beads, cause local entrapment of slag
ii. Cause: slag not clean between pass, insufficient current, move too fast, wet
rod-flux breakdown
c. Lack of reinforcement
i. Weld metal in the joint is insufficient
ii. too fast, too high current
d. Lack of root penetration
i. The groove of the metal is not filled completely
 ii. Cause: weld misalignment, low current, small deep root gap
e. Slag inclusion
i. The slag in the weld affect the toughness and metal weldability
ii. Reduce structural performance of weld material
iii. Cause: low power output, tight area, slow travel
f. Porosity
i. Gas or small bubbles get trapped in the welded zone
ii. Cause: wet, unclean material
g. Overlap
i. Weld face extends beyond the welded zone, weld metal rolls and forms an
angle <90o
ii. Cause: lack of experience and attention
h. Undercut
i. The base of the metal melts away from welded zone, a groove is formed in
the shape of a notch
ii. Fatigue strength reduced
iii. Cause: too fast, too high current, arc length too long

15.Testing of welds
a. Visual examination
i. Routine procedure, low cost, surface defect can be found by inspector or
surveyor (undercut, surface crack, incorrect bead shape, incorrect
alignment), but unable to detect sub-surface defect
ii. Low cost, can be made before, during and after welding
b. Radiographic (x-ray, gamma ray)
i. Spot check is made on the more important welds
ii. Inspection which emits radiation on one side, record the radiation on the
opposite side, any obstacle in the path will affect the radiation density and
will be recorded
iii. A photographic plate records the changes in radiation density emitted. It
takes a lot experience and knowledge to interpret the radiograph. An image
quality indicator shows the minimum change of thickness revealed by the
technique
c. Ultrasonic
i. Pulses of ultrasonic wave travel through the plate reflected from the surface
of metal and from the surface of any flaw in the metal
ii. Liquid is placed between the source and metal to get the ultrasonic wave into
the metal, avoiding total reflection
 iii. A calibrated cathode ray tube is use to reveal the reflection pattern, an
experience operator will be able to recognize any flaws from the ray tube
display
iv. Useful in locating fine crack which maybe miss by Radiography (lie
perpendicular to the emission source), no health hazard compare to
Radiographic, it can also be used to assess the thickness of the structure
member
d. Magnetic particle (not common)
i. Magnetize the casting, spread a fluid of magnetic particles on the surface,
any crack will be shown up by the particles concentrating at that point
e. Dye penetrant (not common)
i. After applying the dye, wash down the casting. Any remains will the show
the surface flaw (luminous powder can be added and check with UV light to
make the inspection easier)

16.Gas cutting of metal- (the torch has a valve for controlling the volume of acetylene and
oxygen for the preheat flame, and a separate valve for the oxygen jet)
Procedure
a. Small area of the metal is preheated to a given temperature. A confined stream of
oxygen is directed onto this area
b. Iron is then oxidized; molten oxide and metal are removed by kinetic energy of the
oxygen stream. A narrow gap is left
c. The preheat flame is left on to heat the top of the cut, since most of the heat
produced by reaction is released away at the lower level of the cut
d. Small amounts of alloying elements dissolved in the slag and removed when
cutting steel; if there is a large quantity, it will decrease the fluidity of the slag or
produce a tenacious oxide over the surface preventing further oxidation of the iron.
Iron rich powder can added to the cutting area to fix this problem