PRESENT TRENDS IN WELDING CONSUMABLES

R.D.PENNATHUR, MAILAM INDIA LIMITED

ABSTRACT

Demands for properties of materials being used in fabrication include properties such as strength, toughness, fatigue property, corrosion resistance and heat resistance. On the other hand, demands for welding consumables become critical with these demands for properties. Consumable & process selection is based on high efficiencies, high qualities, high productivity , labor saving and economical application.. Application of welding technologies in the fields of ship buildings, bridges, automobiles, tanks, pressure vessels, pipelines and power plants are fast growing & high productive consumable are in great demand . Problems in the field of welding technologies are very wide, for example, application of newly developed steels and welding procedures in the field of engineering. Further development is needed continuously in the field of welding to keep pace with newer materials being introduced. 1. INTRODUCTION Fabrication materials are required to have a wide variety of properties according to environment, design and assembly methodology and weld joints of the materials. Therefore materials must satisfy widely varied and demanding quality requirements for welded structures. Furthermore labour saving and lower costs are also required for welding work. The requirements for materials and welding consumables have become increasingly sophisticated and demanding. In response to these increasingly demanding requirements, welding consumable manufacturers have developed and supplied consumables suitable for various steel materials of high functionality and high quality for each of application. 2.0: MATERIAL OF CONSTRUCTION: The global economy has compelled Fabricators to use newer materials of higher strength to reduce cost of material & reduce Fabrication time. This has posed challenge to manufacturer of welding consumable manufacturer to develop newer consumables to meet the industrial needs. Here below ,some of the present types of materials being used by specific industries are indicated. 2.1: METHODOLOGY: Whereas steel plates were either as rolled or quenched and tempered conventionally. The development of high strength materials are based on improved manufacturing practice such as :

By the TMCP, they are produced through thermo-mechanical rolling(TMR) and accelerated cooling (AcC). The microstructure of theTMCP products is finer and their toughness is higher than those of conventional products. Lowering carbon equivalent (Ceq) s; and grain refining Micro structures refining using different kinds of oxides; and decreasing embrittled structures.

This makes it possible for welding of such joints with higher heat input & still retain the mechanical properties across weldment . Typical examples of such products include heavy plate products such as : Temp.Resistant steels(Cr-Mo Type) that maintain high strength at high temperatures. High toughness steels High-strength plates for large container carriers for higher transportation efficiency for shipbuilding Weathering steels, resistant to salt contamination in coastal locations for bridges Steel pipes of 120-ksi-class yield stress for line pipes All the above types of steels are required to meet Mechanical properties & also be suitable for ultra-high-heat-input welding

The modification in micro structure makes it possible to weld such joints with narrow groove application & achieve required mechanical properties in the weldment. Fig. 1 High efficiency welding and the embrittlement zone

2.1.1: SHIPBUILDING To transport more cargo , the size of container carriers is increasing lately, and as a result, heavy plates of YP 500MPa /590MPa steels up to 50 mm or more in thickness have come to be used. Low-temperature steel plates for LPG carriers and their weld joints must have high toughness at low temperatures . The selection of proper high strength material & weld metal can achieve required mechanical properties without resorting to stress relieving.

2.1.2: PRESSURE VESSELS Steels for high-temperature use are used for boilers and pressure vessels to enhance their operating efficiency. As the operating temperature becomes higher, steel must have better hightemperature strength, and for this purpose, Cr and Mo contents of steel are increased. The advanced 2.25Cr-Mo steel with improved high-temperature stre2ngth and resistance to hydrogen corrosion was developed by adding V to conventional 2.25Cr-Mo steel . Recently, V and Nb are added to 9Cr-1Mo steel , which has improved hightemperature strength through precipitation hardening, and thus, the steel can be used now at temperatures up to 575 C.By addition of W, the operating temp .can be increased to 600 C 2.13: .LARGE TANKS Notch toughness at low temperature & resistance to crack propagation, is required for steels for low-temperature tanks of liquefied gasses such as LPG and LNG 1. ; Al-killed carbon steels 2. Ni-containing steels and 2.5%-, 3.5%-, 5%-, and 9%-Ni steels) are used for these 2.1.4: PIPELINES X120 (800 MPa YP) line pipes have been presently being used in a commercial pipelines. Because of the very high material strength, care must be taken to secure high toughness and good resistance to low-temperature cracking at the welding at either the steelworks or the sites. The material of X120 line pipes is a low-C steel with a lower bainitic structure, and the weld metal has to have a microstructure of fine acicular ferrite to secure good weldability. 2.1.5: STAINLESS STEELS: Specific material for corrosion Application. Nitrogenated SS for High Strength application

TABLE 1: PROPERTIES OF MATERIAL IN EACH INDUSTRIAL FIELD AND AVAILABILITY OF DEVELOPED STEELS
INDUSTRY Ship Building APPLICATION Liquefied gas carrier ship Container ship Corrosion resistance for crude oil carrier High temperature operation High pressure operation Growth in size Lowering temperature PROPERTIES REQD. Weld, HAZ toughness Controlled H2 High heat input weldability High tensile strength Corrosion resistance Higher strength Efficient welding fabrication Creep resistance Higher strength Corrosion resistance low ten, Toughness Higher strength Low temperature toughness Sour gas resistance High strength Low temperature toughness DEVELOPED STEELS Low temperature steels for LPG, LNG tanks High strength Heavy plates with YP upto 600 MPa Corrosion resistant steels Advanced Cr-Mo steels

Boiler Pressure vessels Tanks

Steels for combination tanker of LPG and liquid ammonia 9%Ni steels High corrosion resistant stainless steel X-100, X-120 steel pipes High HAZ toughness-high strength thick line pipes YP460, 500 MPa steels for offshore fabrication

Pipe lines

High pressure operation Operation . Corrosion resistance Growth in size Operation at arctic region

Offshore structure

3.0: CONSUMABLES: Keeping above development of material in view, it has to be agreed that Consumable manufacturers have responded positively by developing suitable consumable for each of the application.The demand of Welding Engineer for availability of reliable Consumable which can give higher Productivity & Consistent Quality have been met. .The basic selection of process is based on following factors in addition to availability of suitable consumables. .. METALLURGICAL MECHANICAL

The developments of newer consumables have to take into consideration following factors: Chemical Composition Achievable Mechanical Properties. Effect of Heat Input on Mech. Properties. PWHT requirement ,if any Corrosion Properties Any other special requirements

In the present scenario, keeping in view rapid pace of development of newer materials with enhanced mechanical properties, the most commonly adopted are SMAW &FCAW. This is mainly due to response time required for development of newer consumables to meet TDC of newer Material.

We will now look at various process options available such as SMAW, SAW, GMAW & FCAW Advantages & Limitation of each of above as indicated in Table 2 . . TABLE 2:ADVANTAGES & LIMITATION OF VARIOUS WELDING PROCESS PARAMETER
TYPE OF CONSUMABLE VARIETY/SPECIFICATIO N AVAILABILITY POSITIONAL CAPACITY DEPOSITION RATE AUTOMATION EQUIPMENT PORTABILITY WELDERS SKILL

SMAW
FINITE V.GOOD V.GOOD EXCELLEN T POOR NOT AMENABLE SIMPLE V.GOOD HIGH

SAW
CONTINUOU S GOOD GOOD LIMITED EXCELLENT MOST SUITABLE SPECIAL LIMITED LOW

GMAW
CONTINUOU S LIMITED GOOD GOOD GOOD SUITABLE SPECIAL GOOD AVERAGE

FCAW
CONTINUOU S V.GOOD GOOD V.GOOD V.GOOD SUITABLE SPECIAL GOOD AVERAGE

4.0: ANALYSIS: Taking into consideration various process advantages & limitations, following points can be highlighted. For welding of CS/LAS & SS in most cases as all the process consumable are readily available, the process limitation is finally dictated by following criteria. Taking into consideration deposition rate, even though SAW is the first choice, the availability, positional capability & ease of application does not favour it as automatic choice. The introduction of Newer material & need to weld with higher Heat input for productivity requires consumables developed with Micro Alloying. The development of such consumables are easily achieved with SMAW & FCAW consumables due to ease of controlled alloying addition through fluxing material. Also both SMAW &FCAW consumables can be supplied in economic quantity for initial trails. 5

To achieve higher productivity, if required, FCAW consumables can also be used with neutral flux for SAW application. Positional welding capability makes SMAW/FCAW as most favoured process, with FCAW having advantage of much higher deposition rates. For field joints/difficult to reach joint, even though SMAW is most ideal process, FCAW is making definite inroads in this area also. In the field of Hard Facing & reclamation, FCAW has definite edge as it is only high deposition process catering wide range of requirements .

TABLE 3: AVAILABILITY OF VARIOUS TYPES OF CONSUMABLES: MATERIAL CORBON STEEL HSLA LOW ALLOY Cr-Mo LOW ALLOY WITH SPL.PROP NOTCH TOUGHNESS SS NICKEL ALLOYS HF SMAW EXCELLEN T EXCELLEN T EXCELLEN T EXCELLEN T EXCELLEN T EXCELLEN T EXCELLEN T EXCELLEN T SAW EXCELLENT GOOD LIMITED LIMITED LIMITED GOOD LIMITED LIMITED GMAW EXCELLENT LIMITED VERY LIMITED NO LIMITED GOOD GOOD NO FCAW EXCELLENT EXCELLENT EXCELLENT EXCELLENT EXCELLENT EXCELLENT EXCELLENT EXCELLENT

4.1: THE PRESENT TREND The success in todays competitive business is Productivity & two ways to improve Productivity are, 0 Reducing Labor Cost 1 Increasing Production Speed FCAW wires are capable of achieving the same in all position & also maintain good quality. In Indian scenario more than 70 % of welding is still being done with SMAW (Stick) & about 8 % by automatic process i.e. SAW. The share of FCAW &GMAW Process is about 20% leaving 2% to other processes. As compared to this, the global scenario regarding application of Process is indicated here below.(Table 5) TABLE 4: PROCESS SHARE APPLICATION INTRERNATIONAL SENERIO JAPAN EUROPE USA INDIA

SMAW GTAW SAW GMAW/FCAW

20% 2% 8% 70%

30% 2% 8% 60%

35% 2% 8% 55%

70% 2% 8% 20%

5.0: FINAL REVIEW: A wide variety of materials with properties such as high strength, toughness, fatigue resistance, corrosion resistance and heat resistance are being developed & used for fabrication. Arc welding by conventional equipment and work practice still remains to be the main assembling method for steel structures made of heavy plates. Even though the SAW is established process with reasonable market share, due to positional limitation, FCAW is playing major role as high productivity process combined with availability of suitable consumables. GMAW process is also gaining in importance with specific application particularly with use of mixed gas which reduces spatter & enhances finish. Increasing awareness of the improved productivity, higher metal deposition rates and reduced fumes offered
by wired consumables is driving the total consumables market . .

Metal-cored wires are more popular for robotic welding while the rising preference for automation is promoting the use of flux cored wires among several end user Industries. In higher end process, the use of laser welding has increased significantly, and the method is being applied to heavy plates. Consumable Manufacturers should invest in R&D and develop their product range,. They should introduce different metal alloys that suit varied end-user applications even while
focusing on quality and value-added services.

Respond to customers need based on understanding of their field practice of joint design, welding work and control. Increasingly, the key competitive factors that are likely to be critical to success are price, quality, value, reputation, and the development of close customer relationships . E-commerce will enable suppliers to cut costs, streamline the supply chain and broaden their reach of the market. It will also foster healthy competition by ensuring adequate supply sources.