Effect of Welding Current Mode on Weld Quality Characteristics of Pulsed Current Micro Plasma Arc Welded AISI 304L Sheets

Abstract:

Austenitic stainless steels have gathered wide acceptance in the fabrication of components, which require high temperature resistance and corrosion resistance, such as metal bellows used in expansion joints in aircraft, aerospace and petroleum industry. In case of single pass welding of thinner sections of this alloy, pulsed current micro plasma arc welding was found beneficial due to its advantages over the conventional continuous current process. The paper focuses on studying the effect of continuous current and pulsed current in welding AISI 304 L sheets using Micro Plasma Arc Welding (MPAW) process. Welding was carried out on 0.25 mm thick AISI 304 L sheets using continuous current mode and pulsed current mode separately keeping all other welding parameters constant. Weld quality characteristics like micro structure, hardness and tensile properties are investigated and it is found that the usage of pulsed current leads to better weld quality characteristics when compared to continuous current mode.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volumes 465-466)
• Pages: 1209-1213
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.465-466.1209
• Online since: December 2013
• Authors: Kondapalli Siva Prasad*, Chalamalasetti Srinivasa Rao, Damera Nageswara Rao
• Keywords: AISI 304 L, Continuous Current, Plasma Arc Welding, Pulsed Current

References

[1] Balasubramanian. M, Jayabalan. V, Balasubramanian. V, Effect of process parameters of pulsed current tungsten inert gas welding on weld pool geometry of titanium welds, Acta Metall. Sin. (Engl. Lett. ) , 23 (2010) 312-320.

DOI: 10.1115/1.4000373

[2] Balasubramanian. B, Jayabalan. V, Balasubramanian. V, Optimizing the Pulsed Current Gas Tungsten Arc Welding Parameters, J Mater Sci Technol, 22 (2006) 821-825.

DOI: 10.1007/bf03027891

[3] Rajesh Manti, D.K. Dwivedi, A. Agarwal, Microstructure and hardness of Al-Mg-Si weldments produced by pulse GTA welding, Int J Adv Manuf Technol , 36 (2008) 263-269.

DOI: 10.1007/s00170-006-0849-z

[4] T. Senthil kumar, V. Balasubramanian, S. Babu, M.Y. Sanavullah, Effect of pulsed current GTA welding parameters on the fusion zone microstructure of AA 6061 Aluminium alloy, Metal and Materials International, 13 (2007) 345-351.

DOI: 10.1007/bf03027892

[5] N. Karunakaran,V. Balasubramanian, Effect of pulsed current on temperature distribution, weld bead profiles and characteristics of gas tungsten arc welded aluminium alloy joints, Trans. Nonferrous Met. Soc. China, 21 (2011) 278-286.

DOI: 10.1016/s1003-6326(11)60710-3

[6] G. Padmanaban, V. Balasubramanian, Influences of pulsed current parameters on Mechanical and metallurgical properties of gas tungsten arc welded AZ31B Magnesium alloy, Metals & Materials International, 17 (2011) 679-687.

DOI: 10.1007/s12540-011-0826-4

[7] K S Prasad , Ch. Srinivasa Rao, D. Nageswara Rao , Prediction of Weld Pool Geometry in Pulsed Current Micro Plasma Arc Welding of SS304L Stainless Steel Sheets" , International Transaction Journal of Engineering, Management & Applied Sciences & Technologies, 2 (2011).

DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.465-466.1209

[8] K S Prasad, Ch. Srinivasa Rao, D. Nageswara Rao, A Study on Weld Quality Characteristics of Pulsed Current Micro Plasma Arc Welding of SS304L Sheets", International Transaction Journal of Engineering, Management & Applied Sciences & Technologies, 2(4) (2011).

DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.465-466.1209

[9] K S Prasad, Ch. Srinivasa Rao, D. Nageswara Rao, Optimizing Fusion Zone Grain Size And Ultimate Tensile Strength Of Pulsed Current Micro Plasma Arc Welding Welded SS304L Sheets Using Hooke & Jeeves Algorithm", Proceedings of International Conference on Futuristic Trends in Materials and Energy Systems, V R Siddhartha Engineering College, Vijayawada, A.P., India, 2011, pp.112-119.

DOI: 10.1108/15736101211269140

[10] K S Prasad, Ch. Srinivasa Rao, D. Nageswara Rao, Establishing Empirical Relations to Predict Grain Size and Hardness of Pulsed Current Micro Plasma Arc Welded SS 304L Sheets, American Transactions on Engineering & Applied Sciences, 1 (2012).

DOI: 10.1108/15736101211269140