Buried Arc GMAW-B

Shipyards have traditionally used submerged arc welding (SAW), flux cored arc welding (FCAW) and gas metal arc welding (GMAW) to fabricate butt joints on thick steel plate. When joining butt joints of ½” or greater, a bevel, along with multiple passes of weld are routinely required. Two-sided welding with a back gouging and grinding process prior to welding the second side is also frequently implemented. Thick section, single-pass welding is possible using a hybrid laser arc welding (HLAW) process, but this technology requires expensive equipment and stringent fit-up quality that can be difficult or costly to achieve in a shipyard environment. Buried arc GMAW (GMAW-B) is a GMAW process variant that provides the ability to weld thick plate (1/2”) in one pass using copper or ceramic backing.

Work has been completed in a previous NSRP project to develop GMAW-B procedures and benchmark the process against existing welding operations currently used in Naval shipyards. The work discussed in this presentation will pertain to the development of mechanized procedures and the implementation of GMAW-B technology on 3/8” and ½” steel plate.