Originally developed by the Linde – Union Carbide Company, the submerged arc welding process is widely used in the rigs of beams, booms, etc. Deferent by the open arc welding process, the submerged one is performed under a protective flux blanket.

What does this means? It means that the arc is being constantly covered, which eliminates exposure towards arc radiation and usage of welding screens. So, how is actually the process of submerged arc welding done?

The submerged arc welding is done in a fully automatic or semi-automatic manner. The arc is flat and is maintained between the weld and the bare wire electrode. The electrode is fed into the arc when it is melted.

The commercial welder will tell you that at the automatic process of submerged arc welding, the set of rollers is driven by a controlled motor so that the wire is fed into the arc at a speed rate that is absolutely equivalent to the rate at which the electrode is melting.

The granular flux comes with a protective cover beneath which the process of welding occurs.

The industrial welders say that during the process of automatic submerged arc welding, there are three types of guns that are used. These include side flux delivery gun, concentrated flux delivery gun and deep groove gun.

With the concentrated flux delivery gun, the flux is deposited around the wire.

With the deep groove gun and the side flux delivery gun, the flux is fed coming from an overhead gravity hopper directly to the shut-off assembly of the gun’s flux. The commercial welders say that the gun type that is being chosen may depend on the joint design and / or the preference of the welding operator.

The submerged arc welding process has several variables. The key ones are the ones that are enumerated here: the wire feed speed, the arc voltage and the travel speed. The other variables during the submerged arc welding process include the contact tip to work or the electrode stick out, the polarity and the current type, as well as the variable balance of the AC current. All these variables have to be taken into account by the commercial welders and the industrial welders when performing the process of submerged arc welding.