Effect of Welding Parameter on the Corrosion Rate of Underwater Wet Welded SS400 Low Carbon Steel

Featured Application This paper provides a series of investigation references to set configuration of the main parameters in the technical application of underwater wet welding (UWW). This study aims to determine the effect of welding parameters on the corrosion rate of underwater wet welded SS400 low carbon steel. The underwater wet welding process was conducted using shielded metal arc welding (SMAW). Three welding electrodes, i.e., E7016, RB26 and RD26, were used in underwater wet welding performed with water depth variations 2.5 m, 5 m and 10 m. Welding current in the experiment was set to be 100 A and 110 A. After the welding stage, corrosion test was carried out on each joint in a 3.5%-NaCl solution using three-electrode polarization resistance methods. Corrosion testing results indicated that the lowest corrosion rate was found in underwater welding with current parameters of 100 A, 2.5-m depth and RB26 electrodes. The highest corrosion rate is obtained with the setting of underwater welding of 110-A current, 10-m depth and E7016 electrodes.