Advantages and Disadvantages of Submerged Arc Welding

• Advantages and major uses:

1.  high quality of the weld metal.
2.  extremely high deposition rate and speed.
3.  smooth, uniform finished weld with no spatter.
4.  little or no smoke.
5.  no arc flash, thus minimal need for protective clothing.
6.  high utilization of electrode wire.
7.  easy automation for high-operator factor.
8.  normally, no involvement of manipulative skills. 

• Uses: The submerged arc process is widely used in heavy steel plate fabrication work. This includes the welding of structural shapes, the longitudinal seam of larger diameter pipe, the manufacture of machine components for all types of heavy industry, and the manufacture of vessels and tanks for pressure and storage use. It is widely used in the shipbuilding industry for splicing and fabricating subassemblies, and by many other industries where steels are used in medium to heavy thicknesses. It is also used for surfacing and buildup work, maintenance, and repair.
• Disadvantages:

1. A major limitation of submerged arc welding is its limitation of welding positions. The other limitation is that it is primarily used only to weld mild and low-alloy high-strength steels.
2. The high-heat input, slow-cooling cycle can be a problem when welding quenched and tempered steels. The heat input limitation of the steel in question must be strictly adhered to when using submerged arc welding. This may require the making of multipass welds where a single pass weld would be acceptable in mild steel. In some cases, the economic advantages may be reduced to the point where flux-cored arc welding or some other process should be considered.
3. In semiautomatic submerged arc welding, the inability to see the arc and puddle can be a disadvantage in reaching the root of a groove weld and properly filling or sizing.