UNDER-WATER

WELDING
RAHID .C
NO: 515
S8 PE

INTRODUCTION
Underwater welding is an important tool

for

underwater fabrication works.

In 1946, special waterproof electrodes

were developed in Holland by Vander

Willingen'.
In recent years the number of offshore

structures including oil drilling rigs,

pipelines, platforms are being installed

CLASSIFICATION

Under water welding can be classified as :

i.

Wet welding

ii.

Dry welding

WET WELDING
Key technology for repairing marine structure
Welding is performed under water directly

exposed to the wet environment

Increased freedom movement makes more

effective, efficient and economical

Supply is connected to the welder/driver via

cables or hoses

 Complete insulation of the cables and hoses

are essential in case to prevent the chance

for electric shock

MMA (Manual Metal Arc) welding is commonly

used process in the repair of offshore

platforms.

PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
The work is connected

to the positive side of

dc source and
electrode to the
negative
The two parts of the
circuit are brought
together and then
slightly separated
An electric current
occurs in the gap and
causes a sustained
spark which melts the

The flux covering the electrode melts to

provide a shielding gas.

Arc burns in the cavity formed inside the flux

covering, which is designed to burn slower

than the metal barrel to the electrode

Advantages
The versatility and low cost.
Less costlier than dry welding.
Speed with which it is carried out
No enclosures so no time is lost for building.

Disadvantages
Rapid quenching of the weld metal by the

surrounding water.
Welders working under water are restricted in
manipulating arc.
Hydrogen embrittlement causes cracks.
Poor visibility due to water contaminance.

DRY WELDING
A chamber is created near the area to be

welded and the welder does the job by staying

inside the chamber.
It produces high quality weld joints .
The gas-tungsten arc welding process is used
mostly for pipe works
Gas metal arc welding is the best process for
this welding.

CLASSIFICATION OF DRY WELDING

There are two basic types of dry welding :
i.

Hyperbaric welding

ii.

Cavity welding

Hyper baric welding:It is carried out in chamber sealed around the

structure to be welded
The chamber is filled with a gas at the
prevailing pressure, to push water back
The welder fitted with breathing mask and
other protective devices on the pipe line
Mask filled with a breathable mixture of
helium and oxygen in the habitat
The area under the floor of the habitat is
open to water,
so hyper baric
welding is termed as HABITATWELDING

Limitation:As depth increase pressure also increases, it

affects both for driver and welding process

Cavity welding:Cavity welding is another approach to weld in

water free environment

Conventional arrangements for feeding wire and

shielding gas
Introducing cavity gas and the whole is

surrounded by a trumpet shaped nozzle through

which high velocity conical jet of water passes.
It avoids the need for a habitat chamber and it

lends itself to automatic and remote control.

The process is very suitable for flat structures

Advantages: Welder/diver safety

Good quality weld
Surface monitoring
Non destructive testing

Disadvantages: The habitat welding requires large quantities

of complex equipment and much support

equipment on the surface
Cost is extremely high

RISKS V/S PRECAUTIONS

Risk of electric shock so achieving

electrical insulation of electrical welding

equipments
Hydrogen and oxygen are produced by the
arc in wet welding are potentially explosion
so precaution must be taken to avoid the
build up of pockets of gas
The life or health of the welder will be in
risk from nitrogen introduce into the blood
stream, precautions include the provision
of an emergency air or gas applied

Scope of further
developments
Hyper baric welding is well established and

generally well researched.

Research being carried out for welding at a
range of 500 to 1000m deep.
THOR-1 (Tig Hyperbaric Orbital Robot) is
developed where diver performs pipe
fitting, installs the tracks and orbital head
on the pipe and rest process is automated.

APPLICATIONS
Offshore construction for tapping sea

resources
Temporary repair work caused by ships
collisions, unexpected accidents
Salvaging vessels sunk in the sea
Repair and maintenance of ships
Construction of large ships beyond the
capacity of existing docks

CONCLUSION
Alternatives which include clamped
and grouted repairs (which may introduce
unacceptably high loading on offshore
structures) and the use of bolted flanges
for the tie-ins are not necessarily and are
not always satisfactory

REFERENCES
www.twi.com
www.aws.com
Production Technology- O.P.Khanna
www.howstuffworks.com

THANK YOU