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'Dry' rutile cored wires really exist!
Previous page True low-hydrogen from shiny FILARC wires

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By N.G. Nühn, M. Goldschmitz & B. Altemühl,
FILARC Welding Industries B.V., Utrecht, The
Netherlands*

In this article the authors survey the weld

metal hydrogen performance of FILARC
Back to catalogue PZ6138 (AWS 5.29: E81T1-Ni1); a titanium-
boron (TiB) micro-alloyed rutile cored wire
that is widely applied in offshore fabrica-
tion for all-positional welding.
Produced with the advanced rolling tech-
nology, PZ6138 is characterised by a low
initial hydrogen content, a high resis-
tance to moisture reabsorption and by
weld metal hydrogen levels that remain
below HDM 5 over a wide range of weld-
ing parameters.
These properties are discussed against
the background of the EN 758:1992 propo-
sal for European standardisation, which
will require manufacturers to define under
which conditions their cored wires provide
the claimed weld metal hydrogen class.
An appendix gives detailed background
information about the factors determin-
ing the hydrogen content of weld metal
from cored wires, about present guide-
lines for hydrogen determination in clas-
sification standards, and about the chan-
ges that EN758 will bring in this respect.
Readers may find it helpful to read this
section first.
Hydrogen release from weld metal

Introduction
The increasing availability of steels with a
low hardenability provides opportunities for
industry to reduce, or even abandon, costly
preheating. For this, very low-hydrogen wel-
ding consumables are an important prerequi-
site.
TiB-alloyed versions of all-position rutile
cored wires have become extremely popu-
lar in offshore fabrication, because they
unite superb weldability and high welding
productivity, while, additionally, yielding sat-
isfactory mechanical properties. It almost
sounds too good to be true.
And indeed, there is a snag, which may well
become apparent when above described
tendency will result in an extra focus on the
consumable's low-hydrogen performance.
Of all available cored wire types very low-
hydrogen is least easily achieved with the
rutile flux formulation. The fact that most
manufacturers now all the same claim hy-
* Nico Nühn, Michel Goldschmitz and Ben Alte-
mühl are respectively Manager Research and
Development, Product Developer Cored Wires
and Sales Promotion Manager for FILARC
Welding Industries, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
** EN symbol for HDM max. 5mlH2/100g
drogen levels below H5** for their E81T1-
Ni1 wires and other rutile types, is largely
facilitated by the fact that the determination
of diffusible hydrogen for classification pur-
poses is too loosely specified in standards
like BS7084:1989 (see appendix).
Improvements in this respect are in the
making, though. In the knowledge that stick-
out length and welding current have great
influence on the weld metal hydrogen con-
tent, prEN758: 1992 requires manufactur-
ers to define an envelop of operating condi-
tions for which the claimed hydrogen class
can be guaranteed, along with storage re-
commendations to retain this class. Hydro-
gen classes can be H15, H10, or H5 and
these denotations are to be included in the
codification of the cored wire. Also, the
same wire can receive more than one hy-
drogen class if it is suited for different shield-
ing gases; another important influencial.
Living up to the requirements of prEN758
for the H5 hydrogen class, is not expected
to be a problem with most basic and metal-
cored wires. With rutile types, however, very
low-hydrogen properties are less easily ac-
quired. Their hydrogen performance strong-
ly depends on flux formulation and produc-
tion technique.
FILARC's unique rolling technology has
proven to yield "true low-hydrogen" rutile
cored wires, by which is meant a low initial
hydrogen content, low sensitivity to more
critical welding parameters and high resis-
tance to moisture pick-up.
This article discusses the production method
and associated wire formulation of FILARC
very low-hydrogen rutile cored wires, and
surveys the hydrogen performance of
PZ 6138; an E81T1-Ni1 all-position rutile
TiB micro-alloyed cored wire for low-tem-
perature applications.
Flux formulation and production tech-
niques
FILARC's rolling technique requires such
minimal lubrication that no subsequent bak-
ing treatment is needed to remove hydro-
gen containing residuals. Consequently,
wires retain a shiny, non-oxidised surface,
ensuring optimal current transition.
Unlike traditionally produced, baked wires,
no synthetic and often hygroscopic arc sta-
bilisers are needed to repair arc character-
istics. FILARC's shiny wires only require re-
latively small amounts of non-hycroscopic
arc stabilisers to optimise arc behaviour.
Figure 1 categorises the hydrogen perfor-
mance of first and latest generation rutile
all-positional, micro-alloyed cored wires, in-
cluding the FILARC PZ 6138 (E81T1-Ni1),
produced by the rolling technique.
Hydrogen values of PZ 6138, determined
under standard FILARC test welding condi

1
Articles and
application stories
tions, are statistically between 1.8 and in a climate room, under various atmos- unrealistically severe.
3.5ml/100g deposited weld metal. These pheric conditions. For comparison, the Under normal warehouse conditions, as
test conditions comprise 15mm stand-off, PZ 6125, a new generation basic cored wire, described in our storage recommenda-
200A (DC+)/26V in 80%Ar/20%CO2 gas and an E8016-G low-hydrogen stick elec- tions, shelf life is regarded as practically un-
Previous page protection, under a typical laboratory at-
mospheric condition of 20°C at 40%RH.
trode have also been included. Unlike the
electrode, both cored wires appear to be
limited, without the need for any "special"
protective packaging.
The term stand-off means the contact tip to relatively insensitive to the absolute air mois- A similar trend is observed when exposing
workpiece distance. What is referred to as ture content, due to shielding gas protection. unpacked wire to the same severe condi-
Next page stick-out length, is in fact stand-off minus FILARC's standard test condition (20°C at tions. Test samples consist of a few meters

Figure 1. Influence of current intensity & stand-off on HDM value for vari- Figure 2. Welding parameter envelope for FILARC PZ6138. Influence of
ous all-positional rutile micro-alloyed wires. current intensity and stand-off on HDM value.

Traditionally produced all-positional rutile micro-alloyed types

7.0
L = 10mm
Back to catalogue Latest generation with improved flux formulation & production techniques
FILARC PZ6138 (rolling technique) 6.0 L = 15mm

Diffusible hydrogen (ml/100g)

L = 20mm
15 5.0

Diffusible hydrogen (ml/100g)

L = 10mm 4.0
10 L = 20mm
3.0

2.0
5
1.0

0 0.0

200 210 220 230 240 250 260 270 280 290 300
200 250 300
Current (A) Current (A)

Figure 3. Influence of absolute air moisture content during welding for Figure 4. Accelerated shelf life tests for FILARC PZ6138/1.2mm exposed
FILARC PZ6138, PZ6125 & E8016-G electrode. unpacked and packed at 80% RH at 26.6°C

35 Lot no. 3081039 (unpacked)

Lot no. 2261059 (unpacked)
Absolute air moisture content (g/m3)

10
30 Lot no. 2231059 (unpacked)
9
Lot no. 3081039 (packed)

Diffusible hydrogen (ml/100g)

25 8 Lot no. 2261059 (packed)
7 MMA E7018/4.0mm
20 6
FCW PZ6138/1.2mm
15 5
FCW PZ6125/1.2mm
4
10 MMA E8016-G/3.2mm
3
2
5
1
0 0
Start 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0
Exposure time (weeks)
Diffusible hydrogen (ml/100g)

arc length. So, assuming an arc length of 40%RH) relates to an absolute air moisture of wire, loosely wound on basket reels.
3mm, the actual stick-out length is 12mm. content of 8g/m3. An absolute moisture Figure 4 shows that after a sharper initial in-
content of 20g/m3 is, for Europe, a severe crease, the same saturation point of around
Sensitivity to welding parameters climatic condition of 26.7°C at 80%RH, 5ml is reached after about four weeks.
As mentioned above, weld metal hydrogen whereas 35g/m3 equals a tropical condition Because FILARC wires contain no hycro-
levels, especially from rutile cored wires, of 35°C at 90%RH. scopic ingredients, the observed increase
are considerably affected by stand-off and in weld metal hydrogen is merely the result
current intensity level. In hydrogen determi- Shelf life and unprotected exposure of moisture adhering to the wire surface
nation, it has been FILARC practice for Another important feature of a true low-hy- and to the surface of powders in the fill.
years to use a relatively small stand-off of drogen consumable, is its resistance to There is no true moisture reabsorption, in
15mm for 1.2mm size wires. moisture pick-up. Moisture reabsorption which moisture is chemically bound by flux
FILARC wires are also regularly tested at can take place during long term storage in ingredients, as with traditionally produced
higher currents than the standard 200A level. the original packaging (shelf life) and during rutile cored wires. Such wires easily reach
Figure 2 shows the resulting welding para- unprotected exposure on the shopfloor. 10 to 15ml within one week of unprotected
meter envelope, as determined for PZ 6138 Accelerated shelf life test results for FILARC exposure, or when left on the shopfloor in
rutile all-position cored wire, in mixed gas. PZ 6138 in its original packaging are shown open packaging for longer periods.
It can be seen that up to 285A current in- figure 4. Weld metal hydrogen has been de- Note that moisture resistance also com-
tensity, even at short stand-off, weld metal termined after several periods of exposure pares favourably with basic electrodes, that
hydrogen content remains below H5. in a climate room at 26.7°C and 80%RH reach a hydrogen level well over H5 after a
(AWS standard atmospheric condition). much shorter period of time, unless pro-
Atmospheric influence during welding Some initial increase in weld metal hydro- tected by vacuum packaging.
Figure 3 shows hydrogen results for FILARC gen is observed, flattening out as exposure These, and similar tests on other wires,
PZ 6138, determined from samples welded times lengthen. Evidently, this condition is confirmed by wide experience in fabrica-

2
Articles and
application stories
tion, prove that FILARC's range comprises
true low-hydrogen rutile cored wires, yield-
ing below H5 under all practical welding
conditions. PZ 6115, another true low-hy-
Previous page drogen rutile type is described elsewhere,
applied for the construction of an ice-
Next page
APPENDIX
Assuming that steel type (carbon equiva-
lent), wall thickness, weld joint design
and rigidity of a construction are deter-
Back to catalogue mined at the design stage, measures to
avoid hydrogen induced cracking remain
available for use in welding procedures,
as follows:
- Limitation of weld and heat affected
zone hardness by controlling the cool-
ing rate of welds through careful selec-
tion of heat input, preheating and inter-
pass temperature.
- Hydrogen release (soaking) treatment.
- Use of hydrogen controlled arc welding
consumables.
The use of hydrogen controlled arc weld-
ing consumables gives control over the
diffusible hydrogen content of welds; the
major cold cracking influence. In British
Standard Specification BS5135:1984 (to
be superseded by prEN 1011-93), for the
arc welding of carbon and carbon man-
ganese steels, preheat temperatures are
even directly linked to diffusible hydrogen
levels. It is, therefore, important that manu-
facturers specify for which conditions the
claimed hydrogen class is valid, along
with guidelines for storage to remain with-
in this class.
Classification and determination
For the classification of cored wires, the
standard BS7084:1989 (to be super-
seded by pr EN758:1992) distinguishes
the hydrogen classes H15, H10 and H5,
indicating maximum diffusible hydrogen
contents in ml/100g deposited weld metal
(table 1).
The determination of diffusible hydrogen
from cored wires for classification pur-
poses, however, is still insufficiently de-
fined and subject to debate. To obtain a
single hydrogen value needed for classifi-
cation, BS7084 prescribes an arbitrary
minimum welding current for each wire
diameter (200A for 1.2mm wires), without
specifying the stick-out length.
Unlike MMA electrodes, however, a 1.2mm
size cored wire has a wide current range
of 150 to 300A and stick-out may vary be-
BS7084 class ISO/IIW hydrogen scale
H15 B medium
H10 C low
H5 D very low
Table 1: BS7084 classes for diffusible hydrogen from arc welding consumables.
* Diffusible hydrogen per 100 g deposited weld metal, determined according to
BS6693:1988/part 5 or ISO 3690:1977
breaker. The combined use of a modern
Q&T steel and a very low-hydrogen cored
wire, provided cost efficient welding with-
out preheating.
tween 10 and 25mm. It is now widely
known that these parameters have a ma-
jor influence on the weld metal hydrogen
level.
It is clear that the single hydrogen value
on which the classification is based, does
not give a complete view of the wire's hy-
drogen performance over its full parame-
ter range. Additionally, comparison of pro-
ducts from different origins is very difficult
for fabricators, since BS7084 leaves ma-
nufacturers freedom to test at the mini-
mum welding current only and select oth-
erwise favourable welding conditions
The pr-EN 758:1992 proposal attempts to
improve this situation by requiring manu-
facturers to state, in their sales literature,
an envelope of welding conditions for
which the claimed hydrogen class is
valid, along with guidelines for storage to
remain within this class.
Also, the use of separate codes for differ-
ent shielding gases is anticipated in the
proposal. Hydrogen values obtained in
80%Ar/20%CO2 mixed gas, for instance,
are roughly 30% higher than in CO2. Thus
the same wire may be classified H10 for
mixed gas and H5 for CO2.
Changes are also underway in the United
States, where the AWS 5.20 and 5.29
standards for cored wires are being re-
vised. AWS 5.18-93, the standard for solid
wires that now also includes metal-cored
wires, already uses hydrogen classes for
inclusion in the codification.
Weld metal hydrogen from cored wires
The value obtained from hydrogen testing
for classification purposes, or from quali-
ty control tests is defined as "initial hy-
drogen content" by the authors.
This initial hydrogen content represents
the hydrogen performance of the product
relatively shortly after production, as de-
termined at the minimum current of 200A
(Ø 1.2mm) according to BS7084.
Before actual fabrication welding, cored
wires may reabsorp moisture from the air
during packed warehouse storage or at
the workstation after opening of the pack-
aging. The absorped moisture will in-
crease the amount of diffusible hydrogen
Description HDM*
10-15
<10
<5
in the weld metal.
The hydrogen content may be further in-
creased by welding parameters as used
in practice, and different from those used
in hydrogen testing. Shorter stick-out
lengths and higher welding currents pro-
mote higher hydrogen values.
With shorter stick-out, there is less resis-
tive heating (I2R effect) available to evap-
orate hydrogen containing residues from
the wire surface. These residues can con-
sist of drawing soap or other lubricants
used in manufacturing the wires. So more
of it enters the weld pool, increasing the
hydrogen content.
At higher welding currents, finer droplets
(spray arc) promote higher hydrogen val-
ues, because more specific droplet sur-
face (higher surface/volume ratio) is ex-
posed to the hydrogen containing arc
atmosphere.
The effect of atmospheric conditions dur-
ing welding is relatively small, because
the shielding gas effectively separates
the arc from the air.
Summarising, the final weld metal hydro-
gen content is the combined effect of a
cored wire's initial hydrogen content, hy-
drogen from moisture reabsorption and
the influence of welding parameters (fig-
ure 5). External sources of hydrogen in
the joint area, like primer rust or dew, are
not consumable related, so not taken in-
to account.
C
B
HDM
A
A Initial hydrogen content, as determined under
BS 7084 standard test conditions (200A).
Stick-out undefined.
B Hydrogen content, as determined under
BS 7084 standard test conditions (200A), after
moisture reabsorption
C Hydrogen content after welding with high current
and short stick-out; also after moisture reabsorption
Figure 5. The weld metal hydrogen content
from cored wires is the combined effect of ini-
tial hydrogen content, hydrogen from mois-
ture reabsorption and the influence of welding
parameters.