Mechanical properties of CO₂ laser beam butt-welded plates of Hastelloy c-276

Abstract

In the current investigation, thermo-mechanical analysis is carried out for Hastelloy C-276 using laser beam welded butt joints. The Gaussian heat source model is used for transient thermal analysis, and the maximum temperature at the weld area resulted in residual stresses within safe limits. To validate, the experimentation was carried out with CO2 Laser beam welding using an L4 orthogonal array. Sample 2 had the least-residual stresses in the weldment, and the mechanical and metallurgical properties studies were carried out. The residual stress distribution was measured using X-ray diffraction and was acceptable within the yield limits of the material. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and experimental residual stresses were compared; the FOS was 2.088, and the remaining samples were more than 2.0 compared to the base material tensile strength. Tensile tests confirmed that the strength of the weld zone is higher than that of the parent metals.