Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli

MT611 Joining of materials Assignment

Narrow Gap Submerged Arc Welding

Ajith kumar, Roll Number:-212121001
1Department, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli – 620015, Tamil Nadu, India

1. Introduction

Welding of critical components demands a sophisticated technology due to the complexities in

loading conditions involved. For a sound joint, it is necessary to optimize welding parametersand
the choice of welding process is depends on various factors involved. One of the verified "the
low cost" welding technology is a method of "Submerged Arc Welding" . Submerged-arc
welding is a high-productivity process for joining materials with high energy and filler-material
efficiencies. In practice a number of submerged-arc welding units are known. Compared with
SAW, narrow gap SAW has the characteristics of little groove angle and low heat input. As a
result, dilution of base metals is decreased, HAZ is narrowed down and effect of self-tempering
between beads is strengthened, which are of great benefit to refining grains, improving toughness
of the joint and reducing welding deformation.

Narrow gap welding (also called narrow groove welding) was developed in 1980’s to weld thick
sections more economically. However, narrow gap welding does require specialised equipment,
because of the limited accessibility to the root of the preparation.

2.Process
In conventional saw process, the
electric arc is produced between a
continuously fed electrode and
the workpiece to be welded. A
blanket of powdered flux
surrounds and covers the arc and,
when molten, it provides
electrical conduction between the
metal to be joined and the
electrode. It also generates a
protective gas shield and a slag,
all of which protects the weld
zone. This thick layer of flux
completely covers the molten
metal thus preventing spatter and sparks as well as suppressing the intense ultraviolet radiation
and fumes.

The only difference between conventional and narrow groove SAW lies in joint preparation and
the limitation of its application. Conventional SAW is limited to base metal thickness of 25mm
but in case of narrow groove SAW thicker sections with thickness upto 670mm can be welded
economically.

4.Joint preparation
In conventional SAW Joint preparation depends on plate thickness, type of joint e.g.
circumferential or longitudinal and to some extent on the standards to which the structure is
being made. Generally groove angle will between 45 – 60 degree depending on the thickness.

In narrow gap SAW lesser groove angle of the order of 2-20 degree is required for welding of
thicker sections. Since the groove angle is less it demands only a lesser quantity of filler material
thereby making the process economical. For thicker sections use of a backing plate is generally
recommended.

3.Equipments

Equipment consists of a welding machine or power source, the wire feeder and control system,
the welding torch for automatic welding or the welding gun and cable assembly for
semiautomatic welding, the flux hopper and feeding mechanism, usually a flux recovery system,
and a travel mechanism for automatic welding.

The power source for submerged arc welding must be rated for a 100 percent duty cycle, since
the submerged arc welding operations are continuous and the length of time for making a weld
may exceed 10 minutes.

If a 60 percent duty cycle power source is used, it must be derated according to the duty cycle
curve for 100 percent operation.
The electric current adopted was 160 - 280A, the welding voltage 24 - 36V, and the welding
speed 0.25 – 0.35m/min.

4.Materials and fluxes

All materials which can be welded by conventional SAW can be welded using narrow gap
technique. Some specific base metals include: Carbon steels (structural and vessel construction),
low alloy steels, stainless steels, nickel-based alloys, surfacing applications.

4.1.Fluxes
The granulated flux shields and thus protects molten weld from atmospheric contamination. The
flux cleans weld metal and can also modify its chemical composition. The flux is granulated to a
definite size. It may be of fused, bonded or mechanically mixed type. The flux may consist of
fluorides of calcium and oxides of calcium, magnesium, silicon, aluminium and manganese.
Alloying elements may be added as per requirements. Substances evolving large amount of gases
during welding are never mixed with the flux. Flux with fine and coarse particle sizes are
recommended for welding heavier and smaller thickness respectively.

4.2.Filler material
SAW filler material usually is a standard wire as well as other special forms. This wire normally
has a thickness of 1.6 mm to 6 mm (1/16 in. to 1/4 in.). In certain circumstances, twisted wire
can be used to give the arc an oscillating movement. This helps fuse the toe of the weld to the
base metal. The electrode composition depends upon the material being welded. Alloying
elements may be added in the electrodes. Electrodes are available to weld mild steels, high
carbon steels, low and special alloy steels, stainless steel and some of the nonferrous of copper
and nickel. Electrodes are generally copper coated to prevent rusting and to increase their
electrical conductivity. Electrodes are available in straight lengths and coils.

The flexibility of the welding wire has great influence on the SAW process quality. Compared
with large diameter welding wire, small diameter wire in low welding current possesses has such
features as ease of arc initiation, lower heat input for low temperature rise in the base metal,
which is extremely important for valve welding.

The other welding parameters will be similar to conventional SAW process.

The advantages of the narrow gap technique are:

 The process offers better economy for welding of thick materials (generally over 50mm
thick) because of reduced consumable requirements and shorter welding times.
 There is low angular distortion because the joint preparation is almost parallel-sided.
The disadvantages are:

 The weld is more prone to defects for certain welding processes - especially lack of
sidewall fusion.
 It is difficult to remove any defects when detected, because of poor joint accessibility.
 Expensive J-preparations must be machined onto the parent material, unless a backing
bar is permitted. This will affect the economics of the process.

The risk of lack of sidewall fusion can be reduced in narrow gap welding by several methods:

1. Using two electrodes in tandem with each electrode oriented so that a weld bead is
directed towards each sidewall (applicable to SAW and MIG/MAG processes)
2. Arc oscillation
3. Use of seam tracking to ensure alignment of the arc with the sidewall

5.Micellaneous narrow gap SAW processes

5.1.Twin wire electrode narrow gap welding

Development of a welding head with multiple-wire electrode

In welding with a multiple-wire electrode several wires are arranged in a joint contact tube. All
of them have the same wire feed speed, a joint regulation and are supplied by a single power
source. Figure 1. shows a schematic multiple-wire electrode welding unit. Wires in the joint
contact tube may be arranged in various ways, i. e., in a line, in a triangle etc.

Distances between two 3

wires b [mm]

Electrode extension
length L [mm] EM
5

b 6
 Fig 1. Schematic representation of a unit for welding with a multiple-wire electrode: 1 - wire spools;
2-straightening mechanism; 3 - wire feed system; 4 - contact tube; 5 - po- wer source; 6 - workpiece

Development of a contact tube for twin-wire electrode welding

First studies of narrow gap welding were made with a unit permitting simultaneous welding with
two wires. The wires were fed through a contact tube as shown in Figure 3.. For optimum
welding not only welding parameters and wire extension length L but also the distance b and the
angle between the wires at the contact tube tip are very important. With optimum parameters
mentioned before a stablee welding process and qualitynarrow gap welds may be obtained. Very
simple but efficient criteria for quality welding are the shape and size of the rounding in points 1
and 2. in Figure 2.. If in points 1 and 2 (Figure 4.) a nice rounding is obtained, it is with great
certainty that we may expect a quality welded joint. It is only under the conditions shown in
Figure 4. that both narrow-gap fusion faces may be fused well, mixing of the filler material and
parent metal will be good, slag will float to the surface of the weld pool and will be easy to
remove from the weld surface after welding

Fig 2. Welding head for narrow gap welding with a twin-wire electrode: 1 - tube
supporting structure, 2 - contact tube, 3 - wire-guide nozzle, 4 - welding wire, 5 - screw, 6
 - work- piece, 7 - workpiece, 8 - backing bar.

6.Applications

 To make strong connections for the various turbine components (rotors)

 Sleeve nozzles to heat exchangers can be welded by this technique.
 In welding thicker joints of pressure vessels, oil tanker, pipe lines.

7.References

[1] Narrow gap SAW with multiple wire electrode by Izvorni znantveni rad

[2] Quinghua lu, Zhishui YU , “Research on narrow gap welding parameters

optimization”(2009)

[3] Lukas Holub, Karel Kovanda, “SAW- narrow gap welding CrMoV Heat resistant steels
focussing to the mechanical properties testing” published in science direct(2014).

Thank you