Splicing of Steel Pipe Piles by Welding

Update 05/2008

Steel pipe piles are used, for instance, in foundations of buildings, bridges and port facilities. These instructions apply to the splicing by welding of steel pipe piles installed in the ground. On site steel pipe piles can be joined by welding. The welds are required to withstand all loads during installation and service. Recommendations are given for actual welding work, requirements on weld quality and inspection of welds.

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CFI 03.006EN/05.2008

Splicing of Steel Pipe Piles by Welding

Steel Grades for Steel Piles

Pipe piles are made of the structural steels presented in Table 1 and other high strength steels. All presented steels are highly weldable.

Welded joints are usually sufciently strong and ductile provided that the welding procedure has been carried out carefully. In exacting applications, the mechanical properties of welded joints may also be ensured through welding procedure tests and/or production weld tests. Imperfections such as gas pores, slag inclusions and lack of fusion reduce the strength of a weld. For this reason, quality requirements have been set for welds, dened as weld quality levels in accordance with Standard EN-ISO 5817 (Welding. Fusion-welded joints in steel, nickel, titanium and their alloys [beam welding excluded]. Quality levels for imperfections). The quality level should be chosen considering the static and dynamic loads on the structure, the service conditions of the structure, and the consequences of possible damage as well as the treatments to be carried out after welding. As to the loading of the structure, loads during installation as well as service must be considered. Unless otherwise specied in the drawings or contract documents, Quality Level C (Intermediate) can be considered the general requirement for splice welds in steel pipe piles. Level C corresponds to good workshop engineering practice that qualied welders attain under ordinary workshop and site conditions. Quality Level D (Moderate) can be chosen for less demanding welds, for example, when the pipe pile is not a load-bearing structure but only a casing. An unnecessarily high Quality Level results in extra costs. The most common weld defects, their causes and remedies are presented on pages 7 and 8.

Welding Plan
A detailed welding plan, acceptable by all involved parties, is drawn up as part of the piling plan. The welding plan is to include the following: steel grade weld quality level welding procedure welding consumables possible preheating welding conditions types of joint preparation welding positions a welding procedure specication (WPS) welding procedure tests, when required production weld test, when required welder qualications after-treatment of welds, if required weld inspection instructions

Welding Quality Requirements

The welding, inspection, testing, and related functions are to meet at least the requirements of Standard EN ISO 3834-4 (Quality requirements for fusion welding of metallic materials. Part 4: Elementary quality requirements). More comprehensive specications can be applied by mutual agreement of the parties.

Steel grades for pipe piles

Steel grade
CEV

Table 1

max [%]
S355J2H S440J2H S550J2H X60 X70 0.39 0.39 0.39 0.43 0.43

Chemical composition, max. C Mn P S [%] [%] [%] [%]

0.22 0.18 0.12 0.15 0.15 1.60 1.60 1.80 1.60 1.70 0.035 0.020 0.025 0.030 0.030 0.035 0.018 0.015 0.030 0.030

Mechanical properties A5 min fy min fu [MPa] [MPa] [%]

355 440 550 413 482 490-630 490-630 600-760 517 565 20 17 14 18 18

Impact strength T KV min [C] [J]

-20 -40 * -20 * 0 0 27 27 27 27 27

*) With material thicknesses exceeding 10 mm, impact strength requirement must be agreed separately.

Splicing of Steel Pipe Piles by Welding

Qualication of Welders
The welders must have passed the test indicated in Standard EN 287-1 (Qualication test of welders. Fusion Welding. Part 1: Steels). The welding contractor must ensure that the welders carry valid certicates of qualication. Qualication tests must correspond to the requirements of the work. Factors to be considered include welding procedure, type of joint, steel grade, material thickness, external pipe diameter, and welding position as indicated in the standard. Qualication test welds are normally to be made on pipe. Test welds on plate are acceptable with pile diameters over 500 mm. In the case of manual metal arc welding with covered electrode, the welders competence can be ascertained, for example, by a single-sided test weld on pipe without backing as follows:

containing a weld is cut out of what appears to the eye to be the most critical area of the weld. One of the crosssectional surfaces of the weld is ground and inspected visually. The result must meet the requirements for the specied weld quality level concerning imperfections visible to the eye. Special attention is to be paid to complete penetration. The results of the production weld test are to be recorded in the appropriate documents. In the case of steel pipe piles, the welding procedure test in accordance with Standard EN ISO 15614-1 (Specication and qualication of welding procedures for metallic materials. Welding procedure test. Part 1: Arc and gas welding of steels and arc welding of nickel and nickel alloys) can usually be omitted unless separately specied by the designer, client or authorities in the contract documents. They may also specify a smaller scope for the welding procedure test than required by the standard that includes, for example, only a transverse tensile test, a bending test and a macro section. A welding procedure test is also appropriate if the contractor has no previous experience from welding the steel grade in question or the welding procedure or the ller material to be used. The welding procedure test is carried out as specied in Standard EN ISO 15614-1. The test involves welding a test plate representing production welds and performing the appropriate tests on it. The welding procedure test is specic to each manufacturer, base material, welding procedure, position, type of joint and material thickness, as dened in the standard.

Example of qualication test for

manual metal arc welder

Table 2

EN 287-1: 111 T BW W01 B t10.0 D168 PC ss nb

Explanation:

111 T BW W01

Metal arc welding Pipe Butt weld Group of parent materials (qualies for steel S355 but not the higher strength steel grades Basic electrode coating Tested on pipe of 10 mm wall thickness, qualies for thicknesses t = 320 mm Tested on pipe 168 mm in diameter, qualies for diameters D > _ 84 mm Welding position PC, pipe in upright position, also qualies for horizontal position (PA) (Welding position codes in accordance with EN ISO 6947 are shown on page 8) Single side welding No backing (also qualies for welding with backing)

B t10.0 D168 PC

Welding Procedures
Manual metal arc welding is the conventional welding procedure for splicing steel piles on sites. It is a versatile and exible method that uses simple, easily transportable equipment. Flux cored arc welding is a more modern welding procedure. Its advantages include high efciency, consistent weld quality and suitability for mechanised production. Different types of welding nozzle conveyors attachable to the pipe are available for mechanised ux cored arc welding. These devices facilitate work in cramped spaces, such as underpinning sites, where piles must be positioned close to a wall. The space between pile and wall may be as narrow as 150 mm. When welding with a shielding gas, it may be necessary to use screens to prevent the detrimental effect of wind and draught. There are also cored ller wires on the market that can be used without shielding gas. Workshop welding may be carried out by any welding procedure for non-alloy steels.
3

ss nb

Production Weld Tests and Welding Procedure Tests

Before starting the work, the contractor is to carry out a production weld test under conditions corresponding to those on site where two pipe pile sections are welded together in accordance with the WPS. The welded length shall correspond to about a quarter of the overall joint length. At least one piece measuring about 100 x 100 mm

Splicing of Steel Pipe Piles by Welding

Welding Consumables (Filler materials)

The standards for covered electrodes are EN ISO 2560 (Welding consumables. Covered electrodes for manual metal arc welding of non-alloy and ne grain steels. Classication) and EN 757 (Welding consumables. Covered electrodes for manual metal arc welding of high strength steels. Classication). The standards for cored wires and rods are EN 758 (Welding consumables. Tubular cored electrodes for metal arc welding with and without a gas shield of nonalloy and ne grain steels. Classication) and EN ISO 18276 (Welding consumables. Tubular cored electrodes for gas-shielded and non-gas-shielded metal arc welding of high-strength steels. Classication). Filler materials are to meet the above standard specications. They are chosen on the basis of the strength and impact-strength requirements of the steel grade of the piles according to Table 3. When welding together pile sections of different strength or type, the ller is generally selected according to the softer or less alloyed steel grade. However, when for instance welding xtures, etc. to a pile, the ller is selected on the basis of the more alloyed steel (pile) in order that the ller to be incorporated into the pipe wall is sufciently alloyed. Covered electrodes must be of the basic type, indicated by the letter B in the designation. When necessary, subject to agreement between the parties, the root run can be welded with ller material of lower strength than the parent metal. The coatings of covered electrodes and some cores of tubular cored electrodes being hygroscopic, they easily absorb moisture from ambient air. Moisture may cause gas pores, splatter and, in the worst case, hydrogen cracking in the weld. Therefore, it is important to handle and store these products carefully. The contractor is obliged to ensure that ller materials remain dry on site. They are to be stored in a dry and warm space which prevents moisture from condensing inside the package due to variations in temperature.

Selection of ller material

Steel grade Mechanical properties of weld metal (EN ISO 2560 and EN 757 covered electrodes and EN 758 and 12535 tubular cored electrodes) Covered electrode, Yield strength1 Impact strength2 examples
S355J2H S440J2H S550J2H X60 X70 35 46 55 42 50 2 2 2 2 2 ESAB OK 48.00 ESAB OK 55.00, ESAB OK 48.08 ESAB OK 74.78 ESAB OK 48.00 ESAB OK 74.78

Table 3.

Tubular cored electrode, examples

TRI-MARK TM-770, ESAB OK Tubrod 15.14 TRI-MARK TM-770, ESAB OK Tubrod 15.14 TRI-MARK TM-881 K2, ESAB OK Tubrod 15.07 TRI-MARK TM-770, ESAB OK Tubrod 15.14 TRI-MARK TM-881 K2, ESAB OK Tubrod 15.11

1) Yield strength values of all-weld metal 35 = minimum yield strength: 350 MPa 42 = minimum yield strength: 420 MPa 46 = minimum yield strength: 460 MPa 50 = minimum yield strength: 500 MPa 55 = minimum yield strength: 550 MPa 2) testing temperature of 47 J impact energy of all-weld metal: 0=0C, 2=-20C.

Splicing of Steel Pipe Piles by Welding

At the actual welding site, ller materials are to be protected from rain, etc. and electrodes to be kept in a separate heated quiver from which the welder withdraws them one at a time. Electrodes are also available in hermetically sealed packages. Each package contains just a few electrodes which can be used within 4 hours of opening the package without the risk of humidication. Moist or otherwise damaged ller materials must not be used. Wet electrodes can be dried according to the manufacturers instructions, for example at +300C to +400C for 2 to 3 hours. When welding is nished, the coils of tubular cored electrode should be removed from the machine and taken to a dry and warm place for storage.

welding. For mechanised welding bevels are to be made by turning. As pipe piles are welded from the outside, the type of joint preparation must be such as to enable sufcient penetration and an even root reinforcement on the inside. It is particularly important to have a proper air gap to ensure full penetration. Recommendations for correct types of joint preparation are given in Standard EN ISO 9692-1 (Welding and allied processes. Recommendations for joint preparation. Part 1: Manual metal-arc welding, gas-shielded metal arc welding, gas welding, TIG welding and beam welding of steels). Single bevel preparation and single V preparation are the most common types of joint preparation. Single V preparation is suitable for welding in all positions. Single bevel preparation is preferable for welding upright piles. Single V joint preparation is used to splice full-length piles delivered from the works. If piles need to be crosscut on site, the groove may also be prepared as a single bevel preparation, that is, a square edge against a bevelled edge. Pile ends damaged during transport or installation must be repaired before splicing. Recommendations for correct types of joint preparation for welding without backing are presented in Fig. 1.

Welding Conditions
Weather is a major factor affecting weld quality and the welders working conditions. Welding conditions that enable attaining the planned quality level must be provided. If necessary, the welding site should be appropriately protected against wind and rain, and it should also be sufciently lit. Anvils should be level and stable so the welder can carry out his work properly and safely. For welding in sub-zero conditions, it is important to provide tolerable working conditions for the welder. When ambient air is cold, moisture condenses on metal surfaces which requires preheating them to +50 to +100C to remove the moisture, even though the steel itself requires no preheating. Proper earthing is essential in assuring weld quality. The earth cable must be dimensioned to match the weld cable and be connected directly to the workpiece. The earthing point must be metallically clean. Under humid and wet conditions, the welder must be properly protected against electrical accidents.

0-2 2-4 60 2-4 30 2-4

60

0-2

Fig. 1 Types of joint preparation for welding without backing.

Joint Preparation Pile pipes are usually delivered from the works with the ends bevelled for welding (30) and a root face of 1.6 mm 0.8 mm. On site, piles are usually cut by a ame cutting or grinding. It is recommended that the cutting line be marked all the way around the pile circumference in order that the cut is made perpendicular to the piles centre line. Manual cutting often leaves a ragged pile end and which is not sufciently straight. Such defects must be repaired with a grinder. The bevels are to be produced by ame cutting and/or grinding. Flame-cut surfaces must always be ground to render them clean for

In splice welding of piles, the use of backing on the inside of the groove is recommended. A xed backing should be of the same steel as the pile sections to be connected. Ceramic backings can also be used. The backing should be of sufcient width, usually no less than 50 mm, and at least 5 mm thick. The backing is to be tted symmetrically in relation to the groove and fastened in advance by intermittent welds (xed backing) or, for instance, with adhesive tape (ceramic backing) inside the pile. When backing is used, the weld reinforcement inside the pipe is to be ground level with the pipe surface. No air gap is allowed between the backing and the pipe wall. Recommended types of joint preparation for welding with backing are shown on the next page in Fig. 2.
5

0-2

Splicing of Steel Pipe Piles by Welding

0-2 4-6 60 4-6 30

60

Welding
Pile ends must be clean inside and out for a distance of about 50 mm on each side of the groove. If necessary, any impurities, grease, moisture, rust, etc. is to be removed as they are likely to cause welding defects and thereby impair the quality of the weld. Any possible backing must also be cleaned, if necessary. After joint preparation and cleaning, the pile ends are centred and carefully tted together so that the inner surfaces of the two pile sections are aligned and the required air gap remains between them (see Figs. 1 and 2). The tting of the pile ends together can be facilitated by welding guide blocks onto one pile; they are removed after tacking. There also are special devices on the market for centring pipes. Wedges, electrode core wires (e.g. 3.2 mm), etc. can be used to ensure the required gap width; they are removed after tacking. If the gap width varies, it must be ensured that it meets the minimum requirement even at its narrowest point. Any difference in root face height must be eliminated by grinding before aligning the pile sections. Thereafter, the pile ends are connected by short tack welds. If a tack weld is left in the groove as part of the root run, the ends of tack welds must be carefully ground to remove any crater pipes and to ensure full penetration. A 2.5 mm electrode is recommended for the manual welding of root runs. Filling and capping runs are usually made with 3.2 mm electrodes. With thick-walled pipes, even thicker electrodes may be used for lling and capping runs. The most common wire diameter of a tubular cored electrode is 1.2 mm. However, tubular cored electrodes ranging from 0.9 mm to 1.6 mm are available depending on the intended application and requirements. The supplier of the welding apparatus provides the necessary training for mechanised welding.

0-2

4-6

Fig. 2 Types of joint preparation for welding with backing.

The types of joint preparation presented in Fig. 1 can be used for mechanised welding, provided that the root run is deposited manually. The types of joint preparation shown in Fig. 2 can be used in fully mechanised welding. There, also the root run is preferably deposited by machine. A special type of joint preparation has been developed for that where a machined tongue functions as backing (See Fig. 3). With this type of joint preparation, the welding parameters should be selected so that the machined backing (tongue) melts, full penetration is achieved, and lack of fusion and root defects (incomplete penetration) are avoided

60

Fig. 3 Joint preparation for fully mechanised welding.

Preheating
Preheating decelerates the cooling of the welded joint and lessens the degree of hardening. This prevents the formation of a hard and brittle zone in the HAZ, and thereby the development of hydrogen cracks. The need of preheating depends on steel grade, material thickness, ller metal (hydrogen content), heat input and welding conditions. High-strength steel, thick material, high hydrogen content (e.g. moist electrodes) and low heat input are factors that increase the need of preheating. More detailed instructions for the selection of preheating can be found in professional literatur. Usually, for example, no preheating is required when welding S355 steel less than 20 mm thick provided that dry basic electrodes are used. Moist electrodes must always be dried before use. When welding at temperatures below +10C, the pile ends are to be preheated to +50 to +100C before starting the work.
6

0-2

Inspection of Welds
Inspection of welds is conducted in accordance with the instructions of the contract documents concerning the procedures and scope of inspection. A visual inspection is always carried out. Ultrasonic testing is a suitable form of non-destructive testing (NDT). All welds are rst examined visually. Visual inspection is aimed to detect any imperfections in weld dimensions, misalignments, undercuts, defects breaking the surface, etc. An NDT inspection of welds is conducted only after a weld has passed visual examination. The scope of ultrasonic testing is agreed between the parties. It is typically 10 per cent. An inspection covers the entire length of a weld, that is, one out of ten welds

Splicing of Steel Pipe Piles by Welding

is inspected completely, unless otherwise agreed. Inspection always starts with the rst weld where the occurrence of any internal defects in the weld (incomplete fusion, gas pores, slag inclusions) and root-side imperfections (incomplete penetration, excess weld metal) is examined. Defects that exceed the limit values for the weld quality level are repaired. Repaired welds are reinspected and two additional welds as well (the so-called penalty rule). An NDT inspection may only be conducted and assessed by an inspector qualied according to EN 473 (Non destructive testing. Qualication and certication of NDT personnel. General principles). Inspection records are always kept of each inspection.

Cracks

moist electrodes: - store electrodes in a dry place; on site, keep them in a heated quiver thick material: - apply higher arc energy - preheat pile ends Incomplete penetration (root defect)

Welding defects
The following is a presentation of the most common welding defects in manual metal arc welding, their causes and remedies. Slag inclusions too narrow gap in groove: - use sufciently wide gap too wide root face in groove: - use sufciently narrow root face too thick electrode in root run: - use thinner electrode too low welding current in root run: - increase welding current Undercut

incomplete slag removal: - remove any slag carefully after each run runs welded in incorrect order: - ensure that runs are deposited without leaving narrow cavities bad shape of reinforcement: - grind the layer more even too low welding current: - use higher welding current Gas pores

too high welding current: - reduce welding current improper movement of electrode: - move electrode correctly too fast weaving of electrode: - weave electrode more slowly

moist electrodes: - store electrodes in a dry place; on site, keep them in a heated quiver - dry moist electrodes impurities on groove surfaces: - clean surfaces before welding excessive arc length: - weld with a sufciently short arc too low welding current: - use higher welding current

Splicing of Steel Pipe Piles by Welding

Too large reinforcement

PF Fixed tube Horizontal axle Vertical welding (upwards)

too wide gap in groove: - use smaller gap too high welding current: - use lower welding current in welding root run too slow electrode movement: - move electrode faster when welding root run Lack of fusion PF Rotating tube Horizontal axle Vertical welding (upwards)

too narrow groove: - widen groove (groove angle or gap) too slow or too fast electrode movement: - adjust the speed as appropriate too low or too high welding current: - use appropriate welding current for the case incorrect pointing of electrode in the groove: - point electrode so that it fuses the material under neath

PC Fixed tube Vertical axle Horizontal welding

Designations of the most common welding

positions (EN ISO 6947) PA Rotating tube Horizontal axle Downhand welding H-L045 Fixed tube Sloping axle Upwards welding

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