Systems and methods for low-manganese welding wire

A method of manufacturing a welding electrode, comprising:

• disposing a granular core within a metallic sheath to form the welding electrode, wherein the welding electrode comprises less than 0.5% manganese by weight, wherein the granular core comprises:
• between 4% and 18% alloying components by weight of the core, wherein the alloying components comprise between 2% and 12% nickel metal powder by weight of the core;
• between 10% and 15% arc stabilizing components by weight of the core;
• between 25% and 50% slag forming components by weight of the core, wherein the slag forming components comprise a pigment-grade titanium dioxide agglomerate;
• between 5% and 15% deoxidizing components by weight of the core;
• and
• between 5% and 60% filler metal by weight of the core,
• wherein the TiO2 used to form the pigment-grade titanium dioxide agglomerate is purified titanium dioxide, and
• wherein the titanium dioxide agglomerate consists essentially of:
• purified titanium dioxide, silica, potassium oxide, sodium oxide, and lithium fluoride, and
• wherein the welding electrode comprises a carbon equivalence (CE) between 0.08 and 0.3 according to the equation:
• CE=% C+% Si/30+(% Mn+% Cu+% Cr)/20+% Ni/60+% Mo/15+% V/10+5*% B
• wherein % C represents a weight percentage of carbon in the welding electrode, % Si represents a weight percentage of silicon in the welding electrode, % Mn represents a weight percentage of manganese in the welding electrode, % Cu represents a weight percentage of copper in the welding electrode, % Cr represents a weight percentage of chromium in the welding electrode, % Ni represents a weight percentage of nickel in the welding electrode, % Mo represents a weight percentage of molybdenum in the welding electrode, % V represents a weight percentage of vanadium in the welding electrode, and % B represents a weight percentage of boron in the welding electrode.