THE EFFECT OF WELDING HEAT INPUT AND WELDING SPEED ON MICROSTRUCTURE OF CHROMIUM – MANGANESE STAINLESS STEEL GAS TUNGSTEN ARC WELDED PLATES

Sudhakaran .R, Siva Sakthivel P. S, Nagaraja S

Abstract: The quality of any weld joint is highly influenced by the microstructure of the weldment. The quality of the weldment gets deteriorated due to metallurgical changes such as micro-segregation, precipitation of secondary phases, presence of porosities, grain growth in the heat affected zone and loss of material by vaporization. This paper presents study on the effect of welding process parameters such as welding current, welding speed, on the metallography of AISI202 grade chromium manganese stainless steel Gas Tungsten Arc Welded Plates. Experiments were conducted using bead on plate method keeping one parameter at the minimum and maximum levels and keeping the other parameters constant. The metallographic study concentrated on the grain structure, presence of carbides and formation of ferrite, austenite and martensite in the weldment. The obtained results help in selecting quickly the required process parameters to achieve the desired weld quality

Keywords: Gas Tungsten Arc Welding, Stainless Steel, Process Parameters, Grain Structure,

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2014.0319108