Low-Manganese Wires Win Best Paper at IIW 2025

At the 78th Annual Assembly of the International Institute of Welding (IIW) in Genova, Italy, the Best Paper Award in Category B for 2025 went to a paper focused on a crucial health and productivity issue in welding. The authors — Sten Wessman from Swerim and Elin M. Westin from voestalpine Böhler Welding — earned recognition for their joint work titled “Characteristics of high-temperature heat-affected zones in duplex stainless steels.” Their research reflects ongoing industry concern over manganese exposure in welding fumes and its neurological health risks.

The study zeroes in on metal-cored and flux-cored wires, both valued in structural applications for their efficiency. However, they’re also known for producing more welding fumes compared to solid wires. This paper tackles the issue head-on by testing new low-manganese (low-Mn) wire compositions, designed to reduce manganese emissions without compromising weld performance. The results are worth noting: emission reductions of 25–70% for metal-cored and 60–85% for flux-cored wires under comparable conditions.

A big congratulations to Sten Wessman, Swerim, and Elin M Westin, voestalpine Böhler Welding — winners of the Welding in the World Best Paper Award, Category B, 2025 at the 78th iiW Annual Assembly… | Swerim AB

A big congratulations to Sten Wessman, Swerim, and Elin M Westin, voestalpine Böhler Welding — winners of the Welding in the World Best Paper Award, Category B, 2025 at the 78th iiW Annual Assembly in Genova, Italy, for their paper “Characteristics of high-temperature heat-affected zones in duplex stainless steels.” At the conference, leaders, experts, and national representatives from around the world gather to shape the future of welding and joining technologies. | 12 comments on LinkedIn

LinkedInSwerim AB

What makes this paper stand out is its direct response to evolving occupational exposure limits and increasing awareness around welder safety. The findings support a growing shift toward cleaner consumables—something the industry needs if it’s serious about both productivity and worker health. Not every conference paper has real-world implications, but this one does.

Here is the article;

Low-Mn emission seamless cored wires for carbon steel welding: a comparative analysis of fume outputs - Welding in the World

Metal-cored (MCW) and flux-cored (FCW) wires are widely used for welding low-carbon (C) steels in structural applications, offering higher productivity but generating more welding fumes than solid wires. Growing awareness of the health risks associated with respirable particles has intensified the focus on fume composition. While proper fume extraction and personal protective equipment (PPE), such as helmets with breathing apparatus, are essential, modifying wire composition can help reduce harmful emissions. Manganese (Mn), a key alloying element in C-steels, and their corresponding welding consumables have been linked to neurological effects, prompting stricter occupational exposure limits (OELs) to protect welders. This has driven demands for low-Mn-emission welding consumables. This study evaluates two newly developed seamless low-Mn-emission products, one MCW (MCW-LMn) and one FCW (FCW-LMn), by comparing their fume and Mn emission rates (Mnmg/s) to those of standard seamless and folded wires under varying welding parameters and shielding gas compositions. At equivalent parameter settings, the newly developed wires produced comparable fume levels but achieved Mn emission reductions of 25–70% for MCW-LMn and 60–85% for FCW-LMn.

SpringerLinkFrancesco Todescato