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Welding Rimming Steel

NikD72

Industrial
Jan 15, 2025
6
Hi all, looking for help with a dilemma I have. I’ve been asked to site weld a beam made of Rimming Steel, enclosed is the lab analysis from a sample i took.
The lab suggests adding aluminium to the weld pool to stop porosity and after looking and speaking to various technical guys I can’t get anyone to give me a straight answer of how to do it. The closest I’ve got is using E7018 rods but even still it’s a vague suggestion.
It’s not possible to take another sample before committing to the weld. The first sample was destroyed by testing.
I’d be most grateful of any advice,
Regards NikIMG_3894.jpeg
 
Start with a certified material test report so you know what you are dealing with.
 
Hi Gtow,
Please see certified report summary below from a chemical composition, I’ll post in a moment and also a micro structural analysis, many thanks for looking, Nik
 
The chemistry should also include an Oxygen analysis.
And I hope that sample is from very near where you will be welding.
The composition can very a lot by location in these grades (differences from center ingot to edges).
You will need a filler with similar strength and hardenability.
I hope that there is little to no load on this beam as these steels are usually very poor quality.
I have seen people weld torch weld these.
The very slow solidification allows gases to escape.
If you are electrically welding this then your filler will also need have deoxidizers in it.
Al is fast and inexpensive; Mn and Si are likely not enough for this.
Cutting samples for weld qualification is needed.
 
IMG_3895.jpegIMG_3896.jpegIMG_3897.jpeg
The chemistry should also include an Oxygen analysis.
And I hope that sample is from very near where you will be welding.
The composition can very a lot by location in these grades (differences from center ingot to edges).
You will need a filler with similar strength and hardenability.
I hope that there is little to no load on this beam as these steels are usually very poor quality.
I have seen people weld torch weld these.
The very slow solidification allows gases to escape.
If you are electrically welding this then your filler will also need have deoxidizers in it.
Al is fast and inexpensive; Mn and Si are likely not enough for this.
Cutting samples for weld qualification is needed.
Hi EdStainless,
The report is all I’ve got for which I’ve paid, and could very quickly be out of profi 🥲.
I’ve sent the report to ESAB , Lincoln and SWP for ideas but no one will commit. I’ve been told the O2 saturation is low at room temp but upon welding O2 absorption will combine with C and create CO causing porosity which cannot happen. I can only do the work as correctly as possible, but a couple of tech guys are saying there is a rod produced in 7018 with extra flux that should be ok as 7018 is made up of Rimming Steel. Looking further I’ve found some flux core which contains 0.51% AL, enclosed specs, I’d be grateful of any input, cheers, Nik
 
Possible ESAB flux cores wire?
 

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Hi EdStainless,
The report is all I’ve got for which I’ve paid, and could very quickly be out of profi 🥲.
I’ve sent the report to ESAB , Lincoln and SWP for ideas but no one will commit. I’ve been told the O2 saturation is low at room temp but upon welding O2 absorption will combine with C and create CO causing porosity which cannot happen. I can only do the work as correctly as possible, but a couple of tech guys are saying there is a rod produced in 7018 with extra flux that should be ok as 7018 is made up of Rimming Steel. Looking further I’ve found some flux core which contains 0.51% AL, enclosed specs, I’d be grateful of any input, cheers, Nik
Sorry Ed, sample was 70mm or 2 3/4” from weld, I actually strongly suspect , when cleaning gelatinisation, it won’t be a crack but just the delaminating joint. Thanks for your help.
 
Bloody AI ^ Lamination
 
Self shielded flux cored wires (i.e. innershield) typically contain high amounts of aluminum to counteract the expected atmospheric contamination from oxygen that occurs during the welding process. I'm not sure if they contain enough aluminum to also counteract high oxygen from the base metal, but they might be worth looking at.

If you use/abuse a self shielded flux cored wire with shielding gas, it would increase the aluminum available to scavenge the oxygen from the rimmed steel, but I doubt any self shielded wire manufacturer would recommend that. Another welding consumable you might look into are ones designed for single passes, or that claim to be good for welding over rusty steel (which I'd never recommend- but some people still do it anyway), because they can also contain higher amounts of deoxidizing elements.
 
On the positive side, you won't have to worry about rock candy embrittlement, something that is rather common when dealing with older structures...
 
You may try E 6012
 

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Now if you can find a filler similar to E6012 that contains Al (or Ti or some combination of multiple deoxidizers) then you might be on the right track.
 
I've used E6012 for repairs on a pedestrian bridge built from rimmed steel before 1905, but it was of much superior quality than the steel in the photo.
 
This sort of steel was often used in riveted construction, the high sulfur content makes it easy to drill and ream rivet holes.
Is it possible to make the connection you are attempting by bolting? That would avoid the trials of attempting to weld a steel from before the era of welding.
 

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