Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1. The E7018 welding rods I've been buying are now marked E7018 H4R. What
does the H4R mean? Are these rods different than the E7018 rods I've used before?
"R" identifies electrodes passing the absorbed moisture test after exposure
to an environment of 80؛F(26.7؛C) and 80% relative humidity for a period
of not less than 9 hours.
The H4R suffix is basically just additional information printed on the rod,
and does not necessarily mean a change in an electrode previously marked
E7018.
High strength steels, thick sections, and heavily restrained parts are more
susceptible to hydrogen cracking. On these materials, we recommend
using a low hydrogen process and consumable, and following proper
preheat, interpass, and postheat procedures. Also, it is important to keep
the weld joint free of oil, rust, paint, and moisture as they are sources of
hydrogen.
3. What is the maximum plate thickness which can be welded with Innershield NR-
211MP (E71T-11) wire?
Electrode selection is determined from the base metal chemistries and the
percent weld admixture. The electrode should produce a weld deposit with
a small amount of ferrite (3-5 FN) needed to prevent cracking. When the
chemistries are not known, our Blue Max 2100 electrode, which produces
a high ferrite number, is commonly used.
Cast irons are alloys which typically have over 2% carbon plus 1-3%
silicon and are difficult to weld. Electrodes with a high percentage of
nickel are commonly used to repair cast iron. Nickel is very ductile,
making it a good choice to weld on cast iron, which is very brittle. Soft
weld 99Ni and Soft weld 55Ni are the Lincoln Electric electrodes
designed for welding cast iron.
Core Ten (A242 & A588) steels are weathering steels commonly used for
outdoor structures. These steels have a higher resistance to atmospheric
corrosion than typical mild steels. Often, welds on these steels are
specified for similar corrosion resistance and color match.
On single pass welds, mild steel electrodes are commonly used. There is
usually enough pickup from the base metal to obtain a good color match.
AR400 is a quench and tempered steel and may be difficult to weld due its
high strength and hardenability. The base steel around the weld rapidly
heats and cools during welding, resulting in a heat affected zone (HAZ)
with high hardness. Any hydrogen in the weld metal may diffuse into
HAZ and may cause hydrogen embrittlement, resulting in delayed
underbead or toe cracks outside of the weld. To minimize heat affected
zone cracking:
9. What consumables are better for welding over rusty, dirty steel?
Steel should be cleaned of any oil, grease, paint, and rust before using any
arc welding process. However, if complete cleaning cannot be performed,
consumables that form a slag, have deeper penetration, are slower
freezing, or have higher Silicon and Manganese are recommended for
dirty steels. These consumables include:
SMAW: Fleetweld 5P+
GMAW: L-56, MC-710
FCAW-GS: Outershield 75
FCAW-SS: Innershield NR-311
SAW: 761, 780 fluxes
10. What flux-cored wires are better for welding on high sulfur steel?
AWS D5.20-95 FCAW Specification states that E70T-4 and E70T-7 flux-
cored wires are designed with a slag system to produce welds very low in
sulfur and resistant to hot cracking. Corresponding Lincoln products are
Innershield NS-3M and NR-311 self-shielded flux-cored wires. Also our
E70T-5, Outershield 75-H gas-shielded flux-cored wire is also a better
choice for welding on high sulfur steels.
12. Why are the Charpy impact values from my test welds lower than that printed
on your Certificate of Conformance?
13. I'm using Outershield 71M (E71T-1) flux-cored wire with 75Ar/25CO2. Why am
I getting gas marks on the weld surface?
15. I'm welding with an Innershield FCAW-SS wire and occasionally get porosity.
How can I eliminate this?
Preheating the steel to be welded slows the cooling rate in the weld area.
This may be necessary to avoid cracking of the weld metal or heat affected
zone. The need for preheat increases with steel thickness, weld restraint,
the carbon/alloy content of the steel, and the diffusible hydrogen of the
weld metal. Preheat is commonly applied with fuel gas torches or
electrical resistance heaters.
AWS D1.1 Structural Steel Welding Code, Section 5.6 states: Preheat and
all subsequent minimum interpass temperatures shall be maintained during
the welding operation for a distance at least equal to the thickness of the
thickest welded part, but not less than 3 in. [75mm] in all directions from
the point of welding.
Interpass temperature refers to the temperature of the steel just prior to the
depositing of an additional weld pass. It is identical to preheat, except that
preheating is performed prior to any welding.
When the electrodes are exposed to the air, they will pickup moisture and
should be redried. Electrodes exposed to the air for less than 1 week with
no direct contact with water should be redried as follows:
If the electrodes come in direct contact with water or have been exposed to
high humidity, they should be predried for 1-2 hours at 180؛220-؛F first
before following the above redrying procedure.