Cold cracking of underwater wet welded S355G10+N high strength steel

Water as the welding environment determines some essential problems influencing steel weldability. Underwater welding of high strength steel joints causes increase susceptibility to cold cracking, which is an effect of much faster heat transfer from the weld area and presence of diffusible hydrogen causing increased metal fragility. The paper evaluates the susceptibility to cold cracking of the high strength S355G10+N steel used, among others, for ocean engineering and hydrotechnical structures, which require underwater welding. It has been found from the CTS test results that the investigated steel is susceptible to cold cracking in the wet welding process.