Current Research and Recommended Development on Fatigue Behavior of Underwater Welded Steel

Abstract

Underwater welding is the process of joining materials in the underwater. This process carried out to maintain or improve the structure of the material in water environments such as rivers and the sea. The underwater welding process consists of dry and wet welding. Underwater dry welding (UDW) is a welding method using a chamber that conditioned in the air environment. Whereas underwater wet welding is the welding process using a particular waterproof stick electrode, which directly water environments. UWW does not require a specific area during the welding process so that the operation is more accessible than other methods. So, the cost required is cheaper. However, the UWW technique has a disadvantage due to the water waves whose magnitude is always changing around the welding area. Cyclic loads that occur continuously can cause defects in the underwater welding results, such as inclusions. If there are several inclusions, so it will cause an increase in the rate of fatigue crack propagation. Fatigue behavior in the underwater joint can be a significant problem that must resolve. Therefore, this review article can be a reference in determining the steps to improve and increase the fatigue resistance of underwater welding joints.