Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Materials Today: Proceedings

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matpr

Analysis of electric flux arc welding parameters influence using visual

X-ray inspection
Cioroagă Bogdan-Dorel ⇑, Socalici Ana Virginia, Cioată Vasile George, Dascăl Amalia Ana, Ardelean Marius
Politehnica University Timișoara, Faculty of Engineering in Hunedoara, Str. Revolutßiei nr. 5, cod 331128, Hunedoara, Romania

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: For ensuring the quality of the flux welding process is necessary to know how the electric arc can influ-
Available online xxxx ence the quality of the welded joint. The parameters that can be easily controlled of the flux welding pro-
cess are the voltage and the intensity of the welding current.
Keywords: In addition to electric arc parameters the study also aims to observe the influence of non-electrical
Parameter parameters such as welding speed and electrode tilt angle.
Welding The study presented in this paper consists of welding by a semi-automatic industrial submerged flux
Voltage
welding machine a set of samples for each electrical arc parameter, the base material is a pressure vessel
Intensity
steel P355 N. The conclusions of the experiment are taken after visual inspection of the welded joints and
X-ray films by detection of welding increasing defects, due to the influence of the involved varied param-
eter. [1–3]
Copyright Ó 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 9 th International Con-
ference on Advanced Materials and Structures.

1. Introduction
The submerged arc welding or flux welding is a welding tech-
nology found in the manufacture of large size products and whose
main semi-finished product are steel sheets materials. This weld-
ing technology is found only in the industry where large series pro-
duction takes place, due to the fact that the equipment necessary
for the welding process is a complex one and it is also necessary
the presence of special devices for handling and fixing the semi-
finished products during the welding process, all these machines
being oversized requiring large, protected spaces such as industrial
halls. Submerged arc welding has a certain disadvantage, that it
can only be done horizontally, due to the flux layer deposited on
the seam that would otherwise fall, leaving the seam unprotected
during the welding process.
The flux powder layer acts as a protective medium during the
welding process, in this sense it protects the welded seam from
atmospheric humidity and oxygen, at the same time it protects
the adjacent surfaces of the weld bead against splashes and stops
the emission into the atmosphere of thermal radiation, light radi-
ation and gas due to electric arc combustion. The flux layer also
has the role of alloying during welding of the welded area, part
of this dust melts with the electrode mixing with the molten
bath.[4].
The electrode used in submerged arc welding processes is in the
form of wire, which must be made of a material similar to that of
the base material. Also, the welding wire may contain other ele-
ments such as mange, silicon or titanium, which have the role of
making the welding more resistant, more stable, less porous and
prone to oxidation.
As for the equipment used in submerged arc welding presented
in Fig. 1.b it is usually composed of: wire reel, wire feeder, torch,
flux tank, flux feeder, flux vacuum collector, control panel, power
source.
The steps of the submerged arc welding process consists in
adjusting the parameters from the control panel, positioning the
semi-finished product and the torch, starting the welding process
by depositing in advance the flux layer on the torch trajectory,
starting the electric arc under the deposited flux layer, collecting
the remaining flux after the passing of the torch by suction back

⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: bogdan.cioroaga@student.upt.ro (C. Bogdan-Dorel), virginia.socalici@fih.upt.ro (S. Ana Virginia), vasile.cioata@fih.upt.ro (C. Vasile George), amalia.
dascal@fih.upt.ro (D. Amalia Ana), marius.ardelean@fih.upt.ro (A. Marius).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2022.10.107
2214-7853/Copyright Ó 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 9 th International Conference on Advanced Materials and Structures.

Please cite this article as: Cioroagă Bogdan-Dorel, S. Ana Virginia, Cioată Vasile George et al., Analysis of electric flux arc welding parameters influence
using visual X-ray inspection, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2022.10.107
Cioroagă Bogdan-Dorel, S. Ana Virginia, Cioată Vasile George et al.
Fig. 1. (a) submerged arc welding process; (b) submerged arc welding equipment.
into the flow tank to be recirculated, stopping the welding process
after completing the full length welded joint.[5].
2. Research methodology
In order to be able to carry out the analysis of the influence of
the welding regime parameters of the submerged arc welding
technology it is necessary to define the constant characteristics
of the welding process. The equipment used for making welded
samples is a semi-automatic one for industrial use that is find in
the manufacturing process of railway tanks, using this installation
reduces the welding defects induced by the human factor, the
welding regime being a stable one throughout the experiments.
The first set of features that need to be clearly defined is regard-
ing the base material this being a sheet metal semi-finished pro-
duct with a thickness of 8 mm being a fine-grained carbon steel
for the manufacture of thin-walled pressure vessel covers known
as P355 N. The specimens made by welded joint that will be anal-
ysed by non-destructive control with penetrating X-rays are made
of two plates 600x125x8 of material P355 N. The chemical compo-
sition as well as the mechanical characteristics of P355 N steel are
regulated by the norm SR EN 10216–3: 2003. This material has
good weldability and mechanical properties, being used to con-
struct the covers of tanks that work in high pressure and temper-
ature regimes such as boilers or district heating pipes.[6–7].
The next important welding process characteristic is the elec-
trode which is constituted of a 3.2 mm circular section wire from
molybdenum-alloyed copper for welding non-alloy and low-alloy
steels under a flux layer. This electrode is classified by the is man-
ufacturer as type OK Autrod 12.24.[8].
Another consumable material that remains constant as a pro-
cess feature is the flux the layer classified by the is manufacturer
as type OK flux 10.47, which is deposited in a layer with a thickness
of 25 mm during the welding process.[9].
Table 1
Welding process standard characteristics.[10–12].
Welding process Description Codification
feature
Welding Welding under flux with 121
procedure wire electrode
Joint type Butt welding with full BW
penetration
Welding with root support mb
One-pass welding sl
Welding position Horizontal PA
Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
Other constant characteristics of the welding process used in
the elaboration of the test specimens are given in Table 1., being
regulated by welding standard norms.
The standard values of the variable welding regime parameters
are:
 welding current voltage: 33 V
 welding current intensity: 480 A
 welding speed: 60 cm/min
 electrode tilt angle: 90 deg
All this welding process conditions describe the standard set-
ting for the welded joints of the production in the railway tank fac-
tory. Fig. 2 shows the X-ray image of the sample obtained by using
the standard welding process. the light areas obtained by scanning
the welded joint show places with low density of the material,
appeared due to the formation of a larger granular crystal structure
as an effect of the thermal processes developed by the electric arc.
[13–14].
As we can see in Figs. 2 and 3 there are indicated various weld-
ing defects detected on the standard welded joint sample. The
welded seam that has a normal appearance is indicated by the let-
ter A, it has a complete penetration at the root and a low heat
affected area. The material defects that occurred in the welded
joint are indicated by numbers and they consist of: (1) lack of root
penetration, (2) excess root penetration, (3) burn through and (4)
increased heat affected zone.
Norm
EN ISO
4063
SR EN
287–1
SR EN ISO
6947
Fig. 2. X-ray image of standard welding process sample.
2
Cioroagă Bogdan-Dorel, S. Ana Virginia, Cioată Vasile George et al.
Fig. 3. Standard welding process sample, (I) welded face, (II) weld root face.
It should be mentioned that the defect number 2 is due to the
fact that for the preparation of the sample before welding it was
necessary to ensure the distance of 1 mm between the plates of
the welded joint by fixing the plates in 4 welding points at this dis-
tance. This case will be found in all welded joints specimens.
The installation on which the tests were performed is a semi-
automatic one designed to make longitudinal welds by moving
the torch while the semi-finished product remains in place. Fig. 4
shows the submerged in flux arc welding installation, which con-
sists of a mobile stroller containing the torch, the electrode wire
drum, the electrode feed mechanism and the flux material man-
agement system supported in the console on a fixed beam that
ensures the direction of travel for the mobile stroller. separately
nearby there is a power source and a control panel from where
the parameters of the welding regime can be controlled.
3. Experimental results
The specimens made during the experiments were system-
atized by assigning codes composed of the letter P followed by a
serial number representing the parameter and the letter T followed
by a serial number representing the stage of variation of the
respective parameter. The X-rays of the specimens as well as the
specimens are marked with codes for identification, on each
welded plate there are 2 specimens. Table 2 reflects the manage-
ment of the experimental parameters.
Fig. 4. Submerged in flux arc welding installation, (a) mobile stroller, (b) parameters control panel, (c) welding process.
3
Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
3.1. The effect of welding current voltage
By increasing the electrical voltage, it was observed there is a
tendency to flatten the welded seam and increasing its width on
the welded side of the joint. As a welding defect the presence of
incomplete root penetration is also observed. Table 3 shows the
situation of the specimens from the study of the influence of weld-
ing electric voltage [15–17,19].
3.2. The effect of welding current intensity
By increasing the intensity of the welding current, it can be
observed an increasing penetration of the additive material in
the basic one. There is also present an enlarged thermally influ-
enced area which increases with the intensity of the electric arc.
It was found that in addition to the full penetration of the weld-
ing joint by increasing the intensity of the electric current occurs
the phenomenon of flowing molten material, resulting in an eleva-
tion of the root of the welded seam. Table 4 shows the situation of
the specimens from the study of the influence of welding electric
intensity, the main welding defects identified at low intensities
between 300 and 500 A are the appearance of porosities and
incomplete penetration of the welding joint and for values above
500 A it can be observed the appearance of excessive penetration
of the additive material in the base material [15–19].
Cioroagă Bogdan-Dorel, S. Ana Virginia, Cioată Vasile George et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 2
Situation of experimental welding regime parameters.

Parameter Parameter Stage of Parameter Unit of Parameter Parameter Stage of Parameter Unit of
code variation value measure code variation value measure
Welding arc P1 T1 22 V Welding advance P3 T1 25 cm/min
voltage T2 26 V speed T2 50 cm/min
T3 30 V T3 75 cm/min
T4 34 V T4 100 cm/min
T5 38 V T5 125 cm/min
Welding arc P2 T1 300 A Electrode tilt angle P4 T1 45 deg
intensity T2 400 A T2 60 deg
T3 500 A T3 75 deg
T4 600 A T4 90 deg
T5 700 A

Table 3
Specimens for analyzing the effect of welding current voltage.

Specimen Welding arc voltage Welding defects identified Specimen X-ray scan
[V]
P1-T1 22  lack of root penetration;
irregular heat affected zone;
porosities on edge of welded seam

P1-T2 26  lack of root penetration

regular; heat affected zone
wide and flattened seam; more pronounced than the previ-
ous one

P1-T3 30  lack of root penetration

regular; heat affected zone;
wide and flattened seam; more pronounced than the previ-
ous one

P1-T4 34  discontinuous full penetration

regular; heat affected zone
wide and flattened seam; more pronounced than the previ-
ous one

P1-T5 38  lack of root penetration

regular; heat affected zone
wide and flattened seam; more pronounced than the previ-
ous one

4
Cioroagă Bogdan-Dorel, S. Ana Virginia, Cioată Vasile George et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 4
Specimens for analyzing the effect of welding current intensity.

Specimen Welding arc intensity [A] Welding defects identified Specimen X-ray scan
P2-T1 300  lack of root penetration
porosities
regular; heat affected zone

P2-T2 400  lack of root penetration

regular; heat affected zone

P2-T3 500  discontinuous full penetration

regular; heat affected zone
porosities

P2-T4 600  Excessive root penetration

P2-T5 700  excessive root penetration;

irregular seam

3.3. The effect of welding advance speed
It was found that the welding speed may cause specific welding
defects for low speeds such as excessive penetration of the filling
material, lack of root penetration, large heat affected zone and
widened seam. As for height welding speed there was found that
the main defects that appear are lack of root penetration, porosities
and smaller seam width.
By increasing the welding speed it can be obtained a similar
effect as the decrease in the intensity of the welding current and
if the welding speed decreases it can appear an effect and defects
similar to the increase of welding amperage [15–19] Table 5.
3.4. The effect of welding current electrode tilt angle
It can be seen from Table 6 that the smaller the tilt angle of the
electrode, the more pronounced melting of the material is
achieved, by default it can apear welding defects such as excessive
root penetration, porosities and increasing of the heat affected
zone. Practically, tilting the electrode produces an effect similar

5
Cioroagă Bogdan-Dorel, S. Ana Virginia, Cioată Vasile George et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 5
Specimens for analyzing the effect of welding advance speed.

Specimen welding advance speed [cm/ Welding defects identified Specimen X-ray scan
min]
P3-T1 25  areas with excessive penetration;
regular heat affected zone

P3-T2 50  areas with lack of root penetration;

irregular heat affected zone
width of seam much smaller than precedent

P3-T3 75  lack of root penetration

porosities
regular; heat affected zone
width of seam much smaller than precedent

P3-T4 100  poor penetration of the filler into the welded

joint;
width of seam much smaller than precedent

P3-T5 125  lack of root penetration;

porosities;
regular heat affected zone;
width of seam much smaller than precedent

Table 6
Specimens for analyzing the effect of electrode tilt angle.

Specimen Electrode tilt angle [deg] Welding defects identified Specimen X-ray scan
P4-T1 45  irregular seam;
porosities;
areas with excessive penetration

P4-T2 60  lack of root penetration;

porosities;
regular heat affected zone

P4-T3 75  lack of root penetration

P4-T4 90  lack of root penetration;

porosities

6
Cioroagă Bogdan-Dorel, S. Ana Virginia, Cioată Vasile George et al.
to the increase in amperage, contributing to the increase in tem-
perature in the welding area.[20].
4. Conclusions
By increasing the electrical voltage there is a tendency to flatten
the welded seam and increasing its width. The presence of incom-
plete root penetration was observed as a main welding defect asso-
ciated with the increasing of the electrical welding voltage.
By increasing the intensity of the welding current, it can be
observed an increasing penetration of the additive material in
the basic one. There is also present an enlarged thermally influ-
enced area which increases with the intensity of the electric arc.
It was found that in addition to the full penetration of the welding
joint by increasing the intensity of the electric current occurs the
phenomenon of flowing molten material, resulting in an elevation
of the root of the welded seam. As specific welding defects core-
lated to the welding amperage there was present porosities and
incomplete penetration of the welding joint for low amperages
and excessive root penetration for values above 500 A.
The welding speed may cause specific welding defects for low
speeds such as excessive penetration of the filling material, lack
of root penetration, large heat affected zone and widened seam.
As for height welding speed there was found that the main defects
that appear are lack of root penetration, porosities, and smaller
seam width.
By increasing the welding speed, it can be obtained a similar
effect as the decrease in the intensity of the welding current and
if the welding speed decreases it can appear an effect and defects
like the increase of welding amperage.
It can be seen from Table 6 that the smaller the tilt angle of the
electrode, the more pronounced melting of the material is
achieved, by default it can appear welding defects such as exces-
sive root penetration, porosities and increasing of the heat affected
zone. Practically, tilting the electrode produces an effect like the
increase in amperage, contributing to the increase in temperature
in the welding area.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Cioroagă Bogdan-Dorel: Conceptualization, Formal analysis,
Investigation, Writing – original draft, Visualization. Socalici Ana
Virginia: Validation, Supervision. Cioată Vasile George: Resources,
Supervision. Dascăl Amalia Ana: Supervision. Ardelean Marius:
Supervision.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare the following financial interests/personal
relationships which may be considered as potential competing
interests: Cioroaga reports article publishing charges and equip-
ment, drugs, or supplies were provided by Politehnica University
of Timisoara. Cioroaga Bogdan-Dorel reports a relationship with
Politehnica University of Timisoara that includes: non-financial
support. Cioroaga Bogdan has patent pending to no licente.
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