Effect of Grinding Technique on the Hardness HAZ of Wet Underwater Multipass Welds

Abstract:

Wet Welding with Coated Electrode (UWW-SMAW) has been widely used due to its low cost in relation to other processes applied underwater and for achieving good quality results. One of the main problems is loss of ductility in the Heat-Affected Zone (HAZ) due to the rapid cooling. An option to reduce hardness and consequent increase in ductility is the application of a Post Welding Heat Treatment (PWHT). However, its use becomes impractical in an underwater environment. An alternative is the use of the heat from subsequent passes, promoting tempering of hardened regions (temper bead technique). In this work, the effect of grinding the weld bead after each pass was studied in order to optimize the heat of subsequent passes and to control the hardness of the HAZ in the wet welding process. All welds were carried out in a hyperbaric tank simulating a depth of 10 m. The results showed that when the grinding technique is used, the heat of the subsequent pass is better used and the tempering promotes the softening of the entire length of the HAZ, reaching lower hardness values in relation to the conventional process and within the limits established by regulatory standards.

Key-words:
Wet welding; Multi-pass Weld; HAZ; Temper