Arco

Submerged Arc Wire & Fluxes

Data Book
February 2012

Submerged Arc Wire and Fluxes
Submerged Arc Welding (SAW) uses heat generated by an arc formed when an electric current passes between a welding wire and the workpiece. The tip of the welding wire, the arc, and the weld joint are covered by a layer of granular flux. The heat generated by the arc melts the wire, the basemetal and the flux. The flux shields the molten pool from atmospheric contamination, cleans impurities from the weld metal, and shapes the weld bead. Depending on the design of the flux, it can also add alloying elements to the weld to alter the chemical and mechanical properties of the weld.

Fused Fluxes
Fused fluxes are produced by melting the raw materials into a liquid stateusing a high temperature electric furnace. The cooled material is then crushed or ground to the desired particle size. Fused fluxes are typically available in multiple grain sizes to allow optimum performance by application.

Bonded Fluxes
Bonded fluxes are manufactured by dry mixing the ingredients and “gluing” them together with a liquid binder, such as sodium silicate. theparticles are then baked and sieved to achieve the desired flux particle size. Generally one grain size is offered, which operates over a wide variety of current ranges.

Active Fluxes
Active fluxes are those fluxes that add manganese and silicon to the weld deposit in proportion to the arc voltage. As voltage increases, the amount of flux consumed during the welding process alsoincreases, which leads to more Mn and Si added to the weldment. The addition of Mn and Si make active fluxes well suited to welding over rust, mill scale and light oil. They also provide excellent welder appeal. However, due to the alloying tendency of active fluxes, they can add excessive amunts of Mn and Si, which can lead to weld embrittlement and/or cracking. As a result, active fluxes arerecommended only for use below 36 volts and for single or multiple pass welds up to 1-inch thickness.

Neutral Flux
A neutral flux does not cause a significant change in weld chemistry as a result of changes to arc voltage or of the amount of flux consumed during welding. As with any flux, a neutral flux does affect the weld deposit chemistry. The levels of alloying elements addedto the weld are generally consistent across even significant changes in voltage. Therefore, the deposit chemistry will not match the wire chemistry. Neutral fluxes can be used in multiple pass applications of unlimited plate thickness without the concern for alloy buildup, as with active fluxes. Neutral fluxes are generally not designed to handle rust and mill scale tolerance, andtherefore should be used on clean plate.
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Submerged Arc Wire & Fluxes (SAW)
Table of Contents
Mild Steel & Low Alloy Submerged Arc Wires/Fluxes AWS Specifications A5.17 ..........................................................................................................4-4 Spoolarc81..................................................................................................................................4-6 Spoolarc 29S ...............................................................................................................................4-9 Spoolarc 53................................................................................................................................4-12 Spoolarc71................................................................................................................................4-14 Alloy Shield 70S .........................................................................................................................4-17 Spoolarc ENi4 ............................................................................................................................4-19 Spoolarc...