Table of contents

Contents
Underwater Welding........................................................................................2
1. Introduction:...............................................................................................2
2. Scope of underwater welding in Pakistan:...................................................2
3. Visit:.............................................................................................................2
4. Classification of underwater welding:..........................................................3
5. Underwater wet welding:.............................................................................3
6. Physical fundamentals, weld ability and metallurgical issues:....................4
7. Welding power sources:...............................................................................4
8. Underwater dry welding:.............................................................................4
9. Dry welding environment:...........................................................................5
10. Effect of alloying elements on weld metal microstructure and properties:5
10.1 Manganese:.............................................................................................5
10.2 Titanium and boron:.................................................................................6
10.3 Rare earth metals:...................................................................................6
11. Future Scope and developments:..............................................................6
12. References:................................................................................................6

Underwater Welding
Group members
Zain ali kidwai MM-003
Muhammad talha saleem MM-005
Talha Hussain MM-010
Syed munir azeem MM-029

1.

Introduction:

The concept of conducting underwater welding involves welding performed below

the water surface at a certain depth, in a dry or wet environment. Wet underwater
welding implies that the welding process is carried out directly in the water without

any kind of insulation barrier to prevent the contact of the ambient water with the
place of work, the weld pool, the electric arc, the filler material and the welder. It is
clear that in such conditions there are a number of parameters that considerably
hamper the actual welding process and also affect the quality of welded joints. In
case of dry underwater welding there is no direct contact of surrounding water on
electric arc and weld pool as it is divided by mechanical barrier which ensure dry
environment under atmospheric or hyperbaric pressure, depending on water depth
and object shape or type involved. The search for offshore hydrocarbons has taken
the oil industry into increasingly deep water. Over the past decade activities have
gone beyond the continental shelf in the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, West Africa,
northwest Europe and the Mediterranean Sea. Oil is now being produced from fields
far above 1000 m water depth, with field developments in progress to double these
depths. Importance of the underwater welding and inspection technology is well
proven in numerous cases of installation, repair and maintenance of naval objects.
Moreover, as exploitation of oil and gas seems to move in deep waters, technical
level of those techniques demands further investments and development.
.

2. Scope of underwater welding in

Pakistan:
The Pakistan Welding Institute (PWI) is a professional institution devoted to
maintaining and promoting standards of excellence in Welding Technology. PWI
provides industry with technical support through advice & information, consultancy,
Research & Development and training & qualification. Its services & expertise cover
all areas of welding & joining technology and materials engineering for metals and
non-metals alike. They are also work on underwater welding but mostly underwater
welding is use for military purpose in PNS Himalaya.

3. Visit:
When we talk about underwater welding in Pakistan there are many companies who
are doing this job. As it was our project to study underwater welding so we visited
two companies
Aqua diving.
Indus underwater welding.
Aqua diving gave us the information about the insulation medium, current source,
broco electrode and epoxy use in underwater for adhesive bonding and lastly
underwater cutting torch.
And Indus Underwater welding told us about the project they have recently working
on it which based on corrosion protection. In Gawadar, there is an installation

process of gas pipeline underwater so they weld a zinc anode on pipeline to protect
it.

4. Classification of underwater welding:

Underwater welding can be divided in two main types with sub classification as
follows:
1. Wet underwater welding is considered as welding at the ambient pressure where
there is no mechanical barrier between welder-diver and surrounding water.
2. Dry underwater welding is considered as welding in dry ambient atmosphere
under atmospheric or hyperbaric pressure where welder-diver is divided from
surrounding water by means of mechanical barrier which could be designed
according AWS D3.6 in several alternatives as follows:
Dry welding at one atmosphere; welding in a pressure vessel in which the
pressure is reduced to one atmosphere independent of water depth.
Dry welding in a habitat; welding at ambient pressure in a large chamber from
which water was displaced and where such atmosphere is achieved that welder has
no need to use diving equipment.
Dry chamber welding; welding at ambient pressure in a simple open bottomed dry
chamber that at least accommodates the head and shoulders of a diver-welder in
full diving equipment.
Dry spot welding; welding at ambient pressure in a small, transparent, gas filled
enclosure with the diver-welder outside in the water.
While in underwater wet welding MMAW-manual metal arc welding process is
common and widely used in dry underwater welding there is greater flexibility over
the welding process selection where MMAW, TIG-tungsten inert gas, FCAW- flux
cored arc welding and MAG-metal active gas are possible to engage depending on
water depth, material type and thickness and other object requirements

5. Underwater wet welding:

Underwater wet welding is flexible and applicable on various types and shapes of
underwater structures. Diver-welder and electric arc are in direct water environment
which causes number of negative impact factors not only for weld quality but also
for welder safety. These problems appear proportionally with depth and therefore
the depth is a limiting factor when taking in account wet welding procedures
operational accessibility. On the other hand, equipment and other technical facilities
are far more complex and cheaper comparing to underwater dry welding procedures
so very often underwater wet welding is proper technology to use for maintenance
of underwater structures and repair of ships.

6. Physical fundamentals, weld ability

and metallurgical issues:
Wet underwater shielded electrode manual arc welding is characterized by the
following:
Electric arc instability, which causes irregular geometry in the welded joint, slag
inclusions, porosity and insufficient penetration. Ambient pressure has a significant
influence on the behavior of a welding arc, the performance of the welding process
and the resultant weld properties. Increasing pressure leads to destabilization of the
arc plasma resulting from escalating turbulence in the arc column.
The rapid cooling leads to great hardness in the heat-affected zone, low toughness
in the welded joint and the appearance of porosity due to the capture of gas
bubbles.
The high content of hydrogen in the column of the electric arc, molten metal in the
transfer and in weld pool, which results in hydrogen capture in the metal of the weld
and in the heat-affected zone.
This increases the susceptibility to the appearance of cold cracks, brings about
porosity and degrades the mechanical properties of the joint.
The high oxygen content in the electric arc column, molten metal in the transfer
and weld pool, which leads to oxidation, reduction of the proportion of alloy
elements and the degradation of mechanical properties.
The disintegration and solving of the coating of the electrodes, which results in
electric arc instability and the appearance of porosity.

7. Welding power sources:

Welding rectifiers are designed with decreased open circuit voltage and adjusted
welding characteristic. Transistors power sources are also applied lately, and further
development shows that current level of power source technology can provide
better arc striking and arc stability. Intensive dynamic behavior of the power source
is necessary to obtain a stable electric arc in greater depths. Welding power source
must be adjusted for underwater wet welding, not only in the matter of good arc
behavior but also in the aspect of diver-welder safety
For underwater electric arc welding and certain cutting procedures a direct current
supply is necessary which can produce 400A at 60% intermittence. This purpose is
best served by diesel aggregates of minimal power of 12kW, which do not depend
on the energy infrastructure. Rectifiers may also be used but due to high energy
requirements there may be problems in operation. For the welding the 300Asources
may also be used, whereas electric arc cutting requires stronger sources. The
sources have to have lower idle voltage due to safety reasons.

8. Underwater dry welding:

Comparing to underwater wet welding which is primarily used at shallow depths
when need for larger depths emerge underwater dry welding procedures is first
choice. Moreover, usage of underwater dry welding methods offers completion of
full penetration welds with mechanical properties adequate to welding in normal
conditions. Additionally, it is possible to perform preheating or post weld heat
treatment in order to decrease hydrogen content and improve weld properties.
Application of underwater dry welding can arrange normal open air visibility and
communication between welders and other workers greatly enhance work progress
and safety. Further, there are better conditions for surface cleaning and weld
preparation as well for maneuverability and manipulability of equipment and
working parts. Due to good working conditions preparation and welding time is
shortened in a great deal comparing to underwater wet welding. Regarding choice
of welding processes, in this case beside MMAW which is most often used, FCAWflux cored arc welding and GMAW- gas metal arc welding as well as TIG- tungsten
inert gas welding also come into perspective depending on welding but also on
depth requirements. As for problems normally expected using underwater wet
welding like brittle microstructure prone to cracking in this case this problems are
completely avoided.
On the other hand, usage of underwater dry welding demand for significant time
and financial resources just for preparation of underwater habitats, manipulating
equipment like cranes and also other technical resources. Comparing to underwater
wet welding procedures larger working crew is needed. Very often habitats can be
used only for one type or shape of underwater structure because of positioning and
sealing demands. However, underwater dry welding is widely used in maintenance
and erection of underwater structures.

9. Dry welding environment:

Welding at ambient pressure in a large chamber from which water was displaced
and where such atmosphere is achieved that welder has no need to use diving
equipment. Welders are completely in dry environment and weld properties are
equivalent to one welded in normal conditions. However, much more fit-up time is
necessary to fix the habitat and prepare it for welding.

10. Effect of alloying elements on weld

metal microstructure and properties:

As a materials engineer we have to know that which alloying addition effect

on the properties of underwater welded joint so below are the some alloys
and its effects on underwater welded joint.

10.1 Manganese:
Increasing the Mg content of low carbon manganese steel weld metal results in
micro structural refinement through an increase in hardenability. As shown in
the figure manganese contents of underwater wet welds are typically less than
0.5 wt. pct. The manganese content will lead to formation of acicular ferrite in
the as deposited microstructure and refinement in the reheated microstructure
by increasing the hardenability.

10.2 Titanium and boron:

Several investigations have shown that it is possible to produce weld metal
microstructure high in acicular ferrite by alloying with titanium and boron.
By adding titanium alone we can produce 70 pct. acicular ferrite. Boron and
titanium when added together enhances the formation of acicular ferrite.
Titanium protects boron from reacting with oxygen and nitrogen and forms fine
intragranular inclusions of titanium oxide and nitride. Boron is then free to
diffuse to austenite grain boundaries, where it reduces the grain boundary
energy, and retards the formation of grain boundaries ferrite. Finally the
titanium rich intragranular inclusions provide nucleation sites for acicular
ferrite.

10.3 Rare earth metals:

To reduce oxygen content as REMs are some of the strongest dioxidents. They
form more stable oxides than titanium and manganese. Efimeko (1980) found
that there was a maximum in room toughness with an addition of .2 to .4 pct.
metallic REM (yttrium) to the coatings of welding electrodes. Addition of REM
to underwater wet welds should improve recovery of alloying elements. A
reduction in oxygen content of welds should be beneficial to upper shelf
toughness.

11. Future Scope and developments:

Development of alternative welding methods like friction welding, explosive
welding, and stud welding and Wet MMA is still being used for underwater repairs,
but the quality of wet welds is poor and is prone to hydrogen cracking. Dry

Hyperbaric welds are better in quality than wet welds. Present trend is towards
automation. THOR 1 (TIG Hyperbaric Orbital Robot) is developed where diver
performs pipefitting, installs the track and orbital head on the pipe and the rest
process is automated.

12. References:
http://aquadiving.diytrade.com
http://www.askedu.net/student_msg.asp?req=455839#.Vsgg3dz9Xct
https://www.fsb.unizg.hr/usb_frontend/files/1435134788-0underwaterweldingandcuttinggarasickozuh_rev1.pdf
http://www.scribd.com/doc/83652575/Underwater-Welding-Report#scribd
http://www.ijera.com/papers/Vol4_issue6/Version%204/E046042631.pdf
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214914715000318