Properties of Wet Welded Joints

The work presently reported is part of a joint R&D programme between GKSS Research Centre and Comex Services to develop a wet welding procedure for structural application. The main objective of the report is the presentation of so far evaluated results achieved in a wet welding test programme down to a water depth of 100 m sw. The paper reports on the comparison between weldment properties produced with ferritic and and austenitic electrodes in a simulated dive and the achieved mechanical - technological weldment properties. The welds were performed in the flat position on steel plates, using RSt 52-3 (DIN 17100) as base metal. The selected consumables were readily available on the market but so far have not been applied to the tested depths. The evaluated results are encouraging. Further developments and investigations are in progress.