An algorithm to estimate the cooling rate of welding seamson the shell plating of a ship, below the waterline, while it is onvoyage has been derived. The demand for this technique hasarisen from the wish of ship operators to make it possible forthe safe repair of ship structures without taking them out ofoperation. [1] The strength of the shell plating after welding isdetermined by its metallurgic structure, which is dependent onthe cooling rate, its chemical composition and the original grainsize of the base material. [2] The cooling rate for this type ofwelding seam depends on the velocity of the water flow, thedistance from the bow, the thickness of the plate, and the heatfrom the heat input of the welding. The algorithm makes itpossible to calculate the cooling rate for a base material affectedby a forced flow of fluid by means of Rosenthals equation andthus enabling suitable welding parameters to be determined.As the welding parameters can be chosen to fit the specificrepair to be made, it is now possible to determine the suitabilityof a welding procedure in advance. The algorithm is applicablewhen determining welding parameters at Hot-Tappingoperations as well, where the base material is affected by aforced flow of fluid. A number of experiments have beenperformed and the results support the theoretical model. Theresearch project continues with the aim of finding an algorithmto include the enhanced cooling rate due to the layer of boilingfluid on the back of the base material. A method to improve themeasurements of the most important parameter in the algorithmhas been developed and makes it possible to build up aquantitative database of typical values for various configurations.
An algorithm for heat transfer prediction of in-service welding operations in a forcedflow of fluid is presented. The algorithm presented is derived from Rosenthal’s 3D heatflow equation and boundary layer approximations. This was possible by the introductionof an apparent thermal conductivity kPL, which is a function of the boundary layer’s heattransfer coefficient f and the base material’s thickness . This implies that a weldcooling time ΔtT1 /T2 in a forced flow of fluid can now be calculated by an ordinaryengineering calculator and thus enabling suitable welding parameters to be determined.The magnitude of kPLf , was established by regression analysis of results from aparametric finite element analysis series of a total number of 112 numerical simulations.Furthermore, the result of the regression analysis was validated and verified by a weldingexperiment series accomplished on an in-house designed and constructed in-servicewelding rig. The principle design of the welding rig as well as its instrumentation, a PCbased Data Acquisition system, is described. In addition, a method to measure the weldmetals cooling time ΔtT1 /T2 by means of thermocouple elements is described. Finally,the algorithm presented in this study proved feasible for industrial in-service weldingoperations of fine-grained Carbon and Carbon–Manganese steels with a maximum Carbon Equivalent (IIW) (CE) of 0.32.