Temper Bead Welding of S460N Steel in Wet Welding Conditions

Abstract

Wet welding is the most common method of welding in water environment. It is most often used for repairing of underwater parts of offshore structures. However, the water as a welding environment causes an increase of susceptibility of steels to cold cracking. For underwater constructions high strength low alloy (HSLA) steel are widely used. In wet welding condition a HSLA steel is characterized by high susceptibility to cold cracking. Temper Bead Welding (TBW) was chosen as a method to improve the weldability of S460N steel. The studies showed that TBW technique causes significant decrease of maximum hardness of heat affected zone (HAZ). The largest decrease in hardness occurred in specimens with the pitches in range 66-100%.