Journal of Marine Engineering & Technology

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Welding issues for ship structures

N A McPherson

To cite this article: N A McPherson (2010) Welding issues for ship structures, Journal of Marine
Engineering & Technology, 9:3, 31-41

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/20464177.2010.11020238

Published online: 01 Dec 2014.

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Welding issues for ship structures

Welding issues for ship structures

NA McPherson BSc, PhD, MBA, DSc, CEng, FIMMM, FWeldI, BAE Systems – Surface Ships,
Glasgow, Scotland

Welding of ship structures is regarded as a process that requires a high level of control
to develop finished product consistency. By its current nature welds may still contain low
levels of defects. To further reduce defect levels and improve the consistency of the
welded products some factors have been identified which could contribute to inferior
performance. A number of these have been termed ‘management issues,’ ie, technology
and aspects that are well established and need to be part of the overall managed process.
In addition the differentiation between thick and thin plate has been made, highlighting
their significantly different requirements. Steel material requirements have been reviewed
and the improvement of steel plate/bar and welding consumables in the last 10 years have
been seen to contribute to overall process consistency.

INTRODUCTION  Variability of the welding consumable quality,

W
hen discussing failures of ship structures
there is a tendency to gravitate towards the
weld as the source of the failure. Apart from
a few well-publicised, and now almost his-
torical, events there is little to link failures directly to the
welding carried out at the build stage. However, this is not
a global assessment of the situation, but more one from a
European perspective. The current rise of greenfield site
shipyards in the Far East may create a different global
perception.1 In addition, in-service repairs involving weld-
ing appear to have been the source of a number of failures
in the past.
This preamble should not be taken as an indicator that the
welding of ship structures has reached a level, in developed
marine countries, where no significant issues exist. For
example, a change in product mix can create a temporary
destabilising effect on the welding workforce. If a yard with
several years experience building thin plate structures, where
the concentration is on distortion reduction, switches to a
thicker plate product with more emphasis on larger, multi-
run fillet welds, then this requires a large scale re-education
of the workforce, but particularly the welders, who tend to be
single entity sources of work. A similar situation arises when
changing to building chemical carriers. In this instance the
issues of welding stainless steel would come into play,2
which are mainly centred on corrosion mitigation. Issues still
arise with welding and defects can occur; some of those
defects detected during the building stage can originate from
the following areas:
 Variations in the performance of welding equipment,
 Lack of adherence to welding procedures,
 Design imposed build issues,
 Human fallibility,
 Management control,
 Steel material issues.
VARIABILITY WITHIN WELDING
CONSUMABLES AND WELDING
PROCESSES
A great deal of qualitative and quantitative data on welding
consumable performance has been produced over the years.
In many developed shipyards there has been a progressive
move away from the Manual Metal Arc (MMA) welding
process to the Flux Cored Arc Welding (FCAW) process.
This is a move from a manual process to a semi-automatic
process. The welded length produced from the manual
process is directly related to the length of the electrode.
In the case of the FCAW process the welded length is sig-
nificantly longer than the MMA process and is generally
related to when the welder wants to stop welding. Typical
lengths are shown in Table 1. It can be seen that welding
position alters the process efficiency, with vertical welding
being slower. The justification to move from MMA to a
cored welding process is very straightforward, based on the
data shown in Table 1. Also the potential defect rate using
MMA is higher than when using the cored wire process.
Furthermore, an automatic process has been included which

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Welding issues for ship structures

Consumable Position Typical length (mm)* Typical speed (mm/min) Efficiency factor Process
Downhand 850 350 100 Semi automatic
FCAW
Vertical 450 200 30 Semi automatic
Downhand 850 350 100 Semi automatic
MCAW
Vertical 450 200 30 Semi automatic
Downhand 450 130 20 Manual
MMA
Vertical 300 65 6.5 Manual
FCAW Downhand 10000 400 1300 Automatic

*Typical length is the length welded prior to the welder stopping the arc.
Table 1: Typical welded lengths for various welding processes and positions
Welding
Fig 1: Main components of the cored
cable
wire welding process
Welding Wire
wire Feed
spool rollers
Power
supply

Power source Wire feed unit

Welding

shows the highly significant benefit of using the process.
However, set-up time is not included but that aside the
process efficiency differences are huge.
The flux cored arc welding process is made up of the wire
feed unit shown schematically in Fig 1 and cored wire shown
in cross section in Fig 2. There are variations in the cored
wire production process and these are shown in Fig 3. The
seamless flux cored wire has the additional benefit of having
freedom from moisture pick up and consequential higher
hydrogen content in the weld metal. Typically the seamless
wire maintains a weld metal hydrogen content of less than
5ml/100g. This can create benefits when weld preheat is an
issue. It should be borne in mind that this is especially criti-
cal as some of the flux components are hygroscopic.
One other potential problem with flux cored wire is when
there is insufficient flux fill in the cored wire. This can mani-
fest itself as poor weld quality, with areas of porosity, or the
wire breaking during the feeding process. Within BAE Systems
Surface Ships, Govan Yard, the same type of FCAW wire has
been used for some 14 years and has been problem free. Within
that period some minor alterations have been made to the wire,
but this has probably accentuated the consistency of the prod-
uct. On a sound basis such as this, when the Govan and
Scotstoun yards of BAE Systems Surface Ships were brought
under the one management, part of the rationalisation process
involved working both yards with the same welding consum-
ables. This has now been the case for almost nine years.
In the case of the submerged arc welding (SAW) tractor
process, a solid wire under flux process has been used with a
high degree of product consistency. However, in relatively
recent times a 3.2mm or 4.00mm dia flux cored wire under
flux SAW consumable combination has been introduced onto
the market3 with productivity benefits of up to 34%. This is
obtained from a combination of increased travel speed and
reduced number of welding passes. Obviously this is a partic-
ularly beneficial process for welding thicker plate where
multi runs are required. In addition to the productivity bene-
fits, there is no deterioration in the weld metal or the HAZ

Fig 2: Flux cored wire variations –

(a) Seamless wire with flux centre;
(b) Seamed wire which has
cracked open

(a) (b)

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Welding issues for ship structures

Fig 3: Variations in flux or metal cored

wire configurations

Seamless Seamed Lapped Folded in

toughness. The less welding runs put into the structure then
the less is the possibility of introducing a welding defect.
When choosing welding consumables it is essential to
consider a number of factors that develop a ‘value’ for the
product. This can create a situation of conflict with many pro-
curement departments, whose main focus is on price. It is
complex to develop a case which clearly and concisely shows
the value of a more expensive welding consumable. The
alternative approach is that the consumable required is tech-
nically identified by the welding engineers, and the procure-
ment department’s function is to get the best financial deal for
the product specified. If that does not happen, the situation
observed a number of years ago can arise whereby low price
products created significant repair rates which, when factored
into the price of the consumable, resulted in a high total cost
consumable selection.
Since the introduction of this philosophy there has been
stable performance, but it has to be fully considered that this Fig 4: Cored wire, wire feed welding unit
is only one part of the welding process.
Flux cored wires are used extensively within BAE
Systems Surface Ships and also where austenitic and duplex
stainless steels have been welded. For carbon steels, wires
with strengths up to 700N/mm2 and toughness down to –80°C
(not in combination) have been used over long periods of time.
The welding equipment used in the shipbuilding process
is primarily the wire feed unit shown in Fig 4. Within our
yards there has been a philosophy to standardise welding
equipment across both sites. To date significant steps have
been taken to do this, but it is a long term project. Several
years ago a myriad of wire feed units existed on both sites. A
proportion was nearing the end of their working lives. All had Fig 5: Lightweight welding gun
strong points and weak points. A number of possible suppli-
ers were involved and the main criteria given to them were: is on moving to a lightweight design, which significantly
reduces welder fatigue, specifically in the over head position.
 Weight, In addition some work is currently ongoing to evaluate the
 Portability, effects of drafts at different gas flows. As an example, for a
 Robustness, shielding gas flow of 17litre/min the effect of 5mph and
 Wire feed roll integrity, 10mph drafts are shown in Fig 6. This effect has been visu-
 Display of volts/amps/wire feed speed. alised using a laser backlighting technique. The X-rays corre-
sponding to the 5 and 10mph drafts both contained heavy
One particular supplier stood out from the rest, and a porosity. This work will serve to generate a much greater
novel concept design (at that time) was produced which understanding of shielding gas flow effects.4
incorporated all the above. The weight had been attacked by Overall, significant strides have been taken to minimise
using a strong tough polyurethane casing and tubular the potential variables within the welding process and, as a
aluminium carrying and base units. Over the years the result, there has been considerable stability in welding defect
partnering with this company has developed into a two-way levels over the last three years within BAE Systems.
interchange of concepts and performance.
The welding gun, typical of that shown in Fig 5, has been WELDING PROCEDURES
the subject of a number of developments, mainly from an
ergonomic standpoint. Within the Clyde yards there has Welding procedures are developed to satisfy a number of
been standardisation on welding guns, and the current focus requirements, specifically those of the classification societies.

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Welding issues for ship structures
Direction of draft
Direction of draft
However, these procedures are also a valuable source of data
for the shipyard. Marginal passes in mechanical properties of
the joint may be deemed as being satisfactory, but it must be
borne in mind that the procedures are normally developed
from very good fit up plate with well defined prep angles. In
addition, weld procedures are rarely developed on the job, but
in a welding booth in a Training Area for example – basically
under very good conditions. At BAE Systems procedure pass-
es in the marginal category are often repeated to identify if
there are specific issues. The most obvious example is the
heat affected zone toughness variations. Often an individual
low figure has been identified with a coarse grain structure.
Any reprocedure would concentrate on the factors giving rise
to mitigating the possibility of significant grain growth.
For other reasons it is often beneficial to establish data on
weld metal strength (longitudinal tensile test of the weld metal)
and in the case of thicker plate to carry out CTOD testing. While
these tests add cost, the data developed can lead to a greater
understanding of the process and the process capability. This is
especially the case when considering HAZ toughness.
34
Fig 6: Gas flow visualisation using 17 l/min
gas flow (a) No side draught (b) 5mph
draught (c) 10mph draught
(a)
(b)
(c)
The transmission of welding procedures to the shop floor
is a matter of preference for individual yards, but at BAE
Systems Surface Ships this is done in the form of a plasticised
card containing summary information on all the welding
involved in a specific contract. An example is shown in Fig 7.
This also allows the welder leeway to adjust parameters
depending on variations in fit up. Welders are required to have
this card in their possession at all times. As other contracts are
being worked on it is often the case that there are very few
changes in the content of the card. The possibility of using a
non-contract specific card is currently being considered.
HUMAN INPUT INTO THE WELDING
PROCESS
Human input is one area of variability within the process, even
with the semi-automatic welding process. It is clear that some
welders will have greater aptitude than others and will be
better suited to tackling more demanding work. Some years
ago a study in the Govan yard was carried out which involved
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Welding issues for ship structures

Material Process Consumable Position Amps WFS Volts Pol.

(ipm)

Carbon Steel FCAW SF-1A Flat 210 – 260 390-440 23 – 25 DC+ ve

1.2mm Horizontal 160 – 230 280-360 20 – 23 DC+ve
Vertical 150 – 220 260-320 20 – 23 DC+ve
Overhead 180 - 200 280-310 23 - 25 DC+ve
Carbon Steel FCAW Safdual 100 160 - 260 280-440 23 - 26 DC+ve
(Back-up consumable Flat 155 - 225 270-240 21.5-22.5 DC+ve
to SF-1A) 140 – 200 230-280 21 – 23 DC+ve
Horizontal 180 - 200 280-310 23 - 25 DC+ve
Vertical
Overhead
Carbon Steel FCAW Megafil 731 B Flat 400 - 430 23 - 25
Replaces FC-4 Rooting of Butts Only
230 - DC+ve
250
Blkhds (as per drawing) FCAW Safdual 654P Flat 280-340 24 – 25 DC+ve
(Maximum 72 hour Horizontal 260- 310 21.5 - 24 DC+ve
lifespan from time of Vertical 175 – 260-290 21 – 22.5 DC+ve
Austenitic issue) Overhead 210 270-300 22 - 24 DC+ve
Consumable 160 - 190
Vacpac controls in place 160 – 170
165 - 180
Carbon Steel MCAW Nittetsu MC-1 Flat/Vert. Down/Hor. 190-210 21 – 23 DC+ ve
7mm thk and below 1.0mm For Rooting of Butt Joints
Only Flat 165- 145-180 18 – 20
175 140-175 18 – 19.5
DC+ve
Vert.Down
DC+ve
150-160
Hor. 145-150
Blkhds (as per drawing) Safdry 309L 100 - 130 N/A N/A AC
MMA 3.25mm All Positions
Austenitic Consumable (Max. 8 hour lifespan
from time of issue) (Except Vertical Down)
Vacpac controls in place
Carbon Steel MMA SAF GF200 Flat
3.25mm (Fillet Welding Only) 130 – 140 N/A N/A AC
4.00mm 170 - 190 N/A N/A AC
Carbon Steel MMA Safer GTi 3.25mm 110 – 120 N/A N/A AC
(For tacking in all (All positions)
positions inc. vertical
down) 4.0mm 160 - 195 N/A N/A AC
3.25mm & 4.0mm (All positions)

Fig 7: Example of a welders’ instruction card

assessing the capability of all the welders. Three grades were
developed jointly between the welding engineers and the produc-
tion supervisors. Grade allocation showed very few differences
between the welding engineers and production supervisors.
Grade 1: Capable of welding the most complex joint config-
urations;
Grade 2: Capable of welding all but the most complex joint
configurations;
Grade 3: Capable of fillet welding only.
This structure formed the basis for establishing the skill dis-
tribution of welders across each fabrication area and each shift.
Some significant imbalances were found. An exercise was
undertaken to level out the skill distribution. In addition, another
issue that was highlighted was the imbalance of supervisors
with a welding background. Again this was rectified to ensure
that each shift had at least one supervisor with a welding back-
ground working in a fabrication area. It was quite clear that this
move paid very significant dividends in terms of stabilising the
welding process and reducing the welding defect levels.
THE NEXT STEPS
The Govan yard had the first industrial welding robot in any
UK shipyard.5 Although not used to its full potential, it has
served to highlight problem areas and as a learning tool. The
most obvious area for ‘full’ robotic welding is at the end of a
panel line where up to 85–90% of the joint available for weld-
ing could be achieved. However, robotic welding is not the
panacea and other automated welding can also be used. These
can vary from very simple and highly efficient fillet welding
tractors, such as those shown in Fig 8. Welders can use a
number of these at one time and, depending on the joint
length, up to four can be used at once. The potential benefits
of this over the semi-automatic process could be as much as
100%, when one welder uses two welding tractors at once
(this assumes the same travel speed, but with the welder stop-
ping once every 1100mm and dressing tails etc).
Seam welding using a seamer or a submerged arc welding
tractor is ostensibly an automated welding process, and thick-
er decks are ideally suited for welding with a SAW process.
Unit link ups can also be effectively welded using cored wire
track mounted welding equipment. An example of this is
shown in Fig 9, where the welders input is related to minor
adjustments to welding head position. Some previous work
has shown the use of this process to be highly beneficial com-
pared to the semi automatic process in the horizontal welding
position. Deviations from the set procedures increase the risk
of inducing some form of defect, either physical or mechani-
cal, into the structure.
Basically, there is scope to consolidate on current levels of
automated welding and use the consolidation as the stepping
stone for the introduction of other automated processes.

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Welding issues for ship structures

Fig 8: Automatic fillet welding unit

a person’s deteriorating eyesight or physical capabilities

require sensitive treatment and, where feasible, they would be
re-allocated to work more in line with their capabilities, eg,
workshop welding. At BAE Systems Surface Ships, all
welders are retested/recoded on a two-yearly basis. If issues
have been identified with a specific process condition based
on X-ray results one of the tests may be substituted for anoth-
er to duplicate the problem. This has the benefit of assessing
all the welders against the problem.
Extensive training is given to ensure welders have the correct
level of capability. For example, great emphasis has been put on
using the track mounted automatic welding system shown in Fig
9. Currently 7% of the welders on site have been qualified in the
use of this equipment. However, it is imperative that this specif-
ic group are using the equipment on a regular basis to ensure the
skill level is being maintained. That is a resource management
issue, and also why the proportion is not higher.

Fig 9: Track mounted automated seam welding process using
flux cored wire
HUMAN FALLIBILITY
The welding process by its nature is subject to human
fallibility. The aim of the previously described issues was to
minimise the impact of human fallibility, with the increased
level of automated welding being a key factor. Issues such as
DESIGN ISSUES
There is still a need for designers to be more aware of whether
the Design for Build concept is being actively followed. This
has been highlighted when building vessels with a significant
proportion of thin plate (<8mm thick) in the structure. A basic
principle in building these structures is to minimise the heat
going into the structure, as this tends to induce the phenome-
non of thin plate distortion. Consequently the effects are seen
as rework and possibly build schedule impacts.
One issue was the use of intermittent welding on non-
structural bulkheads. The application of intermittent welding
will reduce the amount of heat going into the structure by
about 50%. However, there appeared to have been non-struc-
tural areas where this had not been applied, and also wet
spaces where double continuous welding had been carried out
to remove the possibility of corrosion occurring in the
unwelded spaces. The wet spaces were subsequently pro-
duced using intermittent welding and a silicone sealant in the
area between the welds. Swedged bulkheads were also a low
heat input option for non-structural areas.

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Welding issues for ship structures
The welding of very thick plate to very thin plate caused
significant distortion problems due to the differences in heat
transfer between the two thicknesses setting up thermal
stress, which manifested itself as distortion.
These issues and others need to be highlighted at a much
earlier stage as rework creates additional cost and, if not car-
ried out correctly, could create undesirable metallurgical
structures in the plate. This need has been identified by some
shipyards as being the domain of a Production Engineering
Group. In the case of an outsourced design strategy then this
will become a much more critical interface to be managed.
The outsourcing of design has been highlighted1 as an
increasing trend, but a number of drawbacks have also been
raised. Such issues as language barriers, time differences and
lack of knowledge of build yard capabilities have been cited.
STEEL MATERIAL ISSUES
In line with the improvements in welding consumable
quality there has been a corresponding improvement in the
quality of steel plate and bar being used in ship construction.
Fig 10: A Ladle Furnace (LF) in operation
No. A18 2010 Journal of Marine Engineering and Technology
The almost universal adoption of the continuous casting
process over the last twenty years has significantly improved
the consistency of the product internal and surface quality.
Almost in parallel with this was a progressive increase in the
installation of secondary steelmaking units. The vacuum
degassing process decreased hydrogen levels, improved con-
trol of product chemistry and also steel cleanliness. Steel
ladle desulphurisation units have dramatically dropped steel
sulphur levels. Installation of ladle furnace (LF) stations (Fig
10) has improved overall process benefits to the vacuum
degassing and steel ladle desulphurisation processes.
The net result of this can be a much tighter band of steel
carbon equivalent (CEV) values, consistently lower sulphur
content, an overall reduction in steel hydrogen content and
better control of specific chemistry, such as carbon, nitrogen,
aluminium, and titanium (when required). Considering the
hydrogen content of the steel as an example the data in Fig 11
shows a cast by cast hydrogen level for EH46 grade steel. The
data is a combination of calcium treated and non-calcium
treated casts. There is a slight difference in the liquid steel
hydrogen levels between the calcium treated steel (2.12ppm)
37
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Welding issues for ship structures

and the non-calcium treated steel (2.8ppm). This is referred to
in a later section.
It is now rare to identify welding issues associated with
plate and bar chemical analysis and steel cleanliness.
Obviously these comments are not universal and apply to
developed steel companies in certain parts of the world.
THIN STEEL PLATE MATERIAL ISSUES
Following on from the previous sections a significant amount
of work has been carried out to create a greater understanding
of the factors that influence thin plate distortion. This is part-
ly attributed to the heat from the welding process. However,
one of the factors established was that if a plate has areas of
poor flatness then these areas act as sites for further distor-
tion. The implication is that the plate should be supplied to as
tight a flatness tolerance as possible. The 4mm plates shown
in Fig 12 are clearly unacceptable. The other factor related to
thin plate distortion is considered to be the effect of the resid-
ual stress in the plates. Often plates that are ostensibly flat
will distort during cutting and/or welding. This is a specifical-
ly complex area and is strongly related to the steel plate pro-
cessing conditions.
It is widely recognised that thin plate distortion will never
be eliminated completely. Consequently it is essential that the
remnant heat straightening has to be done in the most cost
effective manner, and also in a way which does not adverse-
ly affect the plate structure or properties. The use of induction
heating to carry out the straightening process will satisfy
these specific requirements.6 Work carried out recently has
shown that the steel structure changes slightly and the hard-
ness rises slightly. There is no effect on toughness. Revised

EH46 grade - trend for liquid H2 over time

Fig 11: Typical liquid steel
6.0 hydrogen levels from the
start of a current contract,
showing the effect of
5.0 process change on the
H content
Linear (H)

4.0
Liquid H2 content

3.0

2.0

1.0

0.0
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 55 57
Casting order

Fig 12: Unacceptable flatness in 4mm

thick plate

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Welding issues for ship structures

Fig 13: Single sided single pass submerged

arc weld. Cross section of macrostructure
showing the extent of the heat affected
zone(HAZ), which has been outlined in
black

methods of heat straightening, using propane for example, are

being reintroduced too, but what has become obvious is that
the use of the two processes can effectively be used in differ-
ent areas of a ship. For example, induction heating is ideally
suited to doing wide open expanses of the structure, but has
some limitations in small tight spaces, where the gas heating
process is more convenient to apply.

THICK STEEL PLATE MATERIAL ISSUES

At the opposite end of the thickness spectrum, distortion is
not an issue but the maintenance of acceptable plate proper-
ties in the heat affected zone (HAZ) certainly is.
Weld metal properties are currently not perceived as a
potential problem area. This is related to a significant amount
of development work by welding consumable suppliers over
the past 15 years. There is greater consistency in the product
which has led to ease of operation. The example described
earlier of the use of flux cored wire under SAW flux is a good
example of forward thinking to meet the user’s requirements.
The HAZ is a very complex area of the weld joint, especially
where multi-run welds have been laid down. For a single side
single pass weld, as can be the case for submerged arc weld- Fig 14: Complex structure of multi run heat affected zone7
ing, the HAZ is a relatively simple component of the weld.
This is shown in Fig 13, which is a single sided single pass and the paired results shown directly compare the effect of
SAW weld. The HAZ has been traced out, and there is a rela- titanium at equivalent heat inputs.
tionship between HAZ width and welding heat input, there- If hydrogen is taken as a specific overall case, it has already
fore, the higher the heat input then the wider the HAZ will be. been stated that with flux cored wires the hydrogen content will
A more complex situation is shown in Fig 14,7 where the be less than 5ml/100mg and typical liquid steel hydrogen con-
components of the HAZ have been identified. To some extent tents would be 2.4ppm. It has been reported10 that this generally
this will place some doubt on what actually governs the heat results in plate hydrogen content of around 0.8ppm. This then
affected zone toughness with the potential of up to six distinct significantly reduces the need to preheat joints prior to welding.
areas through which the crack could propagate. Due to the The significance of this is high as preheating and controlling the
improvements in steel production referred to earlier, elements application of it is another input into the overall welding
such as titanium can be tightly controlled and added to devel- process. In addition the potential for hydrogen cracking in the
op the potential to control the growth of austenite grains in welded structure has been significantly reduced
the HAZ.8 The effect of adding titanium to the steel plate An example of how some plate issues and related welding
HAZ is shown in Fig 15, where the smaller grains will ensure have been dealt with are evident in an aircraft carrier build. The
adequate toughness is retained in the HAZ. In the work use of EH46 on the hanger deck and flight deck is a relatively
shown9 in Fig 14 a range of heat inputs have been covered, new move in shipbuilding. The main motivation for this was to

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Welding issues for ship structures
7 NV2-4 steel
5
With no titanium
3
With titanium
1
0 100 200 300
Impact energy at -55C
reduce weight against a base case of EH36 steel. However,
there was also an overall cost benefit. Initial plate toughness of
the EH46, while within specification, was not as high as would
be expected. The main issue was perceived as having to main-
tain the HAZ properties. Subsequently the steel process route
was altered to include calcium treatment of the liquid steel,
which resulted11 in an average toughness increase of 45J. The
outcome was a greater degree of customer satisfaction.
In addition, there was a significant proportion of EH46
used in areas subjected to through thickness tensile stress,
which could lead to lamellar tearing. A snapshot of the TTRA
test data against steel sulphur content is shown in Fig 16,
where the performance against a 35% minimum level is more
than satisfactory. This performance has undoubtedly been
enhanced by the use of the calcium treated product, and
resulted in a 100% success rate.
Welding of EH46 (TMCP) steel does not pose any signif-
icant problems, assuming the correct welding consumables
have been used. However, within the flight deck there are a
large number (~3000) of link plates to be fitted. A number of
difficulties occurred in procuring an acceptable material for
the link plate. Initially this was mainly based on forged mate-
rial, which tended to have very high carbon equivalents and
borderline toughness. Eventually the link plate was sourced
from machined EH46 quench and temper (Q & T) material.
However, as this material has been sourced from a quench
and temper route plate it is necessary to carry out a weld pro-
cedure to cover welding EH46 (TMCP) to EH46 (Q & T).
The Q & T product requires marginally more attention to
detail than the TMCP material. In addition to the link plates,
there are number of flight deck light inserts. They too are
%average TTRA v Sulphur
70
60
50
40
Average %TTRA
30
20
10
0
0.001%S 0.002%S 0.003%S 0.004%S
% sulphur
40
Fig 15:The effect of 0.019% titanium on the
toughness of the heat affected zone (HAZ) of
made from EH46 (Q & T). Further inserts are required for fire
fighting nozzles. When considering all these inserts cogni-
sance has to be taken of possible fatigue issues.
THE APPROACH AHEAD
What has been described is a combination of good current
practice related to shipyard welding. As with most technolo-
gies there is a continuous need to improve the current
processes from an economic and business strategy viewpoint.
Part of this approach is now to extensively use process mod-
elling12 in the welding process. For example, a significant
amount of research has been carried out at the University of
Strathclyde13, 14 on modelling issues related to thin plate distor-
tion. The main areas investigated to-date have been, for example:
 Effect of cutting heat input and cutting sequence on
initial plate distortion,
 Effect of weld tacking sequence, tack length, tack spac-
ing and tack position on subsequent distortion,
 Effect of stiffener distance from seam weld on subse-
quent distortion,
 Effect of plate width at the end of a panel on overall
panel distortion,
 Effect of initial plate out of flatness on subsequent
distortion.
This modelling work has all been verified by actual
welding tests, which have also been used to refine the mod-
els. The benefit of this approach is to reduce the level of
on-plant testing where unknown variables can often lead to
Fig 16:Through thickness
content
reduction in area (TTRA) data
showing the effect of steel plate
sulphur content on performance
0.005%S 0.006%S 0.007%S
content
Journal of Marine Engineering and Technology No. A18 2010
McP EDITED_JMET_Sep.qxd 9/18/10 6:09 PM Page 41
Welding issues for ship structures
incorrect conclusions. The FEM approach has the benefit in
that it can be considered as a very powerful tool to indicate
the direction of the effects being investigated. As an example,
it is well-known that the residual stress present in plates and
bars in thin structures is an unknown variable. The approach
taken in FEM modelling is to assume that the starting resid-
ual stresses are even across the plates and bars.
In addition to the use of FEM, artificial neural networks
can be used in the welding process. ANN has been effectively
used15 in a thin plate distortion study where several previous-
ly unknown factors were identified. In addition, ANN is
currently being used16 to develop the optimum fillet welding
conditions that minimise overwelding, whilst achieving
acceptable penetration.
As previously discussed the use of modelling of the
shielding gas flow conditions is also being approached from
a modelling and validation approach. Some similar work has
been published17 on the effect of gun fume extraction on the
shielding gas flow patterns.
As discussed earlier, the HAZ is a key component of the
weld region. It is now feasible to establish the various
microstructures present within that area from a modelling
approach. From that, toughness and hardness can be reason-
ably accurately predicted. Again, it would be necessary to carry
out periodic validation work to ensure model compatibility.
CONCLUDING COMMENTS
It is quite apparent that there is a very sound knowledge base
to significantly limit issues related to welding to an absolute
minimum. It is the application of this knowledge base to the
production process that is the key point.
A number of issues continue to cause problems. For
example, the concept of buying cheap often creates knock on
effects of increasing overall cost as you go through the pro-
duction process. The concept of value needs to be more
strongly emphasised. There is still too much of a gap between
Design and Production. This is an area where Production
Engineering can act as a buffer and resolve potential build
issues prior to them getting on to the shop floor. However, for
this to be effective the constitution and abilities of such a
group need to be carefully thought through.
The future is a challenge to consider how cost can be
saved but still maintain procurement value. The concept of
modelling is not new to shipbuilding, with well-developed
FEM models in place. However, it is the uses of other mod-
els such as FEM or ANN that need to be explored in greater
depth. That modelling skill is very much the domain of
Universities or other research organisations – currently.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wishes to thank BAE Systems Surface Ships for
permission to publish this paper. Lincoln Electric (UK),
No. A18 2010 Journal of Marine Engineering and Technology
Binzel-Abicor, Air Liquide Welding and Siemens VAI are
thanked for the provision of Figs 1, 4, 7 and 10, respectively.
The supply of additional data by Dr A Trowsdale and Mr A
Dunsmore of Corus UK is gratefully acknowledged.
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