Underwater Welding 1

Underwater Welding
Jared Dewey
Lansing Community College
METM 100 Manufacturing Processes
Dave Kocsis
March 26
th
, 2014







Underwater Welding 2

Certification Statement:
CERTIFICATION OF AUTHORSHIP: I certify that I am the author of this paper
and that any assistance I received in its preparation is fully acknowledged
and disclosed in the paper. I have also cited any sources from which I used
data, ideas or words, either quoted directly or paraphrased. I also certify
that this paper was prepared by me specifically for this course.
Jared Dewey 27/5/14














Underwater Welding 3


Abstract
Underwater welding is just another form of welding but is simply
underwater. There has been some advancement over time that as has
helped this type form of welding. There are two types of underwater
welding, one being wet welding and the other being dry welding (Hyperbaric
welding). Wet welding you are open and free to move around and dry
welding you are in a camber that is created around the area you are
welding. To become an underwater welder you have to have a high school
Diploma or GED, ability to swim, mechanical aptitude, Commercial Diving
Certification, and lastly AWS Certified Welding Training. Once they get a job
in this career they have safety qualifications that they have to pass, this
keeps the job as safe as possible.







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Underwater welding has become very useful. It gives new capabilities
to what can be done and created through the human brain. We can do
things now that would have never been a possibility without it. But with
something that leads to such great creativity comes with great costs and
dangers. That being said its well worth the pay and the time of a life youll
be having. Its up to you what time of underwater welding you will go into.
Founder of Underwater Welding
Underwater welding was founded by a man named Konstantin
Khrenov. His whole life he worked on the development of welding techniques
and new equipment. Konstantins was very interested in welding and was a
teacher for many years. He went to one of the oldest and largest Russian
technical universities. After all his time spent in the class room and teaching
he finally had a breakthrough on underwater welding. It wasnt until 1932
when he had developed a new way of welding. Not even 5 years later and it
was already being used for varies jobs. This could be used for practically
anything that needed to be done underwater and was some sort of steel or
iron. In 1936-1938 this new form of welding was being used in lifting the
sunken ship Boris in the Black Sea. During World War II underwater welding
was used to make repairs on items such as bridges and ships. Other things
they also use underwater welding for is oil drilling rigs, oil tankers, pipelines,
and platforms. When these items have a break in them from normal usage
or natural disaster like storms they need to be repaired. The only way to
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repair something like that would be to take it out of the water and bring it
above the surface and weld it then. Because of underwater welding they can
just go down and do it that way which makes it a very useful skill. Saves
time and money.
Education Needed
Someone wanting to get into this field would need to go through a few
steps in order to get there. First of all you have to graduate from high school
or get a GED. After that its on to find the school for you. Trade schools,
colleges and universities are where youll be headed and this is where it the
decision is made on where your education will come from. An underwater
welding school will give you the right skill you need in order to be successful
later on in your career. After you get all that done with that hopefully you
know how to swim because its going to be a very important part of the job.
Without the ability to swim this would just be the wrong career for you. The
third step is passing the mechanical aptitude test. This is a test that
measures a subject's mechanical aptitude, or ability to learn to use and
maintain equipment and machinery (WTMA). This helps so show how the
person will perform out in the field. Once you are passed this part of journey
the next step is getting your Commercial Diving Certification. Every
underwater welding must get this. To qualify for this certification, a diver
will have to demonstrate skills in diver communication, diving physiology
and emergency procedures, underwater inspections, hyperbaric chamber
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operations, and the use of various commercial grade tools (Underwater
Welder: Salary, Job Duties and Requirements). Next you need AWS Certified
Welding Training. This just means you have a welding skill that is ranked at
AWS D3.6 standard. You just have to go to a school that offers this kind of
training to gain a skill such as this. Underwater welders are required to have
their certifications current which requires the welder to have frequent
examinations. This just makes sure the welder is always up to date. Other
than the schooling part of underwater welding you have to be strong
mentally and physically. Youll be having long work hours and extensive
travel. All of that schooling with cost money like the tuition, registration
fees, room and board, books/equipment, and the dive physical youll be
taking. Need to make you have a plan on how to pay for all of this so you
dont go knee deep in debt.
Wet Welding
There are two different types of underwater welding and theyre
classified as wet welding and dry welding. They both serve the same
purpose. Wet welding lets you know that the person performing the
underwater weld is being directly exposed to environment. To perform wet
welding there is a special electrode that is used this allows the welder to
perform his job just as one would do in open air welding. Because there is a
wide range of free space to move around in this type of welding tends to be
the most effective and economical choice. The power supply happens to be
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located on the surface of the water which has the connection to the
diver/welder via cables and hoses need to perform. The type of weld that is
used in wet welding is MMA (manual metal arc welding). They power supply
used is DC and polarity used is ve polarity. When those two are used
together it creates electrolysis that takes place and cause rapid deterioration
of metallic components in the electrode holder. Wet welding uses a power
source that is direct current at a rate or 300 or 400 amperes. The machines
that are usually used for this are motor generator welding machines. The
frame of the machine has to be grounded to the ship; the welding circuit
should have a positive type of switch most commonly operated by a knife
switch located by the welder-diver. The knife switch is used to break the
current in case of an emergency, its safety precaution. The only time
electrode holder should be connected is during the welding period.
The types of electrodes used conform to AWS E6013 classification and
must be waterproofed. All the connections have to be thoroughly insulated
to make sure no water can come in contact with the metal parts that are
contained in the electrodes. If there happens to be a leak in the insulation
and water comes in contact with the metal there will not be an arc available
to perform the underwater weld. Without the arc in place the copper cable
will go under rapid deterioration where the leak is present. Keeping the
electrodes insulated is a very important part of Wet Welding because without
it there cannot be a successful weld.
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Dry welding
Dry welding or possibly know has Hyperbaric welding to some is
another type of welding used underwater. Instead of being directly exposed
to the water itself the weld takes place in a chamber that is created and
sealed around the structure where the weld is needed. The chamber is filled
with a gas (commonly helium containing 0.5 bar of oxygen) at the prevailing
pressure. The habitat is sealed onto the pipeline and dilled with a breathable
mixture of helium and oxygen, at or slightly above the ambient pressure at
which the welding is to take place (Underwater Welding). Using this method
of welding produces a high-quality weld joint that meets X-ray and code
requirements. The weld is being done in the dry conditions of the habitat but
at the hydrostatic pressure caused or created by the sea water surrounding
the habitat. The diver/welder works outside the chamber. There are MMA
electrodes that are positioned inside that the welder can move from the
outside. Dry welding is usually used when a higher quality weld is needed.
Its had a higher quality weld because they can control the conditions inside
the chamber by pumping gas inside to push the water out.
Advantages of Dry Welding
Dry welding is nice because the weld is in a chamber that has its own
environmental control system. The welds have a higher quality to them
because of this reason; they can make the environment to whatever they
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need it to be. The weld is almost as good as open air welds. During the weld
they can monitor the joint preparation, pipe alignment, and NDT inspection
visually.
Advantages of Wet Welding
Wet welding has a much lower cost compared to dry welding. Because
of this it makes this type of welding highly desirable by many companies.
Its also a faster operation since there isnt as much preparation needed to
begin a weld. Another big reason that makes wet welding better is that the
welder can reach portions of offshore structures that could not be welded
using other methods. Since the enclosure does not have to be built like in
dry welding there is not time lost. They just use standard welding machine
and equipment which is not nearly as much as if they were going to dry
weld.
Disadvantages of Dry/Wet Welding
Dry welding requires large quantities of complex equipment. Also the
cost of the chamber is extremely high and the deeper they have to go with it
the cost goes up even more. Just for a single weld job it cost $ 80,000!
Because in wet welding the weld is exposed to the water there is a
rapid quenching of the weld metal. This decreases the ductility and impact
strength of that is applied. Since there is hydrogen present when welding
when it dissolves from the heat of the weld it can cause crack and
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microscopic fissures. If the crack happens to grow over time it can result in
catastrophic failure of the structure. Another thing is the poor visibility that
is available result in a poor/improper weld.
Safety Requirements
People in charge of the work site make sure that there is a adequate
electrical insulation of the welding equipment. Having to shut of the
electricity supply as soon as the arc is extinguished. Limiting the open-circuit
voltage of MMA. They need to make sure to avoid build-up of pockets of gas
that are potentially explosive. They also need to watch closely to avoid large
amounts of nitrogen introduced into the blood stream that is cause from the
increased pressure. There are stand by divers just in case anything goes
bad.
There are lots of things to take into play if youre thinking for going
into underwater welding. Theres lots of schooling that is needed, its a
dangerous job. Need to have a plan to pay for it and the right work ethic.
This job has multiple they that need to be known to perform. Not necessarily
a very long process but hard to perfect. Things can go wrong if not careful
but they take lots of precautions.



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"http://education-
portal.com/articles/Underwater_Welder_Salary_Job_Duties_and_Requireme
nts."http://education-
portal.com/articles/Underwater_Welder_Salary_Job_Duties_and_Requireme
nts. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 May 2014. <http://education-
portal.com/articles/Underwater_Welder_Salary_Job_Duties_and_Requireme
nts.html>.

"Konstantin Khrenov." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 24 May 2014.
Web. 28 May 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konstantin_Khrenov>.

"How to Become an Underwater Welder."CDA Technical Institute's
Commercial Diver Program. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 May 2014.
<https://www.commercialdivingacademy.com/underwater-welder.cms>.