Welding issues for ship structures

Welding issues for ship structures

NA McPherson BSc, PhD, MBA, DSc, CEng, FIMMM, FWeldI, BAE Systems Surface Ships, Glasgow, Scotland

Welding of ship structures is regarded as a process that requires a high level of control to develop finished product consistency. By its current nature welds may still contain low levels of defects. To further reduce defect levels and improve the consistency of the welded products some factors have been identified which could contribute to inferior performance. A number of these have been termed management issues, ie, technology and aspects that are well established and need to be part of the overall managed process. In addition the differentiation between thick and thin plate has been made, highlighting their significantly different requirements. Steel material requirements have been reviewed and the improvement of steel plate/bar and welding consumables in the last 10 years have been seen to contribute to overall process consistency.

INTRODUCTION

hen discussing failures of ship structures there is a tendency to gravitate towards the weld as the source of the failure. Apart from a few well-publicised, and now almost historical, events there is little to link failures directly to the welding carried out at the build stage. However, this is not a global assessment of the situation, but more one from a European perspective. The current rise of greenfield site shipyards in the Far East may create a different global perception.1 In addition, in-service repairs involving welding appear to have been the source of a number of failures in the past. This preamble should not be taken as an indicator that the welding of ship structures has reached a level, in developed marine countries, where no significant issues exist. For example, a change in product mix can create a temporary destabilising effect on the welding workforce. If a yard with several years experience building thin plate structures, where the concentration is on distortion reduction, switches to a thicker plate product with more emphasis on larger, multirun fillet welds, then this requires a large scale re-education of the workforce, but particularly the welders, who tend to be single entity sources of work. A similar situation arises when changing to building chemical carriers. In this instance the issues of welding stainless steel would come into play,2 which are mainly centred on corrosion mitigation. Issues still arise with welding and defects can occur; some of those defects detected during the building stage can originate from the following areas:

Variability of the welding consumable quality, Variations in the performance of welding equipment, Lack of adherence to welding procedures, Design imposed build issues, Human fallibility, Management control, Steel material issues.

VARIABILITY WITHIN WELDING CONSUMABLES AND WELDING PROCESSES

A great deal of qualitative and quantitative data on welding consumable performance has been produced over the years. In many developed shipyards there has been a progressive move away from the Manual Metal Arc (MMA) welding process to the Flux Cored Arc Welding (FCAW) process. This is a move from a manual process to a semi-automatic process. The welded length produced from the manual process is directly related to the length of the electrode. In the case of the FCAW process the welded length is significantly longer than the MMA process and is generally related to when the welder wants to stop welding. Typical lengths are shown in Table 1. It can be seen that welding position alters the process efficiency, with vertical welding being slower. The justification to move from MMA to a cored welding process is very straightforward, based on the data shown in Table 1. Also the potential defect rate using MMA is higher than when using the cored wire process. Furthermore, an automatic process has been included which

No. A18 2010

Journal of Marine Engineering and Technology

31

Welding issues for ship structures

Consumable FCAW
MCAW MMA FCAW

Position
Downhand Vertical Downhand Vertical Downhand Vertical Downhand

Typical length (mm)*

850 450 850 450 450 300 10000

Typical speed (mm/min)

350 200 350 200 130 65 400

Efficiency factor
100 30 100 30 20 6.5 1300

Process
Semi automatic Semi automatic Semi automatic Semi automatic Manual Manual Automatic

*Typical length is the length welded prior to the welder stopping the arc. Table 1: Typical welded lengths for various welding processes and positions
Welding cable Welding wire spool Power supply Wire Feed rollers

Fig 1: Main components of the cored wire welding process

Power source Welding

Wire feed unit

shows the highly significant benefit of using the process. However, set-up time is not included but that aside the process efficiency differences are huge. The flux cored arc welding process is made up of the wire feed unit shown schematically in Fig 1 and cored wire shown in cross section in Fig 2. There are variations in the cored wire production process and these are shown in Fig 3. The seamless flux cored wire has the additional benefit of having freedom from moisture pick up and consequential higher hydrogen content in the weld metal. Typically the seamless wire maintains a weld metal hydrogen content of less than 5ml/100g. This can create benefits when weld preheat is an issue. It should be borne in mind that this is especially critical as some of the flux components are hygroscopic. One other potential problem with flux cored wire is when there is insufficient flux fill in the cored wire. This can manifest itself as poor weld quality, with areas of porosity, or the wire breaking during the feeding process. Within BAE Systems Surface Ships, Govan Yard, the same type of FCAW wire has

been used for some 14 years and has been problem free. Within that period some minor alterations have been made to the wire, but this has probably accentuated the consistency of the product. On a sound basis such as this, when the Govan and Scotstoun yards of BAE Systems Surface Ships were brought under the one management, part of the rationalisation process involved working both yards with the same welding consumables. This has now been the case for almost nine years. In the case of the submerged arc welding (SAW) tractor process, a solid wire under flux process has been used with a high degree of product consistency. However, in relatively recent times a 3.2mm or 4.00mm dia flux cored wire under flux SAW consumable combination has been introduced onto the market3 with productivity benefits of up to 34%. This is obtained from a combination of increased travel speed and reduced number of welding passes. Obviously this is a particularly beneficial process for welding thicker plate where multi runs are required. In addition to the productivity benefits, there is no deterioration in the weld metal or the HAZ

Fig 2: Flux cored wire variations (a) Seamless wire with flux centre; (b) Seamed wire which has cracked open

(a)

(b)

32

Journal of Marine Engineering and Technology

No. A18 2010

Welding issues for ship structures

Fig 3: Variations in flux or metal cored wire configurations

Seamless

Seamed

Lapped

Folded in

toughness. The less welding runs put into the structure then the less is the possibility of introducing a welding defect. When choosing welding consumables it is essential to consider a number of factors that develop a value for the product. This can create a situation of conflict with many procurement departments, whose main focus is on price. It is complex to develop a case which clearly and concisely shows the value of a more expensive welding consumable. The alternative approach is that the consumable required is technically identified by the welding engineers, and the procurement departments function is to get the best financial deal for the product specified. If that does not happen, the situation observed a number of years ago can arise whereby low price products created significant repair rates which, when factored into the price of the consumable, resulted in a high total cost consumable selection. Since the introduction of this philosophy there has been stable performance, but it has to be fully considered that this is only one part of the welding process. Flux cored wires are used extensively within BAE Systems Surface Ships and also where austenitic and duplex stainless steels have been welded. For carbon steels, wires with strengths up to 700N/mm2 and toughness down to 80C (not in combination) have been used over long periods of time. The welding equipment used in the shipbuilding process is primarily the wire feed unit shown in Fig 4. Within our yards there has been a philosophy to standardise welding equipment across both sites. To date significant steps have been taken to do this, but it is a long term project. Several years ago a myriad of wire feed units existed on both sites. A proportion was nearing the end of their working lives. All had strong points and weak points. A number of possible suppliers were involved and the main criteria given to them were: Weight, Portability, Robustness, Wire feed roll integrity, Display of volts/amps/wire feed speed. One particular supplier stood out from the rest, and a novel concept design (at that time) was produced which incorporated all the above. The weight had been attacked by using a strong tough polyurethane casing and tubular aluminium carrying and base units. Over the years the partnering with this company has developed into a two-way interchange of concepts and performance. The welding gun, typical of that shown in Fig 5, has been the subject of a number of developments, mainly from an ergonomic standpoint. Within the Clyde yards there has been standardisation on welding guns, and the current focus

Fig 4: Cored wire, wire feed welding unit

Fig 5: Lightweight welding gun is on moving to a lightweight design, which significantly reduces welder fatigue, specifically in the over head position. In addition some work is currently ongoing to evaluate the effects of drafts at different gas flows. As an example, for a shielding gas flow of 17litre/min the effect of 5mph and 10mph drafts are shown in Fig 6. This effect has been visualised using a laser backlighting technique. The X-rays corresponding to the 5 and 10mph drafts both contained heavy porosity. This work will serve to generate a much greater understanding of shielding gas flow effects.4 Overall, significant strides have been taken to minimise the potential variables within the welding process and, as a result, there has been considerable stability in welding defect levels over the last three years within BAE Systems.

WELDING PROCEDURES
Welding procedures are developed to satisfy a number of requirements, specifically those of the classification societies.

No. A18 2010

Journal of Marine Engineering and Technology

33

Welding issues for ship structures

Fig 6: Gas flow visualisation using 17 l/min gas flow (a) No side draught (b) 5mph draught (c) 10mph draught

(a)

(b) Direction of draft

(c) Direction of draft

However, these procedures are also a valuable source of data for the shipyard. Marginal passes in mechanical properties of the joint may be deemed as being satisfactory, but it must be borne in mind that the procedures are normally developed from very good fit up plate with well defined prep angles. In addition, weld procedures are rarely developed on the job, but in a welding booth in a Training Area for example basically under very good conditions. At BAE Systems procedure passes in the marginal category are often repeated to identify if there are specific issues. The most obvious example is the heat affected zone toughness variations. Often an individual low figure has been identified with a coarse grain structure. Any reprocedure would concentrate on the factors giving rise to mitigating the possibility of significant grain growth. For other reasons it is often beneficial to establish data on weld metal strength (longitudinal tensile test of the weld metal) and in the case of thicker plate to carry out CTOD testing. While these tests add cost, the data developed can lead to a greater understanding of the process and the process capability. This is especially the case when considering HAZ toughness.

The transmission of welding procedures to the shop floor is a matter of preference for individual yards, but at BAE Systems Surface Ships this is done in the form of a plasticised card containing summary information on all the welding involved in a specific contract. An example is shown in Fig 7. This also allows the welder leeway to adjust parameters depending on variations in fit up. Welders are required to have this card in their possession at all times. As other contracts are being worked on it is often the case that there are very few changes in the content of the card. The possibility of using a non-contract specific card is currently being considered.

HUMAN INPUT INTO THE WELDING PROCESS

Human input is one area of variability within the process, even with the semi-automatic welding process. It is clear that some welders will have greater aptitude than others and will be better suited to tackling more demanding work. Some years ago a study in the Govan yard was carried out which involved

34

Journal of Marine Engineering and Technology

No. A18 2010

Welding issues for ship structures

Material
Carbon Steel

Process
FCAW

Consumable
SF-1A 1.2mm

Position
Flat Horizontal Vertical Overhead Flat Horizontal Vertical Overhead Flat Rooting of Butts Only

Amps
210 260 160 230 150 220 180 - 200 160 - 260 155 - 225 140 200 180 - 200

WFS
(ipm) 390-440 280-360 260-320 280-310 280-440 270-240 230-280 280-310 400 - 430

Volts
23 25 20 23 20 23 23 - 25 23 - 26 21.5-22.5 21 23 23 - 25 23 - 25

Pol.
DC+ ve DC+ve DC+ve DC+ve DC+ve DC+ve DC+ve DC+ve

Carbon Steel

FCAW

Safdual 100 (Back-up consumable to SF-1A)

Carbon Steel

FCAW

Megafil 731 B Replaces FC-4

230 250 175 210

160 - 190 160 170 165 - 180 280-340 260- 310 260-290 270-300 24 25 21.5 - 24 21 22.5 22 - 24

DC+ve
DC+ve DC+ve DC+ve DC+ve

Blkhds (as per drawing)

FCAW

Austenitic Consumable
Vacpac controls in place Carbon Steel 7mm thk and below MCAW

Safdual 654P (Maximum 72 hour lifespan from time of issue)

Flat Horizontal Vertical Overhead

Nittetsu MC-1 1.0mm

Flat/Vert. Down/Hor. For Rooting of Butt Joints Only

190-210

21 23 18 20 18 19.5

DC+ ve

Flat 165175
Vert.Down 150-160 Hor. 145-150 100 - 130

145-180 140-175

DC+ve
DC+ve AC

Blkhds (as per drawing)

Austenitic Consumable
Vacpac controls in place Carbon Steel

MMA

Safdry 309L 3.25mm (Max. 8 hour lifespan from time of issue) SAF GF200 3.25mm 4.00mm Safer GTi (For tacking in all positions inc. vertical down) 3.25mm & 4.0mm

N/A

N/A

All Positions (Except Vertical Down) Flat (Fillet Welding Only) 3.25mm (All positions) 4.0mm (All positions)

MMA

Carbon Steel

MMA

130 140 170 - 190 110 120

N/A N/A N/A

N/A N/A N/A

AC AC AC

160 - 195

N/A

N/A

AC

Fig 7: Example of a welders instruction card assessing the capability of all the welders. Three grades were developed jointly between the welding engineers and the production supervisors. Grade allocation showed very few differences between the welding engineers and production supervisors. Grade 1: Capable of welding the most complex joint configurations; Grade 2: Capable of welding all but the most complex joint configurations; Grade 3: Capable of fillet welding only. This structure formed the basis for establishing the skill distribution of welders across each fabrication area and each shift. Some significant imbalances were found. An exercise was undertaken to level out the skill distribution. In addition, another issue that was highlighted was the imbalance of supervisors with a welding background. Again this was rectified to ensure that each shift had at least one supervisor with a welding background working in a fabrication area. It was quite clear that this move paid very significant dividends in terms of stabilising the welding process and reducing the welding defect levels. most obvious area for full robotic welding is at the end of a panel line where up to 8590% of the joint available for welding could be achieved. However, robotic welding is not the panacea and other automated welding can also be used. These can vary from very simple and highly efficient fillet welding tractors, such as those shown in Fig 8. Welders can use a number of these at one time and, depending on the joint length, up to four can be used at once. The potential benefits of this over the semi-automatic process could be as much as 100%, when one welder uses two welding tractors at once (this assumes the same travel speed, but with the welder stopping once every 1100mm and dressing tails etc). Seam welding using a seamer or a submerged arc welding tractor is ostensibly an automated welding process, and thicker decks are ideally suited for welding with a SAW process. Unit link ups can also be effectively welded using cored wire track mounted welding equipment. An example of this is shown in Fig 9, where the welders input is related to minor adjustments to welding head position. Some previous work has shown the use of this process to be highly beneficial compared to the semi automatic process in the horizontal welding position. Deviations from the set procedures increase the risk of inducing some form of defect, either physical or mechanical, into the structure. Basically, there is scope to consolidate on current levels of automated welding and use the consolidation as the stepping stone for the introduction of other automated processes.

THE NEXT STEPS

The Govan yard had the first industrial welding robot in any UK shipyard.5 Although not used to its full potential, it has served to highlight problem areas and as a learning tool. The

No. A18 2010

Journal of Marine Engineering and Technology

35

Welding issues for ship structures

Fig 8: Automatic fillet welding unit

a persons deteriorating eyesight or physical capabilities require sensitive treatment and, where feasible, they would be re-allocated to work more in line with their capabilities, eg, workshop welding. At BAE Systems Surface Ships, all welders are retested/recoded on a two-yearly basis. If issues have been identified with a specific process condition based on X-ray results one of the tests may be substituted for another to duplicate the problem. This has the benefit of assessing all the welders against the problem. Extensive training is given to ensure welders have the correct level of capability. For example, great emphasis has been put on using the track mounted automatic welding system shown in Fig 9. Currently 7% of the welders on site have been qualified in the use of this equipment. However, it is imperative that this specific group are using the equipment on a regular basis to ensure the skill level is being maintained. That is a resource management issue, and also why the proportion is not higher.

DESIGN ISSUES
There is still a need for designers to be more aware of whether the Design for Build concept is being actively followed. This has been highlighted when building vessels with a significant proportion of thin plate (<8mm thick) in the structure. A basic principle in building these structures is to minimise the heat going into the structure, as this tends to induce the phenomenon of thin plate distortion. Consequently the effects are seen as rework and possibly build schedule impacts. One issue was the use of intermittent welding on nonstructural bulkheads. The application of intermittent welding will reduce the amount of heat going into the structure by about 50%. However, there appeared to have been non-structural areas where this had not been applied, and also wet spaces where double continuous welding had been carried out to remove the possibility of corrosion occurring in the unwelded spaces. The wet spaces were subsequently produced using intermittent welding and a silicone sealant in the area between the welds. Swedged bulkheads were also a low heat input option for non-structural areas.

Fig 9: Track mounted automated seam welding process using flux cored wire

HUMAN FALLIBILITY
The welding process by its nature is subject to human fallibility. The aim of the previously described issues was to minimise the impact of human fallibility, with the increased level of automated welding being a key factor. Issues such as

36

Journal of Marine Engineering and Technology

No. A18 2010

Welding issues for ship structures

The welding of very thick plate to very thin plate caused significant distortion problems due to the differences in heat transfer between the two thicknesses setting up thermal stress, which manifested itself as distortion. These issues and others need to be highlighted at a much earlier stage as rework creates additional cost and, if not carried out correctly, could create undesirable metallurgical structures in the plate. This need has been identified by some shipyards as being the domain of a Production Engineering Group. In the case of an outsourced design strategy then this will become a much more critical interface to be managed. The outsourcing of design has been highlighted1 as an increasing trend, but a number of drawbacks have also been raised. Such issues as language barriers, time differences and lack of knowledge of build yard capabilities have been cited.

STEEL MATERIAL ISSUES

In line with the improvements in welding consumable quality there has been a corresponding improvement in the quality of steel plate and bar being used in ship construction. Fig 10: A Ladle Furnace (LF) in operation

The almost universal adoption of the continuous casting process over the last twenty years has significantly improved the consistency of the product internal and surface quality. Almost in parallel with this was a progressive increase in the installation of secondary steelmaking units. The vacuum degassing process decreased hydrogen levels, improved control of product chemistry and also steel cleanliness. Steel ladle desulphurisation units have dramatically dropped steel sulphur levels. Installation of ladle furnace (LF) stations (Fig 10) has improved overall process benefits to the vacuum degassing and steel ladle desulphurisation processes. The net result of this can be a much tighter band of steel carbon equivalent (CEV) values, consistently lower sulphur content, an overall reduction in steel hydrogen content and better control of specific chemistry, such as carbon, nitrogen, aluminium, and titanium (when required). Considering the hydrogen content of the steel as an example the data in Fig 11 shows a cast by cast hydrogen level for EH46 grade steel. The data is a combination of calcium treated and non-calcium treated casts. There is a slight difference in the liquid steel hydrogen levels between the calcium treated steel (2.12ppm)

No. A18 2010

Journal of Marine Engineering and Technology

37

Welding issues for ship structures

and the non-calcium treated steel (2.8ppm). This is referred to in a later section. It is now rare to identify welding issues associated with plate and bar chemical analysis and steel cleanliness. Obviously these comments are not universal and apply to developed steel companies in certain parts of the world.

THIN STEEL PLATE MATERIAL ISSUES

Following on from the previous sections a significant amount of work has been carried out to create a greater understanding of the factors that influence thin plate distortion. This is partly attributed to the heat from the welding process. However, one of the factors established was that if a plate has areas of poor flatness then these areas act as sites for further distortion. The implication is that the plate should be supplied to as

tight a flatness tolerance as possible. The 4mm plates shown in Fig 12 are clearly unacceptable. The other factor related to thin plate distortion is considered to be the effect of the residual stress in the plates. Often plates that are ostensibly flat will distort during cutting and/or welding. This is a specifically complex area and is strongly related to the steel plate processing conditions. It is widely recognised that thin plate distortion will never be eliminated completely. Consequently it is essential that the remnant heat straightening has to be done in the most cost effective manner, and also in a way which does not adversely affect the plate structure or properties. The use of induction heating to carry out the straightening process will satisfy these specific requirements.6 Work carried out recently has shown that the steel structure changes slightly and the hardness rises slightly. There is no effect on toughness. Revised

EH46 grade - trend for liquid H2 over time

6.0

5.0 H Linear (H)

Fig 11: Typical liquid steel hydrogen levels from the start of a current contract, showing the effect of process change on the content

Liquid H2 content

4.0

3.0

2.0

1.0

0.0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 55 57 Casting order

Fig 12: Unacceptable flatness in 4mm thick plate

38

Journal of Marine Engineering and Technology

No. A18 2010

Welding issues for ship structures

Fig 13: Single sided single pass submerged arc weld. Cross section of macrostructure showing the extent of the heat affected zone(HAZ), which has been outlined in black

methods of heat straightening, using propane for example, are being reintroduced too, but what has become obvious is that the use of the two processes can effectively be used in different areas of a ship. For example, induction heating is ideally suited to doing wide open expanses of the structure, but has some limitations in small tight spaces, where the gas heating process is more convenient to apply.

THICK STEEL PLATE MATERIAL ISSUES

At the opposite end of the thickness spectrum, distortion is not an issue but the maintenance of acceptable plate properties in the heat affected zone (HAZ) certainly is. Weld metal properties are currently not perceived as a potential problem area. This is related to a significant amount of development work by welding consumable suppliers over the past 15 years. There is greater consistency in the product which has led to ease of operation. The example described earlier of the use of flux cored wire under SAW flux is a good example of forward thinking to meet the users requirements. The HAZ is a very complex area of the weld joint, especially where multi-run welds have been laid down. For a single side single pass weld, as can be the case for submerged arc welding, the HAZ is a relatively simple component of the weld. This is shown in Fig 13, which is a single sided single pass SAW weld. The HAZ has been traced out, and there is a relationship between HAZ width and welding heat input, therefore, the higher the heat input then the wider the HAZ will be. A more complex situation is shown in Fig 14,7 where the components of the HAZ have been identified. To some extent this will place some doubt on what actually governs the heat affected zone toughness with the potential of up to six distinct areas through which the crack could propagate. Due to the improvements in steel production referred to earlier, elements such as titanium can be tightly controlled and added to develop the potential to control the growth of austenite grains in the HAZ.8 The effect of adding titanium to the steel plate HAZ is shown in Fig 15, where the smaller grains will ensure adequate toughness is retained in the HAZ. In the work shown9 in Fig 14 a range of heat inputs have been covered,

Fig 14: Complex structure of multi run heat affected zone7 and the paired results shown directly compare the effect of titanium at equivalent heat inputs. If hydrogen is taken as a specific overall case, it has already been stated that with flux cored wires the hydrogen content will be less than 5ml/100mg and typical liquid steel hydrogen contents would be 2.4ppm. It has been reported10 that this generally results in plate hydrogen content of around 0.8ppm. This then significantly reduces the need to preheat joints prior to welding. The significance of this is high as preheating and controlling the application of it is another input into the overall welding process. In addition the potential for hydrogen cracking in the welded structure has been significantly reduced An example of how some plate issues and related welding have been dealt with are evident in an aircraft carrier build. The use of EH46 on the hanger deck and flight deck is a relatively new move in shipbuilding. The main motivation for this was to

No. A18 2010

Journal of Marine Engineering and Technology

39

Welding issues for ship structures

7 5 3 1 0 100 200 300 Impact energy at -55C

reduce weight against a base case of EH36 steel. However, there was also an overall cost benefit. Initial plate toughness of the EH46, while within specification, was not as high as would be expected. The main issue was perceived as having to maintain the HAZ properties. Subsequently the steel process route was altered to include calcium treatment of the liquid steel, which resulted11 in an average toughness increase of 45J. The outcome was a greater degree of customer satisfaction. In addition, there was a significant proportion of EH46 used in areas subjected to through thickness tensile stress, which could lead to lamellar tearing. A snapshot of the TTRA test data against steel sulphur content is shown in Fig 16, where the performance against a 35% minimum level is more than satisfactory. This performance has undoubtedly been enhanced by the use of the calcium treated product, and resulted in a 100% success rate. Welding of EH46 (TMCP) steel does not pose any significant problems, assuming the correct welding consumables have been used. However, within the flight deck there are a large number (~3000) of link plates to be fitted. A number of difficulties occurred in procuring an acceptable material for the link plate. Initially this was mainly based on forged material, which tended to have very high carbon equivalents and borderline toughness. Eventually the link plate was sourced from machined EH46 quench and temper (Q & T) material. However, as this material has been sourced from a quench and temper route plate it is necessary to carry out a weld procedure to cover welding EH46 (TMCP) to EH46 (Q & T). The Q & T product requires marginally more attention to detail than the TMCP material. In addition to the link plates, there are number of flight deck light inserts. They too are
%average
70 60 50 40 Average %TTRA 30 20 10 0 0.001%S 0.002%S 0.003%S % 0.004%S sulphur 0.005%S content 0.006%S

Fig 15:The effect of 0.019% titanium on the toughness of the heat affected zone (HAZ) of NV2-4 steel

With no titanium With titanium

made from EH46 (Q & T). Further inserts are required for fire fighting nozzles. When considering all these inserts cognisance has to be taken of possible fatigue issues.

THE APPROACH AHEAD

What has been described is a combination of good current practice related to shipyard welding. As with most technologies there is a continuous need to improve the current processes from an economic and business strategy viewpoint. Part of this approach is now to extensively use process modelling12 in the welding process. For example, a significant amount of research has been carried out at the University of Strathclyde13, 14 on modelling issues related to thin plate distortion. The main areas investigated to-date have been, for example: Effect of cutting heat input and cutting sequence on initial plate distortion, Effect of weld tacking sequence, tack length, tack spacing and tack position on subsequent distortion, Effect of stiffener distance from seam weld on subsequent distortion, Effect of plate width at the end of a panel on overall panel distortion, Effect of initial plate out of flatness on subsequent distortion. This modelling work has all been verified by actual welding tests, which have also been used to refine the models. The benefit of this approach is to reduce the level of on-plant testing where unknown variables can often lead to
content

TTRA

Sulphur

Fig 16:Through thickness reduction in area (TTRA) data showing the effect of steel plate sulphur content on performance

0.007%S

40

Journal of Marine Engineering and Technology

No. A18 2010

Welding issues for ship structures

incorrect conclusions. The FEM approach has the benefit in that it can be considered as a very powerful tool to indicate the direction of the effects being investigated. As an example, it is well-known that the residual stress present in plates and bars in thin structures is an unknown variable. The approach taken in FEM modelling is to assume that the starting residual stresses are even across the plates and bars. In addition to the use of FEM, artificial neural networks can be used in the welding process. ANN has been effectively used15 in a thin plate distortion study where several previously unknown factors were identified. In addition, ANN is currently being used16 to develop the optimum fillet welding conditions that minimise overwelding, whilst achieving acceptable penetration. As previously discussed the use of modelling of the shielding gas flow conditions is also being approached from a modelling and validation approach. Some similar work has been published17 on the effect of gun fume extraction on the shielding gas flow patterns. As discussed earlier, the HAZ is a key component of the weld region. It is now feasible to establish the various microstructures present within that area from a modelling approach. From that, toughness and hardness can be reasonably accurately predicted. Again, it would be necessary to carry out periodic validation work to ensure model compatibility.

Binzel-Abicor, Air Liquide Welding and Siemens VAI are thanked for the provision of Figs 1, 4, 7 and 10, respectively. The supply of additional data by Dr A Trowsdale and Mr A Dunsmore of Corus UK is gratefully acknowledged.

REFERENCES
1. Bahgat M. 2009. Maritime industrys challenges in controlling quality. 1st IMarEST Marine Failure Conference Equipment, structural and corrosion failure and prevention, London, IMarEST. 2. McPherson NA. 1997. Shipbuilding with stainless steel. Welding and Joining, Sept,1820. 3. Haupt D and Schlatter B. 2008. Welding with flux cored wires in shipbuilding. Competence, 1321. 4. Moore AJ and Wu T. 2009. Unpublished work, Herriot Watt University. 5. McPherson NA. 2007. Steelwork redevelopments to meet current panel build requirements within BAE Systems Naval Ships. Welding and Cutting, Vol 6, No 1, 2426. 6. Wells MA, McPherson NA and Coyle A. 2008. Induction heat straightening a distortion rework reduction tool. Welding and Cutting, Vol 7, No 3, 162166. 7. Easterling K. 1985. Introduction to the physical metallurgy of welding, p151, Butterworths. 8. Hart PHM and Ferguson G. 1997. The role of titanium on the weldability of microalloyed structural steels. Titanium Technology in Microalloyed Steels, Ed. TN Baker, Institute of Materials, 169179. 9. Martti S. 1991. Unpublished work, Rautaruukki Oy. 10. Dunsmore A. 2010. Private communication. 11. Trowsdale A. 2009. Private communication. 12. Babu SS, Sonnenberg G, Schwenk C, Goldak J, Pozner H, Khurana SP, Zhang W and Gayler JL. 2010. How can computational weld mechanics help industry? Welding Journal, Vol 89, No 1, 4045. 13. Mollicone P. 2006. Applied modelling techniques for welding induced distortions and residual stresses. PhD thesis, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. 14. Camilleri D. 2004. Support tools for the prediction of distortion in the design and manufacture of thin plate welded structures. PhD thesis, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. 15. Lightfoot MP, Bruce GJ, McPherson NA and Woods K. 2005. The application of artificial neural networks to weld induced deformation in ship plate. Welding Journal, Vol 84, 23s30s. 16. Beckett S, Lightfoot MP, MacPherson MJ and McPherson NA. 2010. Unpublished work, BAE Systems Surface Ships 17. Cooper P, Godbole A and Norrish J. 2007. Modelling and simulation of gas flows in arc welding implication for shielding efficiency and fume extraction. IIW Doc. Xii-1932-07.

CONCLUDING COMMENTS
It is quite apparent that there is a very sound knowledge base to significantly limit issues related to welding to an absolute minimum. It is the application of this knowledge base to the production process that is the key point. A number of issues continue to cause problems. For example, the concept of buying cheap often creates knock on effects of increasing overall cost as you go through the production process. The concept of value needs to be more strongly emphasised. There is still too much of a gap between Design and Production. This is an area where Production Engineering can act as a buffer and resolve potential build issues prior to them getting on to the shop floor. However, for this to be effective the constitution and abilities of such a group need to be carefully thought through. The future is a challenge to consider how cost can be saved but still maintain procurement value. The concept of modelling is not new to shipbuilding, with well-developed FEM models in place. However, it is the uses of other models such as FEM or ANN that need to be explored in greater depth. That modelling skill is very much the domain of Universities or other research organisations currently.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wishes to thank BAE Systems Surface Ships for permission to publish this paper. Lincoln Electric (UK),

No. A18 2010

Journal of Marine Engineering and Technology

41