Variation of chemical composition of high strength low alloy steels with different groove sizes in multi-pass conventional and pulsed current gas metal arc weld depositions

25 mm thick micro-alloyed HSLA steel plate is welded by multi-pass GMAW and P-GMAW processes using conventional V-groove and suitably designed narrow gap with 20 mm(NG-20) and 13 mm(NG-13) groove openings.The variation of weld metal chemistry in the multi pass GMA and P-GMA weld depositions are studied by spark emission spectroscopy.It is observed that the narrow groove GMA weld joint shows significant variation of weld metal chemistry compared to the conventional V-groove GMA weld joint since the dilution of base metal extends from the deposit adjacent to groove wall to weld center through dissolution by fusion and solid state diffusion.Further,it is noticed that a high rate of metal deposition along with high velocity of droplet transfer in P-GMAW process enhances the dilution of weld deposit and accordingly varies the chemical composition in multi-pass P-GMA weld deposit.Lower angle of attack to the groove wall surface along with low heat input in NG-13 weld groove minimizes the effect of dissolution by fusion and solid state diffusion from the deposit adjacent to groove wall to weld center.This results in more uniform properties of NG-13 P-GMA weld in comparison to those of NG-20 and CG welds.

Pulsed current and dual pulse gas metal arc welding of grade AISI: 310S austenitic stainless steel

The transverse shrinkage, mechanical and metallurgical properties of AISI: 310 S ASS weld joints prepared by P-GMAW and DP-GMAW processes were investigated. It was observed that the use of the DP-GMAW process improves the aforementioned characteristics in comparison to that of the P-GMAW process. The enhanced quality of weld joints obtained with DP-GMAW process is primarily due to the combined effect of pulsed current and thermal pulsation(low frequency pulse). During the thermal pulsation period, there is a fluctuation of wire feed rate,which results in the further increase in welding current and the decrease in arc voltage. Because of this synchronization between welding current and arc voltage during the period of low frequency pulse, the DP-GMAW deposit introduces comparatively more thermal shock compared to the P-GMAW deposit, thereby reducing the heat input and improves the properties of weld joints.

Comparative study on transverse shrinkage, mechanical and metallurgical properties of AA2219 aluminium weld joints prepared by gas tungsten arc and gas metal arc welding processes

Aluminium alloy AA2219 is a high strength alloy belonging to 2000 series. It has been widely used for aerospace applications, especially for construction of cryogenic fuel tank. However, arc welding of AA2219 material is very critical. The major problems that arise in arc welding of AA2219 are the adverse development of residual stresses and the re-distribution as well as dissolution of copper rich phase in the weld joint.These effects increase with increase in heat input. Thus, special attention was taken to especially thick section welding of AA2219-T87 aluminium alloy. Hence, the present work describes the 25 mm-thick AA2219-T87 aluminium alloy plate butt welded by GTAW and GMAW processes using multi-pass welding procedure in double V groove design. The transverse shrinkage, conventional mechanical and metallurgical properties of both the locations on weld joints were studied. It is observed that the fair copper rich cellular(CRC) network is on Side-A of both the weldments. Further, it is noticed that, the severity of weld thermal cycle near to the fusion line of HAZ is reduced due to low heat input in GTAW process which results in non dissolution of copper rich phase. Based on the mechanical and metallurgical properties it is inferred that GTAW process is used to improve the aforementioned characteristics of weld joints in comparison to GMAW process.

Transient out-of-plane distortion of multi-pass fillet welded tube to pipe T-joints

The out-of-plane distortion induced in a multi-pass circumferential fillet welding of tube to pipe under different weld sequences and directions was studied using Finite Element Method(FEM) based Sysweld software and verified experimentally. The FEM analyses consisted of thermal and mechanical analyses.Thermal analysis was validated with experimental transient temperature measurements. In the mechanical analysis, three different weld sequences and directions were considered to understand the mechanism of out-of-plane distortion in the tube to pipe T-joints. It was learnt that the welding direction plays a major role in minimizing the out-of-plane distortion. Further, during circumferential fillet welding of the tube to pipe component, the out-of-plane distortion generated in the x direction was primarily influenced by heat input due to the start and stop points, whereas the distortion in the z direction was influenced by time lag and welding direction. The FEM predicted distortion was compared with experimental measurements and the mechanism of out-of-plane distortion was confirmed.