In-house welding wire development for the new saline-resistant weathering steel

After achieving good corrosion properties on newly developed saline-resistant weathering steel, the development of a dedicated welding wire was launched. Different chemistries compatible with the saline-resistant weathering steel were selected, processed, and tested in the lab with the goal of producing solid wires in two different final diameters: — ∅: 1.2 mm for low heat input weldability assessment with gas metal arc welding (GMAW) — ∅: 4.0 mm for high heat input weldability assessment with submerged arc welding (SAW) Testing of lab-developed wires was done through multi-pass arc welding experiments performed on 20 mm thick saline-resistant weathering plate, which simulated the conditions of low and high heat input welding as specified in the welding pre-qualification standards. Highstrength values – well above the minimum requirements for S355 and S420 – were measured in all welds. Excellent Charpy impact and CTOD fracture toughness could be achieved in the weld metal using the lab welding wire developed in-house. These results confirm that lab-developed solid wire is suitable for upscaled production at industrial level to meet future requests from customers. Recently, weld samples produced with the lab-developed wire have been included in an offshore exposure campaign in a WestAfrican tropical area to assess their longterm corrosion performance in the harshest conditions.

Without a doubt, tailored welding solutions will also bring added value to new applications using existing steel grades.

Özlem Esma Ayas Güngör