Underwater Welding of Duplex Stainless Steel

Abstract

The present work was conducted to assess the weldability of duplex stainless steel at underwater conditions. Interest of underwater welding of this steel grade is connected with necessity of preparing welding repair technologies for subsea pipelines widely used in offshore oil and gas industry. The GMA local cavity welding method was used in the investigations. Welded beads were performed underwater at 0.5 m depth and in the air. Metallographic examinations of welds, ferrite content assessment in microstructure and hardness test were performed. The good weldability at underwater conditions of duplex stainless with the use of GMA local cavity method was confirmed.