Lincoln Electric FCAW-G Brochure page 2

W E L D I N G C O N S U M A B L E S
Flux-Cored (FCAW-G) Welding
Welding on Pipe
"We chose the Lincoln Pipeliner
G80M wire for this project for a
number of reasons. First, it met
the mechanical requirements of
the job and also offered a
crisper arc," said Bratcher.
"In addition, we felt that the
Lincoln product flowed better
and was more suitable for
outdoor use."
An Overview of the Pipe
Installation Process
More than 140,000 tons of pipe and
25,000 individual sections were used to
complete this project. Each section of
pipe is 78-feet long and per industry
standards, was buried at least 30 inches
below the ground through a trenching
process.
Much like an assembly line where each
worker is responsible for a certain por-
tion of the job, construction crews in
each spread followed after each other
along the length of the pipe to complete
specialized tasks. Crews at the front
staked the area and prepared the right-
of-way. Those following behind aligned
the pipe, welded and inspected the pipe
Cheyenne Plains Pipeline
and then lowered it into the trench.
Finally, the construction crews at the
rear were responsible for conducting
hydrostatic pressure testing, backfilling
the trench and restoring the land as
close as possible to its original condi-
tion.
Welding Connection Points and
Road Crossings
After a lengthy process of evaluating
solid and flux-cored electrodes for the
job, U.S. Pipeline, Inc. selected a .045-
inch diameter Pipeliner G80M wire as
the consumable of choice for the
vertical up welding of the pipe tie-in fill
and cap passes. The Cheyenne Plains
Pipeline Project marked the first time
this new consumable was used in the
field and for many of the pipeline con-
tractors, it was also the first time they
had made the switch from a traditional
Stick process to complete the tie-ins for
the job.
"We chose the Lincoln Pipeliner G80M
wire for this project for a number of
reasons. First, it met the mechanical
requirements of the job and also offered
a crisper arc," said Dana Bratcher,
Welding Foreman, U.S. Pipeline, Inc. "In
addition, we felt that the Lincoln product
flowed better and was more durable for
outdoor use. We also were attracted to
the fact that the pipe supplied from the
manufacturer was welded using a
Lincoln consumable."
This electrode, specifically designed
for pipeline welding, is easier for the
operator to use and provides a
smooth arc, lower spatter levels
and less frequent
clogging of gun nozzles when
compared to other flux-cored wire
electrodes.
All tie-in welds were performed
manually because of the special-
ized skills needed to handle fit-up
issues between the thinner main-
line pipe and thicker tie-ins. Each
manual welding team consists of
two welders, one on each side of
the pipe performing one-half of
the welding pass – root, hot, fill
w w w . l i n c o l n e l e c t r i c . c o m
and cap. Each welder also had an
assistant who performed tasks such as
preheating the joints, setting the clamp
to align the two lengths of pipe, setting
up the welding equipment and complet-
ing the finish wire brushing on the joint.
Every tie-in weld was inspected with a
radiographic process and throughout
the job the weld quality had been excel-
lent. "We had a low repair rate with the
Lincoln wire. It was consistent and
worked wonderfully," noted Bratcher.
"Our welding operators liked the fact
that they were able to see how the
puddle flowed."
The use of Pipeliner G80M wire to weld
the spiral seam pipe's fill and cap pass-
es provided significantly increased
productivity and high quality welds.
"The wire is about three to five times
faster than stick welding," said Ray
Edwards, an independent pipeline
welder from the Pipeliners Union 798
and one of the welders on Spread Two
of the project. "The same length of weld
bead that would take up to five minutes
with stick welding is now taking me
about one minute."
In addition, Lincoln's Shield-Arc 70+
stick electrode was used to complete
the tack welds and vertical down root
pass on these tie-ins. This rod was cho-
sen for its ability to accomplish the out-
of-position welding required for this job.
SUCCESS
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