‘Wet Welding significant advances in quality by Michael A Pett Page 1 of 3 yarowe Sle The Underwater Welding Specialists «}* WET WELDING ‘SIGNIFICANT ADVANCES IN QUALITY By Michael A Pett HYDROWELD. Wet welding is one of the most under rated, abused and misunderstood welding processes in regular use today. Its poor reputation, developed over the years, has fuelled critics’ arguments that wet welding produces poor quality, hard, low ductile welds, which are prone to cracking. But is this really the case? In 1999 Hydroweld, acknowledged leaders and an authority in the field of wet welding, shifted the boundaries by producing the first ever, surface quality wet welds In accordance with the AWS D3.6M-99 Class A welds. Unfortunately, critics of wet welding can often justify their condemnation as the process is regularly abused, particularly in the inshore civil engineering Industry, where weldment are made that rarely meet any welding standard or specification. This abuse is mainly born out of ignorance, often on both sides of the contract, with the client having very little understanding of the process and relying on the diving contractor whom may have very little understanding of wet welding himself. Understandably the contractor, not wanting to turn work away, will often bid for work on the basis that one or two of his divers are conventional welders and should be able to weld underwater. This general lack of knowledge often results in projects being awarded to companies who have no wet welding procedures in place, welders with no formal or very little wet welder training and using inappropriate welding electrodes. The results are predictable with weldment's having significant weld defects such as slag, gas inclusions, lack of fusion, and sometimes cracking. But not all wet welding projects are the same. Wet welding projects, which often involve a third party, like a classification society, take on @ completely different approach with @ much higher level of quality assurance (QA) In the offshore oil and gas and to a lesser degree the shipping and civil engineering industries, permanent structural wet welded repairs and modifications are becoming common place. In these industries most of the wet welding project are subjected to the same degree of QA applied to conventional dry surface welding projects. Production welding is preceded by the qualification of wet welding procedures and welder qualifications to prove the weldability of the materials, the performance of the welding consumable and the capabilities of the welder. ‘These procedures and qualifications are usually completed to the ‘AWS D3,6 Specification for Underwater Welding’ which takes Into consideration factors associated with the underwater environment not included in surface specifications such as water depth and or pressure. The AWS D3.6 Specification for Underwater Welding was first published in 1983 to establish a standard reflecting state of the art technology relative to underwater welding and to provide those with a requirement for underwater welding 2 choice of weld quality, on a fitness for purpose basis, The specification, which is revised roughly every 5 years to keep up with modern technology, sets out four classes of welds identified as class A, B, C or O. These classes are broadly defined as: class 'A’ welds which are intended to be comparable with above water welds by virtue of specifying comparable properties and testing requirements. Class 'B’ welds, which are intended for less critical applications where lower ductility, greater porosity and larger discontinuities can be tolerated, Class 'C’ welds, which are intended for applications where load bearing is not a primary consideration and satisfy lesser requirements than class A, B and O. And finally class 'O' welds which must also meet the requirements of another code or specification. The AWS 03.6 details a list of essential variables, which are addressed and recorded during the development of ‘the welding procedures. These variables take into consideration the joint configuration, base metal, filler metal, Position, weldment temperature, electrical characteristics, technique and environment. The specification also details the non-destructive and destructive testing criterion for each class of weld, Whilst class 'B' and 'C’ welds are easily achieved with the wet welding process, the production of class 'A' welds has not, until recently, been an option because of the difficulties in meeting all of the mechanical and visual property requirements detalled in the specification. Essential to the production of these class ‘A’, surface quality welds, is the welding consumable. However, many diving contractors carry out wet welding using ‘off the shelf’ welding electrodes originally designed for Surface welding. These electrodes are either taped up or dipped in paint, varnish or other such coatings, in an attempt to insulate and waterproof them. Whilst these electrodes may perform well on the surface, when used underwater ‘the environmental conditions can significantly alter the welding characteristics and the mechanical properties of http://www. hydroweld.com/case3.htm 10/28/2006