Purpose The purpose of this study is to conduct gas tungsten arc dissimilar welding of AISI 304 stainless steel and low carbon steel within a process window so as to investigate the effects of current, speed and gas flow rate (GFR) on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the weldments. Design/methodology/approach The welding experiment was carried out at different combinations of parameters using WN-250S Kaierda electric welding machine. A combination of scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy was used to examine the microstructure of the weldments. Micro-hardness and tensile tests were performed using Vickers hardness tester and Instron universal testing machine, respectively. ANOVA was used to analyze the significance of the parameters on the mechanical properties. Findings The microstructure of the weld region is characterized with dendritic structure with the existence of ferrite and austenite phases. The utilized parameters show significant effects on the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of the weldments. The current and GFR were found to be the most and least significant factors, respectively. Both the grain size and weld penetration contributed to the UTS of the weldments. The UTS (427-886 MPa) increased with decreasing current and welding speed. In all samples, the weld region exhibited higher hardness (297-396 HV) than the HAZ in the base metals (maximum of 223 Â ± 6 HV). All the three factors show significant effect with the welding speed contributing mostly to the hardness of the weld region. Originality/value The parametric combination that gives the optimum mechanical performance of the dissimilar gas tungsten arc weldments of AISI 304 stainless steel and low carbon steel was established.
In this work, gas metal arc welding of AISI 304 stainless steel at varying compositions of argon-CO2 shielding environment was performed using an established optimum parametric combination. Thereafter, investigations on the microstructure of the welded joints and mechanical properties of the weldments were carried out. Weldments of excellent surface quality that are void of spatters and pores were obtained when the shielding gas composition (wt.%) range is between 100% argon and 75% argon - 25% CO2. Increasing percentage composition of CO2 beyond 25% resulted in irregular bead formation characterized with spatters and pores. The hardness of the welded joint became significantly high as the CO2 composition in the shielding gas increased. The highest value of 310 HV was obtained when the shielding gas composition was 5% argon- 95% CO2. The least (220 HV) was obtained when the shielding gas was 100% argon. High ultimate tensile strength (596 - 378 MPa) was achieved when the shielding gas composition range is between 100% argon and 75% argon-25% CO2. The UTS dropped significantly as the CO2 composition in the shielding gas increased beyond 25%. It decreased from 336 MPa at 70% argon-30% CO2 shielding gas composition to 133 MPa when 100% CO2 was utilized as the shielding gas. At the end, the effects of the CO2 addition and suitable composition of CO2 addition to argon shielding environment during GMAW of AISI 304 stainless steel have been established.
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