Tandem Gas Metal Arc Welding for Low Distortion Butt Welds

The feasibility of using Tandem Gas Metal Arc Welding (T-GMAW) to produce full penetration butt welds in 5mm ship panel steel plates has been assessed and compared to the current Submerged Arc Welding (SAW) process. Experiments conducted show that the T-GMAW process is feasible and demonstrated a significant improvement over the SAW process in several areas including higher travel speed, a reduction in filler material, significantly lower post weld distortion, and a smaller Heat Affected Zone (HAZ), while maintaining similar microstructure and mechanical properties in the weld metal and HAZ.