Hyperbaric Welding - Dry

Dry

Dry hyperbaric welding involves the weld being performed at the prevailing pressure in a chamber filled with a gas mixture sealed around the structure being welded.

Most welding processes SMAW, FCAW, GTAW, GMAW, PAW could be operated at hyperbaric pressures, but all suffer as the pressure increases. Gas tungsten arc welding is most commonly used. The degradation is associated with physical changes of the arc behaviour as the gas flow regime around the arc changes and the arc roots contract and become more mobile. Of note is a dramatic increase in arc voltage which is associated with the increase in pressure. Overall a degradation in capability and efficiency results as the pressure increases.Welding processes have become increasingly important in almost all manufacturing industries and for structural application . Although, a large number of techniques are available for welding in atmosphere, many of these techniques can not be applied in offshore and marine application where presence of water is of major concern. In this regard, it is relevant to note that, a great majority of offshore repairing and surfacing work is carried out at a relatively shallow depth, in the region intermittently covered by the water known as the splash zone. Though, numerically most ship repair and welding jobs are carried out at a shallow depth, most technologically challenging task lies in the repairing at a deeper water level, especially, in pipelines and occurrence/creation of sudden defects leading to a catastrophic accidental failure. The advantages of underwater welding are of economical nature, because underwater-welding for marine maintenance and repair jobs bypasses the need to pull the structure out of the sea and saves valuable time and dry docking costs.

Special control techniques have been applied which have allowed welding down to 2500m simulated water depth in the laboratory, but dry hyperbaric welding has thus far been limited operationally to less than 400m water depth by the physiological capability of divers to operate the welding equipment at high pressures and practical considerations concerning construction of an automated pressure / welding chamber at depth.