Effect of input parameters on bead geometry and penetration in underwater wet welding using FCAW-S process

Underwater wet welding (UWW) is the most widely used technique for repair and maintenance of underwater steel structures. In this paper, it is present the influence of the main welding parameters on the weld bead geometry (penetration, reinforcement and width) using the self-shielded flux cored arc welding (FCAW-S) process. For this purpose, four different experimental welds were made on ASTM A36 steel plates using different combinations of voltage (22.8–25.2 V), wire feed speed (WFS, 290.5 and 409.5 ipm) and amperage (145–220 A). As the resulting bead geometry is influenced by the welding parameters, the width, penetration, and reinforcement were measured using ImageJ software. The results showed that V has an inversely proportional effect on the width, on the other hand, when A increases, the reinforcement of the weld and penetration tend to increase. Graphical abstract