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IJRET: International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology eISSN: 2319-1163 | pISSN: 2321-7308

INVESTIGATION ON EFFECT OF WELDING CURRENT ON


WELDING SPEED AND HARDNESS OF HAZ AND WELD METAL OF
MILD STEEL

Merchant Samir Y1
1
Lecturer, Fabrication Technology Department, Sir B.P. Institute, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India

Abstract
The effect of welding current on welding speed and hardness of heat effected zone and weld metal of mild steel material is
investigated in this paper. Mild steel weldment was welded under varying welding current i.e. 80, 85, 90, 95 & 100 ampere by
using MMAW process in 1G position. The edge preparation, electrode diameter and electrode type, CCV, welding technique,
polarity and welder remained constant during the test. The test specimen was then grinded and hardness of each specimen was
measured at three point i.e. parent metal, HAZ and weld metal by using Brinell hardness tester. It was observed that with increase
in welding current melting rate of electrode was increased hence welding time was reduced. So welding speed was increased.
With increase in welding current hardness of HAZ and weld metal was also decreased due to increase in heat input. With increase
in welding speed heat input decreased and hardness of the joint increased.

Keywords - MMAW, welding current, welding speed, Hardness, Parent metal, HAZ, weld metal, cooling rate
------------------------------------------------------------------***--------------------------------------------------------------------

1. INTRODUCTION 1.2 Various Zones of Weld Joint


Today a wide variety of metal joining processes are used in The steel weld joint mainly divided in three zones i.e. Weld
fabrication industries. The welding is majorly used for metal metal zone, Heat affected zone (HAZ) and base metal zone
joining. In this process arc i.e. electric discharge between as shown in fig-1 [3]. The HAZ was further classified in
electrode and parent metal is established. Due to high three region i.e. grain growth region, grain refined region
electrical resistance of welding arc high temperature is and transition region[4]. The hardness during weld joint is
produced which is enough to melt the metal. MMAW - not uniform. Steel is sensitive for thermal cycle and the
Manual Metal Arc welding is one of the oldest arc welding metal of weld joint was having highest temperature i.e.
processes. Mild steel is widely applicable in fabrication of above melting point and the parent metal was having
structure, process equipment, piping and ship building. The temperature very less below the lower critical line. Due to
major factors affecting mechanical properties of weld joint
high temperature difference between these two regions the
are welding current, arc voltage, welding speed, polarity,
edge preparation and welding technique. Out of these cooling rate was very high and the solidification of weld
variables welding current, welding voltage and welding metal was under non equilibrium conditions. Due to this
speed are primary variable which controls the fusion, depth from austenite to pearlite microconstituent transformation
of penetration, shape of weld puddle, reinforcement and heat was not occurred and austenite to martensite or binatic lathe
input. Electrode polarity, inclination angle and welding was occurred. So hardness of this region was very high and
technique are secondary variable which affect on en ergy HAZ was become more susceptible to cracking. [2][3][5][6].
absorbed, melting rate of base metal and weld metal.

1.1 Heat Input


Heat input rate or energy of arc was an important parameter
in welding which can be calculated by following formula[1]

Where V = arc voltage


A = welding current
S = welding speed or arc travel speed(mm/min)

But for MMAW process the heat transfer efficiency is 0.65


to 0.85 [2]. So we have to multiply this equation by heat
transfer efficiency then we will get actual heat input during
welding.
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Volume: 04 Issue: 03 | Mar-2015, Available @ http://www.ijret.org 44
IJRET: International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology eISSN: 2319-1163 | pISSN: 2321-7308

Fig-1 Different zones of weld joint

2. LITERATURE REVIEW 3. EXPERIMENTAL METHODOLOGY


Bhaskar vishvakarma, Manish verma & Tribhuwasn kishor 3.1 Experiment Procedure
Mishra had concluded in their research that with increased
in welding current impact strength of weldmetal increased Following steps are followed for experiment
while hardness decreased[7]. Rakesh kumar, Satish kumar 1. First 5 specimen of 100 mm long x 50 mm width x
had invstigated on mechanical properties of mild steel 1018 10 mm thick cut from mild steel flat bar.
during MIG welding. They concluded welding current was 2. 45° single V edge preparation was made on these
the most significant parameter affecting the mechanical specimens as shown in Fig.-2.
properties and hardness of weld joint. They found that no 3. Set-up was made by tack welding. Root gap and root
matrensite formation during MIG welding[8]. Prof. Rohit face kept 2 mm each.
Jha, Dr. A.K.Jha had concluded in their research with 4. Welding of 5 specimens was performed using 1G
increase in welding current the UTS will increase until an welding position as shown in Fig-3. Welding ampere
optimum value, increase in further welding current optimum were 80, 85, 90, 95, 100 and voltage 30V remained
value will result in decreasing UTS[9]. Ajay N. Boob and constant. Welding polarity was DCEP.
Prof. G.K.Gattani, have investigated on MMAW welding 5. For welding of each joint time in seconds was
process parameter of heat affected zone (HAZ) for mild measured.
steel 1005. They found that during welding austenite 6. After welding grinding of weld joint was done and
microstructure was refined and converted into bainite so excess reinforcement was removed.
strength and impact toughness of base metal was improved. 7. All the specimens were tested on Brinell hardness
Heat input rate was most significant parameter for testing machine and hardness was measured at three
controlling width of HAZ and with increase in welding points i.e. at base metal, HAZ and weld metal. The
speed width of HAZ was decreased, proper control on readings were noted in observation table-5.
welding speed was became the important parameter for
controlling the HAZ[10]. Riyad Mohammed Ali Hamza,
Abdulkareem Aloraier, Emad Abdulradh Al-Faraj had
investigated effect of welding polarity in joint bead
geometry and mechanical properties of SMAW process.
They concluded that highest hardness measurement was
recorded when welding was performed using DC- polarity.
Hardness value was dropped down as the metal moving
through the HAZ to the parent metal. The lowest hardness
recorded when welding was performed using the AC
polarity [11].
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Volume: 04 Issue: 03 | Mar-2015, Available @ http://www.ijret.org 45
IJRET: International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology eISSN: 2319-1163 | pISSN: 2321-7308

3.3 Electrode used & its Chemical Analysis


AWS/SFA 5.1 E-6013 of 3.15 mm diameter and 350 mm
long electrode was used for welding. Chemical composition
of electrode is shown in Table – 2.

Fig-4 Welding electrode

Table -2 Chemical Composition of E-6013 Electrode


Element C Mn Si S P
percent 0.07 0.44 0.22 0.02 0.02

Fig-2 Dimensional sketch of weld joint

Fig-5 Welding Machine

Table – 3 Technical Specification of welding machine


Model G-200
Range 0 – 200 Amp
KVA 5
Duty Cycle 50 %
Fig-3 Experimental setup Primary Voltage 230 V
Primary current 25 Amp
3.2 Parent Metal used & its Chemical Analysis
Mild steel flat pieces of 100 mm x 35 mm x 10 mm
thickness. The chemical analysis of mild steel is as shown in
Table -1

Table -1 Chemical Composition Of Base Metal


Element C Mn Si S P
percent 0.16- 0.70- 0.40 0.40 0.40
0.18 0.90 max max max

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Volume: 04 Issue: 03 | Mar-2015, Available @ http://www.ijret.org 46
IJRET: International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology eISSN: 2319-1163 | pISSN: 2321-7308

200

Hardness (BHN)
150

100

50

0
1 2 3 4 5
Spe cim e n No.

We ld Me tal BHN
Fig-6 Hardness Tester
HAZ BHN
Table–4 Technical specification of hardness testing Bas e Me tal BHN
machine
Model Brinell - 150 Fig.-7 Variation in hardness with welding current
Type Table / Bench Mounted
Max. Test Height 250 mm 4.2 Effect of Welding Current on Zone Wise
Throat depth 150 mm
Hardness of Weld Joint
4. RESULT & DISCUSSION Carbon percentage of filler wire was less than the base
metal. But during experiment it was observed that the
The hardness of weld metal at weld center line, HAZ at the
hardness of weld metal was higher than base metal in all
fusion boundary and base metal at 50 mm distance from
specimens. That was because very rapid heating and cooling
weld center line was measured for each specimen and noted
of weldmetal and high solidification rate. It was also
down in Table – 5. Time required for welding each
observed that the hardness of HAZ was higher than the weld
specimen was recorded also.
metal and base metal. That was because martensite or
bainite formation in steel between 800 °C to 500 °C for long
Table – 5: Observation table
duration. The variation of hardness in all three region is
speci welding Weld Base shown in fig.-8.
men current time Hnet Metal HAZ Metal
no Amp voltage sec. J/mm. BHN BHN BHN
200
1 80 30 65 1336 180 183 131
180
2 85 30 63 1367 170 175 131 160
Hardness (BHN)

3 90 30 60 1380 166 167 131 140


4 95 30 57 1389 154 160 131 120
5 100 30 56 1420 149 154 131 100
80 80 Amp
4.1 Effect of Welding Current on Hardness of 60
85 Amp
40
Specimen: 20 90 Amp
Form the observation table – 5 it is clear that with increase 0 95 Amp
in welding ampere heat input was increased. So tempering Weld HAZ Base
effect of weld metal, HAZ and base metal occurred. Due to 100 Amp
Metal BHN Metal
this hardness of the weld metal & HAZ was decreased with BHN BHN
increased in the welding ampere. At 90 ampere hardness of
weld metal and HAZ were almost equal. With increase in
welding ampere the grains became coarser. And hence Fig.8 Variation in hardness region wise in weld joint
hardness decreased [6]. The variation of hardness with
increase in welding current is shown in fig.-7.

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Volume: 04 Issue: 03 | Mar-2015, Available @ http://www.ijret.org 47
IJRET: International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology eISSN: 2319-1163 | pISSN: 2321-7308

4.3 Effect of Welding Current on Welding Time [3] “Welding engineering and technology”, By Dr.
R.S.Parmar, Khanna Publishers, Fifth reprint, 2007.
With increase in welding current heat genearion was [4] “A textbook of welding technology”, by Dr.
increased so meltinng rate of electrode was also increased. O.P.khanna, Dhanpat Rai Publications (P) Ltd., 20th
Hence welding time was decreased from 65 sec to 56 sec. reprint, 2011.
The variation weldinng time with increase in welding [5] “Welding : Technology & Design” by
current is shown in fig-9. V.M.Radhakrishnan, New Age International
publishers, second edition : 2005, Reprint : 2010.
[6] “Welding Metallurgy”, Sindo Kou, Wiley
Welding Time Interscience : A John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,
Publication, second edition, 2003.
[7] Bhaskar Vishvakarma, Manish verma & Tribhuvan
70 Kishor Mishra, “Investigation of welding parameter
Time (sec)

on mechanical properties of different joints of mild


65
steel”, International journal on mechanical
60 engineering and robotics (IJMER), volume-1, Issue-
1,2013, pp 23 - 27.
55 [8] Rakesh Kumar, Satish Kumar, “Study of mechanical
50 properties in mild steel using metal inert gas
welding”, International Journal of Research in
1 2 3 4 5 Engineering and Technology, Volume:3, Issue:4,
Apr-2014, pp 751 - 756.
Specimen No. [9] Prof. Rohit Jha, Dr. A. K. Jha,” Influence of welding
current and joint design on the tensile properties of
SMAW welded mild steel joints”, International
Fig. 9 Variation in welding time with increase in welding
Journal of Engineering Research and
current
Applications(IJERA), Volume-4, Issue-6(version 4),
June 2014, pp 106-111.
5. CONCLUSION [10] Ajay N. Boob, Prof. G. K. Gattani, “ Study on effect
From observation table and result analysis following major of manual metal arc welding process parameters on
conclusion are obtained: width of heat affected zone (HAZ) for Ms 1005
1. With increase in welding current heat input was steel”, International Journal of Modern Research
increased. So hardness of weld metal and HAZ (IJMER), Vol-3, Issue. -3, May – June, 2013, pp
were decreased with increased in welding ampere. 1493 - 1500.
2. Hardness of HAZ was higher than weld metal zone [11] Riyad Mohammaed, Ali Ramza, Abdulkareem
and base metal zone. Aloraier, Emad Abdulradh Al-Faraj, “ Investigation
3. With increase in welding ampere heat generation effect of welding polarity in joint bead geometry and
was increased so melting of electrode became faster mechanical properties of shielded metal arc welding
hence welding time decreased and welding speed process”, Journal of Engineering and technology, pp
was increased. 100 - 111.

6. FUTURE SCOPE BIOGRAPHY


1. During this experiment arc voltage, arc length, Samir Y. Merchant is working as a senior
welding polarity, angle of joint, thickness of metal lecturer in Fabrication Technology
remains constant. Theses parameter may also affect Department, Sir Bhavsinhji Polytechnic
on hardness of weld joint. Institute, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India since
2. Cooling rate was increased and it will increase 2004. He obtained M.E. Mechanical
hardness due to bainite or martensite formation. So Engineering ( Production Engineering)
separate effect of welding current and welding speed from M.S. University, Vadodara with First Rank in 2010.
can be observed.

REFERENCES
[1] “Modern arc welding Technology” by S.V.Nadkarni,
Advani Orlikon publicashion, edition 1988 reprint
1996
[2] “Welding technology for engineers”, editors : Baldev
raj, V Shankar & A. K. Bhaduri, Narosa Publishing
House, third reprint – 2009.

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Volume: 04 Issue: 03 | Mar-2015, Available @ http://www.ijret.org 48

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