14/07/2023
While I was in a welding site where the welder was doing some repairs on the doors, I came across about two to three of his electrodes that were soaked wet with water and was about being used and I asked him, " these ones are wet, are you going to use them too"? he replied YES!! "why not, whether the electrode is wet or not it will still work" (he certainly thought I was a layman on welding). I kept calm and watched him do his work because saying anything at that point might birth words like "who are you? do you want to teach me my work"?
Now, let us go to the main aim of this article.
WELDING ELECTRODE: For the purpose of this article, this is a welding consumable that melts when struck against a base metal to form a weld at a high temperature.
Some of the corrosion associated with weld joints are electrode induced. This could be due to use of untidy electrode or wet electrode due to the presence of hydrogen in water.
If electrode is wet during welding process (at high temperature), due to the high temperature, hydrogen atom will diffuse into the weld and create voids and then build molecules of hydrogen there which then produce pressure within the cavity. This pressure elevates and lowers the intergrity of the weld and consequently result in hydrogen induced cracking (HIC).
This weld might look good by mere looking with the naked eyes but microstructurally and metallurgically impaired, which leads to cracks few days after the welding process.
Some of the ways to avoid or minimize such catastrophy is to ensure that your welding electrodes are kept tidy and dried. In cases whereby the electrode get wet or moist accidentally or due to poor storage, ensure you dry it very well before use.
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