5/31/2011

Underwater welding (Knowledge Summa

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TWI Knowledge Summary

Underwater welding
TWI has been involved in underwater welding research for over 25 years for the marine, offshore and oil and gas industries. Consultancy and development work has c overed consumables, automated underwater welding, and equipment. - a key technology for repairing marine structures

Description
Underwater welding c an be divided into three main types that have been in use for many years: Wet underwater welding, where manual metal arc welding (MMA) is the most common process. Flux-c ored arc welding (FCAW) has been widely used in the former Soviet Union. Fric tion welding, whic h has the advantage of being relatively insensitive to depth, and which lends itself to robotic operation, has the potential for use in deep water repair. Coffer dam welding, whic h is c arried out in the dry, in air, where a rigid steel struc ture to house the welders is sealed against the side of the struc ture to be welded, and is open to the atmosphere. Hyperbaric welding, in whic h a c hamber is sealed around the structure to be welded, and is filled with a gas (c ommonly helium c ontaining 0.5 bar of oxygen) at the prevailing pressure. A more recent tec hnology involves the fabric ation of a transparent enc losure around the intended weld. The welder/diver, working from outside the enc losure, welds with eac h of several MMA elec trodes in turn, eac h electrode having been positioned in advance through a flexible port. Water is excluded by introduc ing an appropriate gas at a pressure slightly above the external water pressure. An enc losure is fabricated for eac h joint to be welded, but the c ost is apprec iably less than for c onventional hyperbaric welding.

Current status
The materials whic h are most c ommonly welded are mic roalloyed C-Mn steels of pipelines and offshore struc tures, and C-Mn steels on ships and harbour works. Extensive repairs have been carried out to offshore platforms following hurric ane or explosion damage. Coffer dam welding is most likely to be employed in harbour works or ship repair, although wet underwater welding is also widely used. Semi-automatic FCAW has been used in the former Soviet Union for repairs to (shallow) pipelines and to the hulls of sunken ships, prior to refloating. Hyperbaric welding, using MMA (SMA), TIG (GTA) or FCAW, is the preferred proc ess for high integrity welds, partic ularly for deep water welds, inc luding tie-ins in pipelines and risers in the oil and gas industries.

Important current issues

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5/31/2011

Underwater welding (Knowledge Summa

The technology for hyperbaric welding is well established, and generally well researched. There is, however, a need to be able to use the proc ess at ever greater depths, with researc h being carried out in the range 500 to 1,000m. Wet underwater MMA (SMA) welding has now been widely used for many years in the repair of offshore platforms, inc luding those whic h have suffered hurric ane or war damage. Future needs will inc lude the requirement to repair offshore structures in deeper waters, fabric ated from higher carbon equivalent steels. In view of the high weld metal diffusible hydrogen levels generated in wet underwater welding, there is a risk of hydrogen-assisted cracking whic h inc reases with inc reasing carbon equivalent. Revised electrode c oating formulations and improved power source tec hnology will be required. Wet underwater FCA welding may find wider use in the west, if it proves c apable of giving ac c eptable weld quality.

Benefits
Underwater welding provides a means of assembly or repair underwater. Alternatives, whic h inc lude c lamped and grouted repairs (whic h may introduce unac ceptably high loading on offshore structures), and the use of bolted flanges for tie-ins, are not nec essarily always satisfactory.

Risks
For the humans involved, the risks are of three main types. Firstly there is a potential risk to the welder/diver of elec tric shock. Prec autions include achieving adequate electric al insulation of the welding equipment, shutting off the elec tricity supply immediately the arc is extinguished, and limiting the open-c irc uit voltage of MMA (SMA) welding sets. Sec ondly, hydrogen and oxygen are produc ed by the arc in wet welding and c utting. Precautions must be taken to avoid the build-up of poc kets of gas whic h are potentially explosive. The other main area of risk is to the life or health of the welder/diver from nitrogen introduc ed into the blood stream during exposure to air at inc reased pressure. Prec autions include the provision of an emergenc y air or gas supply, stand-by divers, and dec ompression c hambers to avoid decompression sic kness following saturation diving or too rapid return to the surfac e from a deep dive. For the struc tures being welded by wet underwater welding, inspec tion following welding may be more diffic ult than for welds deposited in air. Assuring the integrity of suc h underwater welds may be more diffic ult, and there is a risk that defects may remain undetec ted.

Expertise
TWI's arc welding engineers and tec hnic ians have a wealth of knowhow and experienc e gained through many years of industrial problem solving and R&D. Consultanc y and development work has c overed: MMA welding c onsumables flux-c ored wire welding c onsumables & equipment remotely operated, mec hanised welding equipment wet c utting tec hniques

Resource
equipment & c onsumables for wet welding wet welding tank for preliminary trials indoor, heated deepwater tank with sec ure, 24 hour fac ilities at TWI Tec hnology Centre (North East), Middlesbrough advic e on proc ess and consumable selec tion, weld procedures & best prac tic e troubleshooting & feasibility studies proc ess & equipment development

Underwater facilities
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5/31/2011

Underwater welding (Knowledge Summa

TWI Tec hnology Centre (North East), Middlesbrough provides a total support pac kage for the specialist and operational requirements of the sub-sea/offshore industry. This state-of-the-art fac ility meets the needs of sub-sea/offshore operators, from underwater training and qualification of personnel, to R&D, equipment testing and development, inspec tion and calibration.

The underwater tank is the most modern underwater operations centre in the UK
The tank is 8m in diameter and 6.5m deep, with a volume of 318 cubic metres Underwater welding work expands at TWI North ( Connect, July 1996) At its Great Abington headquarters, TWI has a smaller wet welding tank, which will ac c ommodate a welder/diver. Welder/diver training is also c arried out in Thailand.

Case studies
Navy underwater trials c ompleted in TWI tank ( Connect, July/August 1999) Team helps in Magnus repair When BP c ompleted a diffic ult underwater repair in a closure weld at a water depth of 182m on its Magnus platform in the North Sea, TWI staff from several disc iplines provided support on various tec hnic al aspects of the repair. Demonstration of in-situ weld repair to a FPSO hull A satisfac tory approac h for the repair of a fatigue crack in the bottom of the hull of an FPSO has been demonstrated. The wet underwater weld, deposited in the flat position, simulated the repair of a fatigue c rac k. The exerc ise proc eeded satisfactorily, giving a weld of good integrity. Underwater butt welding trials, designed to demonstrate to the Ministry of Defence the feasibility of sub-sea ship repairs, have been successfully completed in TWI North's diving tank

Further information
How is it that arc welding can be carried out in water? Can sound welds be made by wet underwater welding? The flux-c ored arc proc ess for wet welding and cutting - an assessment ( Bulletin, May 1997). This artic le c overs an in-depth appraisal of the use of the flux-c ored arc (FCA) process in comparison to conventional manual metal arc (MMA) for wet welding and cutting. Equipment, comparisons of welding and cutting performance and c ost analyses are inc luded. Assessment of the mec hanised flux-cored arc welding proc ess for underwater wet welding. Summary of a report on the equipment, operating c haracteristic s and potential applic ations of the self-shielded flux c ored arc welding proc ess. A mechanised system for producing underwater wet welds using the FCAW proc ess was c ommissioned and the performance of a range of power sourc es and alternative c onsumables was assessed. All TWI's confidential consultancy and project work is conducted to ISO 9001 quality standard. Do you want to disc uss underwater wet welding? If you work for a TWI Industrial Member, look in Who Knows to find the relevant expert. Mail to arc@twi.c o.uk if your company is not an Industrial Member.

Last Reviewed 2010 / C opyright 2010 TWI Ltd

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