Induction Heating in Underwater Wet Welding-Thermal Input, Microstructure and Diffusible Hydrogen Content

Hydrogen-assisted cracking is a major challenge in underwater wet welding of high-strength steels with a carbon equivalent larger than 0.4 wt%. In dry welding processes, post-weld heat treatment can reduce the hardness in the heat-affected zone while simultaneously lowering the diffusible hydrogen c...

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Published inMaterials Vol. 15; no. 4; p. 1417
Main Authors Brätz, Oliver, Klett, Jan, Wolf, Thomas, Henkel, Knuth-Michael, Maier, Hans Jürgen, Hassel, Thomas
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland MDPI AG 14.02.2022
MDPI
Subjects
Carbon equivalent
Carrier gases
Diffusion welding
Environmentally assisted cracking
Extraction
fine-grained construction steel
Heat
Heat affected zone
High strength steels
Hydrogen
hydrogen analysis
hyperbaric wet welding
Induction heating
Methods
Microstructure
Post-weld heat treatment
preheating
Simulation
Structural steels
Underwater welding
Water depth
Weld metal
Weldments
Workpieces
hydrogen analysis
underwater technology
induction heating
hyperbaric wet welding
fine-grained construction steel
post-weld heat treatment
preheating
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Summary:Hydrogen-assisted cracking is a major challenge in underwater wet welding of high-strength steels with a carbon equivalent larger than 0.4 wt%. In dry welding processes, post-weld heat treatment can reduce the hardness in the heat-affected zone while simultaneously lowering the diffusible hydrogen concentration in the weldment. However, common heat treatments known from atmospheric welding under dry conditions are non-applicable in the wet environment. Induction heating could make a difference since the heat is generated directly in the workpiece. In the present study, the thermal input by using a commercial induction heating system under water was characterized first. Then, the effect of an additional induction heating was examined with respect to the resulting microstructure of weldments on structural steels with different strength and composition. Moreover, the diffusible hydrogen content in weld metal was analyzed by the carrier gas hot extraction method. Post-weld induction heating could reduce the diffusible hydrogen content by -34% in 30 m simulated water depth.
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ISSN:1996-1944
1996-1944
DOI:10.3390/ma15041417