Design of TiO₂–SiO₂–MgO and SiO₂–MgO–Al₂O₃-Based Submerged Arc Fluxes for Multipass Bead on Plate Pipeline Steel Welds

High strength low alloy steels are extensively used in different applications like oil and gas transmission line pipes, pressure vessels and offshore oil drilling platforms. Submerged arc welding (SAW) is mainly used to weld high thickness steel plates. Flux composition and welding parameters play an important role in determining the adequate quality and mechanical properties of the weld. Agglomerated fluxes were formulated based on TiO₂–SiO₂–MgO and SiO₂–MgO–Al₂O₃ flux system using constrained mixture design and extreme vertices design approach. The chemical compositions of the bead on a plate have been studied using formulated fluxes. Twenty-one beads on plates were applied using submerged arc welding process keeping the parameters: current, voltage, and welding speed constant. Regression models were developed for bead on plate content in terms of individual, binary, and ternary mixture flux constituents for submerged arc multipass bead on plate deposition for pipeline steel (API 5 L X70). In the present study, chemical composition, grain size, and microhardness properties of the multipass bead on a plate (for API 5 L X70 grade pipeline) were optimized using multi-objective optimization approach.