Welding

 Aims
 Understands welding techniques
 Objectives
 Describes different welding processes
 Describe different types of welds used in
shipbuilding
 Describes weld faults
 Describes gas cutting materials
Welding
 Purpose
 Fusion of metals
 Types
 Fusion and resistance (pressure)
 Fusion used for shipbuilding –
 The two metal parts forming the joint are raised to melting
temperature and drawn together or joined by use of a
‘filler’ made of a similar material
Welding

Fusion welding

Gas Electric Arc

Inert Gas shielded Slag shielded

Non-Consumable Consumable
Electrode Electrode Electro-slag Submerged-Arc
(auto) (auto)
TIG
(auto) MIG Flux Coated
(auto) (manual) Stud
Welding
 Electric arc
 Arc formed between two metals
 High temperature produced – 40000C
 Current flow adjusted depending on metal
type and thickness, decides amount of
metal to be deposited
 Voltage across arc affects amount of
penetration
Welding
 Electric arc (contd)
 For a satisfactory weld O2 and N2 must be
excluded – achieved by shielding
 Done by flux or an inert gas shield
Welding
 Principle
 Electrical supply – connected to work and welding rod
 Rod makes contact with work – then withdrawn - produces
arc – heat generated – melts work and weld metal – which
cools later to form a joint
 Flux, composition and purpose
 Combustible material, provides a shield (wood pulp)
 An arc stabiliser, steady arc and brittle slag (rutile)
 Fluxing materials to remove impurities (asbestos)
 Alloying elements, replenishment (manganese and carbon)
 Helps prevent Oxygen and Nitrogen attacking the weld
metal
Welding (manual)
Welding
 Automatic electric arc welding
 Automatic machine welding process
 Travel along metal takes place at a fixed
speed
 Flux coated or inert gas shielded electrode
fed to the joint
Submerged arc
Welding
 Electroslag welding
 Used for vertical plates in excess of 13mm
 Initial arc struck – process continues by
electrical resistance heating
 Weld pool contained in shoes on either
side of travelling plate
 Bare wire electrode fed from top
Welding
 Electro slag welding
Electro - slag
Welding
 Tungsten Inert Gas Welding
 Used for thin sheets of steel or aluminium
less than 6mm
 Water cooled non consumable tungsten
electrode – ignition of arc by high
frequency discharge
 Filler metal provides weld
 Arc shielded by inert gas - argon
Welding
 Tungsten Inert gas
welding
TIG welding
Welding
 Metal inert gas welding
 Used for shipbuilding steel and aluminium
 Consumable metal electrode used and fed through
a holder or torch from feed unit
 Inert gas shield either Argon (Al) or CO2 (Steel)
 Electric current between plate & torch
 Control obtained by a pulsed arc (low currents)
 For higher currents – spray transfer - steel
 For lower currents – dip transfer – used for thin
steel plates
Welding
 Metal Inert gas
welding
Welding
 Dip Transfer
Welding
 Types of welds
 Butt – strongest – could have square,
single ‘V’, double ‘V’ or double ‘U’
 Fillet – used for ‘T’ and lapped joints – full
penetration and fillet
 Can be continuous, chain intermittent or
staggered
 Tack – for temporary joints
 Lap – for ovelapping joints
Welding
 Types of welds
Welding
 The welding process, back runs and
single and multi-passes
 Welding preparation
 Surfaces to be clean
 Prepare the work
 Parts must fit
 Plan the order of welding
Welding
 Distortion
 Caused by heating – expansion and then
contraction of work piece
 Prevented by keeping welded joints to a
minimum, double ‘V’ joints
 Back step and wandering methods
 Weld butts before the seams
Welding process
Welding
Welding
 Edge preparations
 Gas cutting – use an oxy acetylene or oxy propane flame –
area to be cut is preheated – Oxygen then blown into the
area – iron oxidised – molten metal and oxide removed by
Kinetic energy of O2 stream
 Plasma arc – uses a tungsten electrode with an electric
circuit gap from the metal to be cut. The electric arc is
completed by a steam of ionised gas – gas ionised by a
subsidiary electric discharge
 Water jetting – prevents heat distortion in thinner plates –
uses fine high pressure (2000 to 4000 bars) jet of water with
abrasive
 Gouging – used to remove metal from ‘back’ runs – using an
tubular electrode and Oxygen
Gas Cutting
Plasma cutting
Arc – air gouging
Arc – air gouging
Welding
 Weld faults
 Caused by
 Bad design
 Incorrect welding procedure
 Use of wrong materials
 Poor workmanship
 Common faults
 Lack of fusion
 No inter run penetration
 Lack of reinforcement
 No root penetration
 Slag inclusion
 Porosity
 Overlap
 undercut
Welding
Welding
 Weld tests

 Most methods of testing welds in shipbuilding are of the

 Visual inspection
 Magnetic particle testing – mixture of iron filings in white paint is applied
on the weld. Subsequently the joint is magnetised by attaching a strong
electro-magnet, discontinuities seen by concentration of iron filings
 Dye penetrants – spread on the joint and wiped off. Joint then seen under
UV light. Cracks show up as luminous dye will be seen in them
 Radiographic inspection – is a method of photographing weld joints using x-
rays or gamma rays. Inclusions, gas holes or cracks can be seen on the
photo plate
 Ultrasonic Inspection – pulses of ultrasonic energy are made to enter the
metal near the joint through a cellulose paste medium. The reflection
pattern is seen on a CRT. Flaws such as insufficient root penetration,
laminations can be detected
Welding
 Classification Society weld electrode
tests
 Both destructive and non – destructive
 Include – tensile, bend and impact tests
 These tests are also done for deposited
weld metal & welded plate specimens
Welding
 Questions
 State the purpose of flux and describe its composition.
 Describe briefly the different types of welds used in
shipbuilding.
 State your understanding of the terms ‘single pass’, ‘multi
– pass’ and back run with reference to welding.
 Describe the measures that are taken to minimise
distortion during welding.
 Describe a gas cutting process that you are familiar with.
 Describe the metal inert gas welding process.
 Describe any three types of non destructive weld tests
 Explain the principle of electric arc welding