Experimental Investigation on the Performance of Armour Grade Q&T Steel Joints Fabricated by Flux Cored Arc Welding with Low Hydrogen Ferritic Consumables

Quenched and Tempered （Q＆T） steels are widely used in the construction of military vehicles due to its high strength to weight ratio and high hardness. These steels are prone to hydrogen induced cracking （HIC） and softening in the heat affected zone （HAZ） after welding. The use of austenitic stainless steel （ASS） consumables to weld the above steel was the only available remedy to avoid HIC because of higher solubility for hydrogen in austenitic phase. Recent studies revealed that low hydrogen ferritic （LHF） steel consumables can also be used to weld Q＆T steels, which can give very low hydrogen levels in the weld deposits and required resistance against cold cracking. Hence, in this investigation an attempt has been made to study the performance of armour grade Q＆T steel joints fabricated by flux cored arc welding with LHF steel consumables. Two different consumables namely （i） austenitic stainless steel and （ii） low hydrogen ferritic steel have been used to fabricate the joints by flux cored arc welding （FCAW） process. The joints fabricated by LHF consumable exhibited superior transverse tensile properties due to the presence of ferrite microstructure in weld metal. The joints fabricated by ASS consumable showed higher impact toughness due to the presence of austenitic phase in weld metal microstructure. The HAZ softening in coarse grain heat affected zone （CGHAZ） is less in the joints fabricated using LHF consumable due to the lower heat input involved during fabrication compared to the joints fabricated using ASS consumables.

Cold Cracking of Flux Cored Arc Welded Armour Grade High Strength Steel Weldments

In this investigation, an attempt has been made to study the influence of welding consumables on the factors that influence cold cracking of armour grade quenched and tempered （Q＆.T） steel welds. Flux cored arc welding （FCAW） process were used making welds using austenitic stainless steel （ASS） and low hydrogen ferritic steel （LHF） consumables. The diffusible hydrogen levels in the weld metal of the ASS and LHF consumables were determined by mercury method. Residual stresses were evaluated using X-ray stress analyzer and implant test was carried out to study the cold cracking of the welds. Results indicate that ASS welds offer a greater resistance to cold cracking of armour grade Q＆T steel welds.

Formation Mechanism of Inclusion in Self-Shielded Flux Cored Arc Welds

The formation mechanism of inclusion in welds with different aluminum contents was determined based on thermodynamic equilibrium in self-shielded flux cored arc welds.Inclusions in welds were systematically studied by optical microscopy,scanning microscopy and image analyzer.The results show that the average size and the contamination rate of inclusions in low-aluminum weld are lower than those in high-aluminum weld.Highly faceted AlN inclusions with big size in the high-aluminum weld are more than those in low-aluminum weld.As a result,the low temperature impact toughness of low-aluminum weld is higher than that of high-aluminum weld.Finally,the thermodynamic analysis indicates that thermodynamic result agrees with the experimental data.

Effect of Welding Processes and Consumables on Tensile and Impact Properties of High Strength Quenched and Tempered Steel Joints

Quenched and tempered steels are prone to hydrogen induced cracking in the heat affected zone after welding. The use of austenitic stainless steel consumables to weld the above steel was the only available remedy because of higher solubility for hydrogen in austenitic phase. In this investigation, an attempt was made to determine a suitable consumable to replace expensive austenitic consumables. Two different consumables, namely, austenitie stain less steel and low hydrogen ferritic steel, were used to fabricate the joints by shielded metal are welding （SMAW） and flux cored arc welding （FCAW） processes. The joints fabricated by using low hydrogen ferritic steel consumables showed superior transverse tensile properties, whereas joints fabricated by using austenitic stainless steel consumables exhibited better impact toughness, irrespective of the welding process used. The SMAW joints exhibited superior mechanical and impact properties, irrespective of the consumables used, than their FCAW counterparts.

Influence of FCA Welding Process Parameters on Distortion of 409M Stainless Steel for Rail Coach Building

The influence of flux cored arc welding （FCAW） process parameters such as welding current, travel speed, voltage and CO2 shielding gas flow rate on bowing distortion of 409M ferritic stainless steel sheets of 2 mm in thickness was discussed. The bowing distortions of the welded plates were measured using a simple device called profile tracer. An experimental regression equation was developed to predict the bowing distortion and with this equation, it is easy to select optimized process parameters to achieve minimum bowing distortion. It is revealed that the FCAW process parameters have significant influence on bead profile and the bowing distortion.

Evaluation of Zero and Sub-zero Temperature Tensile and Impact Properties of Quenched and Tempered Steel Weldments

Combat vehicles using armour grade quenched and tempered （Q＆T） steel are needed to be operated under different climatic conditions. However, the properties meeting the room temperature test conditions may not neces-sarily be required to meet the low temperature operating conditions. The influences of shielded metal arc welding （SMAW） process, flux cored arc welding （FCAW） processes and test temperatures below room temperature up to 60℃ on tensile and impact toughness properties of armour grade Q＆T steel welds were reported. The tensile and impact properties of the joints showed incremental trend with respect to the decrement in test temperature up to -40℃ irrespective of the welding processes used. The increment in tensile and impact properties of SMAW and FCAW joints subjected to the low temperature environment is due to plastic strain-induced phase transformation of retained austenite into martensite phase. Among the two processes, SMAW process welded joint showed better tensile and impact properties than its FCAW counterpart joints.