Strength Performance of 304 Series Steels Welded by Plasma Arc Method

Abstract

Austenitic stainless steel is employed in various industrial sectors with its excellent mechanical and corrosion performance. Welding is a commonly used method in the production of stainless-steel structures. Plasma transferred arc welding (PTAW) is a technique in which an electric arc is fabricated and maintained between tungsten electrodes. In this research, AISI 304 plates were welded using plasma welding. The joint interface was analyzed through energy dispersive spectroscopy and optical microscopy. The strength properties of the samples were assessed via tensile testing. The fracture surfaces of samples were studied by SEM. The PTA method achieved complete penetration in AISI 304 plate joint. All joints showed good strength.

Keywords

• Plasma arc welding
• AISI 304
• Microstructure

References

1. Yan J, Gao M, Zeng X. Study on microstructure and mechanical properties of 304 stainless steel joints by TIG, laser and laser-TIG hybrid weldings. Opt Lasers Eng. 201048(4):512-7.
2. Lippold JC, Kotecki DJ. Welding metallurgy and weldability of stainless steel. 5nd ed. New York, USA: John Willey & Sons; 2005.
3. Zumelzu E, Sepulveda J, Ibarra M. Influence of microstructure on the mechanical behaviour of welded 316 L SS joints. J Mater Process Technol. 1999;94(1):36-40.
4. Korinko PS, Malene SH. Considerations for the weldability of types 304L and 316L stainless steel. Pract Fail Anal. 2001;1:61-8.
5. Shyu SW, Huang HY, Tseng KH, Chou CP. Study of the performance of stainless steel A-TIG welds. J Mater Eng Perform. 2008;17:193-201.
6. Kumar S, Shahi AS. Effect of heat input on the microstructure and mechanical properties of gas tungsten arc welded AISI 304 stainless steel joints. Mater Des. 2011;32(6):3617-23.
7. Mirshekari GR, Tavakoli E, Atapour M, Sadeghian B. Microstructure and corrosion behavior of multipass gas tungsten arc welded 304L stainless steel. Mater Des. 2014;55:905-11.
8. Teker T. Effect of melt-in and key-hole modes on the structure and mechanical properties of AISI 430 steel welded using plasma transfer arc welding. Phys Metals Metallogr. 2018;119(7): 669-77.

9. Singh NK. Performance of activated TIG welding in 304 austenitic stainless steel welds. Mater Today. 2017;4(9):9914-18.
10. Ogundimu EO, Akinlabi ET, Erinosho MF. Study on microstructure and mechanical properties of 304 stainless steel joints by TIG–MIG hybrid welding. Surf Rev Lett. 2018;25(01):1850042.
11. Bodkhe SC, Dolas DR. Optimization of activated tungsten inert gas welding of 304L austenitic stainless steel. Procedia Manuf. 2018;20:277-82.
12. Ramakrishnan A, Rameshkumar T, Rajamurugan G, Sundarraju G, Selvamuthukumaran D. Experimental investigation on mechanical properties of TIG welded dissimilar AISI 304 and AISI 316 stainless steel using 308 filler rod. Mater Today. 2021;45(9):8207-11.
13. ASTM E8M-04, Standard test methods for tension testing of metallic materials. West Conshohocken, PA, USA, ASTM International; 2004.
14. Taufiqurrahman I, Ahmad A, Mustapha M, Ginta TL, Haryoko LAF, Shozib, IA. The effect of welding current and electrode force on the heat input, weld diameter, and physical and mechanical properties of SS316l/Ti6Al4V dissimilar resistance spot welding with aluminum interlayer. Mater. 2021;14(5):1129.
15. Somani CA, Lalwani DI. Experimental investigation of TIG-MIG hybrid welding process on austenitic stainless steel. Mater Today. 2019;18(7):4826-34.
16. Prasad KS, Rao CS, Rao DN. Study on weld quality characteristics of micro plasma arc welded austenitic stainless steels. Procedia Eng. 2014;97:752-57.
17. Zhang L, Lu ZJ, Luo KY, Feng AX, Dai FZ, Zhong JS, Luo M, Zhang YK. Residual stress, micro-hardness and tensile properties of ANSI 304 stainless steel thick sheet by fiber laser weldings. Mater Sci Eng: A. 2013;56:136-44.
18. Cui S, Liu Z, Fang Y, Luo Z, Manladan S M, Yi S. Keyhole process in K-TIG welding on 4 mm thick 304 stainless steel. J Mater Process Technol. 2017:243;217-28.
19. Feng Y, Luo Z, Liu Z, Li Y, Luo Y, Huang Y. Keyhole gas tungsten arc welding of AISI 316L stainless steel. Mater Des. 2015;85:24-31.
20. Lee WS, Lin CF. Impact properties and microstructure evolution of 304L stainless steel. Mater Sci Eng: A. 2001;308(1-2):124-35.
21. Saha S, Mukherjee M, Pal TK. Microstructure, texture, and mechanical property analysis of gas metal arc welded AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel. J Mater Eng Perform. 2015;24:1125-39.
22. Ramkumar KD, Singh S, George JC, Anirudh S, Brahadees G, Goyal S, Gupta SK, Vishnu C, Sharan NR, Kalainathan S. Effect of pulse density and the number of shots on hardness and tensile strength of laser shock peened, activated flux TIG welds of AISI 347. J Manuf Proces. 2017;28(1):295-308.
23. Liu M, Li Y, Cui Z, Yang Q. High ductility of spray formed low density TRIP steel with the improvement of δ-ferrite matrix. Mater Charact. 2019;156:109828.
24. Abioye TE, Gbadeyan OO, Adebiyi DI. Analysis of the mechanical properties and penetration depth of gas metal arc welding on AISI 304 stainless steel. Int J Microstruct Mater Prop. 2019;14(1):47-9.
25. Puchi-Cabrera ES, Saya-Gamboa RA, La Barbera-Sosa JG, Staia MH. Ignoto-Cardinale V, Berríos-Ortiz JA, Mesmacque G. Fatigue life of AISI 316L stainless steel welded joints, obtained by GMAW. Weld Int. 2009;23(10):778-88.
26. Sabzi M, Dezfuli SM. Post weld heat treatment of hypereutectoid hadfield steel: characterization and control of microstructure, phase equilibrium, mechanical properties and fracture mode of welding joint. J Manuf Process. 2018;34:313-28.
27. Haldar V, Biswal SK, Pal S. Formability study of micro-plasma arc-welded AISI 316L stainless steel thin sheet joint. J Braz. Soc Mech Sci Eng. 2022;44:564.