Thermomechanical and Metallurgical Analysis of SMA and GTA Welded Low Carbon Steel Butt Joints

Authors: J. Dutta, P. Pranith Kumar Reddy

Abstract:

This research paper portrays a comparative analysis of thermomechanical behaviour of Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) and Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) of low carbon steel of AISI 1020 grade butt joints. The thermal history has been obtained by experimental work. We have focused on temperature dependent cooling rate as depicted by Adam’s two-dimensional model. The effect of moving point heat source of SMAW and GTAW on mechanical properties has been judged by optical and scanning electron micrographs of different regions in weld joints. The microhardness study has been carried to visualize the joint strength due to formation of different phases.

Keywords: Shielded metal arc welding, gas tungsten arc welding, low carbon steel, microhardness study, thermal history, microscopic morphology.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1110125

References:

[1] J. A. Goldak and M. Akhlaghi, Computational welding mechanics. Spring Street, New York 100013, USA: Springer Science+Business Media Inc, 2005.
[2] Rosenthal D., “The theory of moving sources of heat and its applications to metal treatments”, Trans. ASME, 1946, Vol. 68, pp. 849-865.
[3] Pavelic V. Et al., “Experimental and computed temperatures histories in gas tungsten arc welding of thin plates, Welding Journal Research Supplement”, 1969, Vol. 48, pp. 2952-305s.
[4] C. L. Tsai and C. A. Hou, “Theoretical analysis of weld pool behaviour in the pulsed current GTAW process”, Journal of Heat Transfer, 1988, vol. 110, pp. 160-165.
[5] Jones BK, Emery AF and Marburger J. An analytical and experimental study of the effects of welding parameters in fusion welds, Welding J., 1993, Vol. 72, No. 2, pp 5 IS-59s.
[6] Goldak J. A. et al., “Thermal stress analysis in solids near the liquid region in the weld: Mathematical modeling of weld phenomena”, The Institute of Materials, 1997, pp. 543 -570.
[7] Little G. H. and Kamtekar A. G., “The effect of thermal properties and weld efficiency on transient temperatures in welding”, Computers and Structures, 1998, vol. 68, pp. 157 - 165.
[8] Komanduri R. and Hou Z. B., “Thermal analysis of arc welding process: Part I. General solutions”, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B, 2000, vol. 31B, pp. 1353 - 1370.
[9] Komanduri R. and Hou Z. B., “Thermal analysis of arc welding process: Part II. Effect of Thermophysical Properties with Temperature”, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B, 2001, vol. 33B, pp. 483 - 499.
[10] Zhu X. K. and Chao Y. J., “Effect of temperature dependent material properties on welding simulation”, Computers and Structures, 2002, vol. 80, pp. 967 - 976.
[11] Poorhaydari K. Et al., “Estimation of cooling rate in the welding of plates with intermediate thickness”, Welding Journal, 2005, pp. 149s - 155s.
[12] Mousavi Akbari S. A. A. and Miresmaeili R., “Experimental and numerical analyses of residual stress distributions in TIG welding process for 304L stainless steel”, Journal of Material Processing Technology, 2008, vol. 208, pp. 383 - 394.
[13] Del Coz Diaz J. J. Et al., “Comparative analysis of TIG welding distortions between austenitic and duplex stainless steels by FEM”, Applied Thermal Engineering, 2010, vol. 30, pp. 2448 - 2459.
[14] Pathak C. S. Et al., “Analysis of thermal cycle during multipass arc welding”, Welding Journal, 2012, vol. 91, pp. 149s - 154s.
[15] Ravisankar A. et al., “Influence of welding speed and power on residual stress during gas tungsten arc welding of thin sections with constant heat input: A study using numerical simulation and experimental validation”, J. of Manufacturing Process, 2014, vol. 16, pp. 200 - 211.
[16] Alireza B. et al., “Computational analysis of the effect of welding parameters on energy consumption in GTA welding process”, International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, 2015, vol. 93, pp. 111- 119.
[17] Mohandas T et al., “A comparative evaluation of gas tungsten and shielded metal arc welds of a “ferritic” stainless steel”, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 1999, vol. 94, pp. 133-140.
[18] Datta R et al., “Weldability characteristics of shielded metal arc welded high strength quenched and tempered plates”, Journal of Material Engineering and Performance, 2002, vol. 11 (1), pp. 5-10.
[19] Ahmet Durgutlu, “Experimental investigation of the effect of hydrogen in argon as a shielding gas on TIG welding of austenitic stainless steel”, Materials and Design, 2004, vol. 25, pp. 19-23.
[20] Bala Srinivasan P. et al., “Microstructure and corrosion behaviour of shielded metal arc welded dissimilar joints comprising duplex stainless steel and low alloy steel”, Journal of Material Engineering and Performance, 2006, vol. 22, pp. 758-764.
[21] Magudeeswaran G. et al., “Effect of welding processes and consumables on high cycle fatigue life of high strength, quenched and tempered steel joints”, Materials and Design, 2008, vol. 29, pp. 1821-1827.
[22] Moeinifar S. et al., “Influence of peak temperature during simulation and real thermal cycles on microstructure and fracture properties of the reheated zones”, Materials and Design, 2010, vol. 31, pp. 2948-2955.
[23] Chuaiphan Wichan and Srijaroenpramong Loeshpahn, “Effect of welding speed on microstructures, mechanical properties and corrosion behaviour of GTA welded AISI 201 stainless steel sheets”, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 2014, vol. 214, pp. 402-408.
[24] Dieter George E., “Mechanical Metallurgy”, McGraw Hill, 3rd ed. Pp 75- 77.
[25] Goncalves C V, Carvalho S R and Guimaraes G, “Application of Optimization Techniques and the Enthalpy Method to Solve a 3-D Inverse Problem During a TIG Welding Process”, Applied Thermal Engineering, 2010, vol. 30, pp. 2396-2402.