INTERNATIONAL

JOURNAL OF
International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology ENGINEERING,
MultiCraft Vol. 4, No. 2, 2012, pp. 159-168 SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
www.ijest-ng.com
www.ajol.info/index.php/ijest
© 2012 MultiCraft Limited. All rights reserved

An investigation on weld quality characteristics of pulsed current micro

plasma arc welded austenitic stainless steels

Kondapalli Siva Prasada*, Chalamasetti Srinivasa Raob, Damera Nageswara Raoc

a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Anil Neerukonda Institute of Technology & Sciences , Visakhapatnam, 531 162, INDIA
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering , Andhra University, Visakhapatnam,530 002, INDIA
c
Centurion University of Technology & Management,Odisha, INDIA
*Corresponding Author Email:[email protected], Contact No: 91-9849212391, Fax No: 91-08933-226395

Abstract

Micro Plasma Arc Welding (MPAW) is one of the important arc welding process commonly used in sheet metal industry for
manufacturing metal bellows, metal diaphragms etc. The present work discusses about the weld quality characteristics of various
austenitic stainless steels namely AISI 304L, AISI 316L, AISI 316Ti, AISI 321 which are commonly used for manufacturing of
metal bellows. Square butt joint is used in the welding and no filler wire is used. Welding is carried out at fixed values of input
parameters and same thickness of 0.25mm for all the steels. Peak current, background current, pulse rate and pulse width are
considered as the main welding process parameters of MPAW process, where as weld bead geometry, microstructure, grain size,
hardness and tensile properties are considered as weld quality characteristics. Results reveal that out of all the materials
considered in the study AISI 304L attains better weld quality characteristics for same welding conditions.

Keywords: Pulsed current micro plasma arc welding, microstructure, grain size, hardness, tensile properties.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ijest.v4i2.12

1. Introduction

Around the beginning of the twentieth century, it was discovered that by adding at least 12% chromium by weight steels become
more corrosion resistant than common carbon steels. The addition of chromium caused the spontaneous formation of a passive
protective layer, which reduced the rate of surface dissolution (Sadek and El-Sheikh, 2000). As the science of metallurgy
progressed, it was found that by further alloying steels with elements such as nickel, molybdenum, copper, titanium, aluminum,
silicone, niobium, nitrogen, sulfur and selenium, other desirable properties could be selectively created. While stainless steels are
generally defined as an iron alloy containing a minimum of 12 wt. % chromium, they may be further categorized into several sub-
categories. These categories are martensitic, ferritic, duplex, precipitation hardenable and austenitic.
Austenitic stainless steels are probably the most commonly used material of all the stainless steels. The most common austenitic
family, the 300 series, is an iron-chrome-nickel system. Austenitic stainless steels are considered to be more resistant to corrosion
due to the high wt. % chromium and nickel content typically (18-20 and 8-12 respectively). They are non magnetic and
nonhardenable by heat treatment. However, they can be hardened significantly by cold working. Austenitic stainless steels are used
extensively in petrochemical, nuclear, and corrosive chemical environments (Palaniappan et al., 1996; Reddy, 2000; Vannan and
Thangavel, 1978). Austenitic stainless steels are further defined by the carbon content as; “L” grades, straight grades and “H”
grades. The L grades contain ≤ 0.03 wt. % C, the straight grades contain 0.03-0.08 wt. % C and the H grades contain anywhere
from 0.04-0.10 wt. % C. The higher carbon content of the H grades produces a harder and more wear resistant material. The
increased carbon also helps the material hold its strength at high temperatures and is therefore often used in high temperature
applications. However, the increase in carbon leads to problems in the Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) of the welds and is discussed in
the following section. The lower carbon content of the “L” grades is specifically designed for improved weldability. High carbon
160 Prasad et al./ International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2012, pp. 159-168

grades are often employed where harder, wear resistant, or high temperature applications exist. Low carbon stainless steels such as
304L, 316L are routinely used where intergranular corrosion is of concern.
Primarily, arc welding has long been considered as a viable process for joining ferrous materials; austenitic stainless steels are no
exception. Inherent in the arc welding process however, are certain problems, which keep it from being an “ideal” process.
Typically, in all arc welding processes, problems such as chemical inhomogeneities in the weld, microporosity, cold laps,
microfissures, and hot cracks reduce the quality of the joint (Malik, 1981). Austenitic stainless steels are particularly prone to the
hot cracking phenomenon. It has been determined however, that hot cracking may be reduced in austenitic stainless steel
weldments by using filler materials that contain a small percentage of retained ferrite (Sadek and El-Sheikh, 2000; Vannan and
Thangavel, 1978; David et al., 1979). Although appropriate filler materials have been developed, problems still arise especially in
the root of weldments, where the filler material may be diluted by the high amount of austenite in the parent material. Furthermore,
the slower cooling rate at the root with respect to the rest of the weld nugget reduces the amount of retained ferrite and increases
the likelihood of hot cracking (Vannan and Thangavel, 1978; David et al., 1979). While filler materials are able to compensate for
undesired changes in the microstructure of the solidified region, they cannot prevent the microstructural changes in the HAZ.
When steel is held at critical temperature range (600-800 °C) chromium precipitates out of the matrix and forms chrome carbides
along the grain boundaries. The formation of chrome carbides produces a chemical inhomogeneity in the surrounding grains; they
become depleted in chromium with respect to the base material. When these precipitates cause the surrounding areas to have less
than about 13 wt. % chromium, the areas become susceptible to corrosion. Keeping the carbon content low reduces this problem
by reducing the amount of chromium being precipitated along the grain boundaries.
The plasma welding process was introduced to the welding industry in 1964 as a method of bringing better control to the arc
welding process in lower current ranges. Today, plasma retains the original advantages it brought to the industry by providing an
advanced level of control and accuracy to produce high quality welds in both miniature and pre precision applications and to
provide long electrode life for high production requirements at all levels of amperage. Plasma welding is equally suited to manual
and automatic applications. It is used in a variety of joining operations ranging from welding of miniature components to seam
welding to high volume production welding and many others.
.Singh et al. (2003) evaluated fatigue life on Gas Tungsten Arc Welded (GTAW) load-carrying cruciform joints of AISI 304L
stainless steel with Lack of Penetration (LOP) using conventional S-N and crack initiation-propagation (I-P) methods. Sonsuvit et
al. (2005) investigated the effects of TIG pulse welding parameters and nitrogen gas mixed in Argon shielding gas on weld bead
formation and microstructure of weld metals of AISI 304L stainless steels at the 10-h welding position. Ahmad et al. (2007)
reported that Zr(Cr, Fe)2 intermetallic compound and Zr2Fe–Zr2Ni eutectic phases have been observed in the molten zone of the
TIG welded joints of the Zircaloy-4 and stainless steel 304L. Giridharan and Murugan (2009) adopted a quasi-Newton numerical
optimization technique for optimizing pulsed gas tungsten arc welding (pulsed GTAW) process parameters to obtain optimum
weld bead geometry with full penetration in welding of stainless steel (304L) sheets of 3 mm thickness. Design of experiments
based on central composite rotatable design was employed for the development of a mathematical model correlating the important
controllable pulsed GTAW process parameters like pulse current , pulse current duration and welding speed with weld bead
parameters such as penetration, bead width, aspect ratio and weld bead area of the weld. Velasco et al. (2009) analysed the effect
of welding on mechanical properties of ribbed bars of two cold-deformed austenitic stainless steels (new, low-nickel AISI 204Cu
and traditional 304L types) and two duplex stainless steels (SAF 2205 type, cold and hot-worked). Welds had been carried out
using shielded metal arc welding. The effect of welding on local mechanical properties had been studied using a universal hardness
equipment, measuring universal and Vickers hardness, elastic and plastic energies and Young modulus. Lee et al. (2004) used
split-Hopkinson pressure bar to investigate the effects of strain rate in the range of 10-3 s-1 to 8x 10-3 s-1 and welding current mode
upon the dynamic impact behavior of Plasma Arc Welded (PAW) 304L stainless steel (SS) weldments. Stress-strain curves were
plotted for different strain rates and welding parameters and Optical Microscopy (OM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and
Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) techniques were used to analyze the microstructure and fracture characteristics of the
weldments.
The main objective of the present paper is to compare the weld quality characteristics of various austenitic stainless steels of
same thickness using same welding conditions. All the austenitic steels used in the present study are used for manufacturing metal
bellows, which are used in thermal expansion joints. The present paper focuses on comparing the weld quality characteristics of
AISI 304L, AISI 316L, AISI 316Ti and AISI 321 steels welded using Pulsed Current MPAW process. As a part of weld quality
characteristics only static properties like weld bead geometry, microstructure, grain size, hardness and tensile properties are
considered in the present work.

2. Experimental Details

Austenitic stainless steels (AISI 304L, AISI 316L, AISI 316Ti, AISI 321) sheets of 100 x 150 x 0.25mm are welded
autogenously with square butt joint without edge preparation. The chemical compositions and tensile properties of AISI 304L,
AISI 316L, AISI 316Ti, AISI 321 austenitic stainless steel sheets is given in Table 1a and Table 1b which were procured from
Salem steel plant, India. High purity argon gas (99.99%) is used as a shielding gas and a trailing gas right after welding to prevent
absorption of oxygen and nitrogen from the atmosphere. The welding has been carried out under the welding conditions presented
161 Prasad et al./ International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2012, pp. 159-168

in Table 2. There are many influential process parameters which affect the weld quality characteristics of Pulsed Current MPAW
process like peak current, background current, pulse rate, pulse width, flow rate of shielding gas, flow rate of purging gas, flow
rate of plasma gas, welding speed etc. From the earlier works (Balasubramanian et al., 2006, 2010; Giridharan and Murugan, 2009;
Prasad et al., 2011a,b,c, 2012) carried out on Pulsed Current MPAW it was understood that the peak current, back current, pulse
rate and pulse width are the dominating parameters which effect the weld quality characteristics. We had carried out 31
experiments considering 4 factors, five levels as per Central Composite Design (CCD) matrix of Response Surface Method (RSM)
and optimized the welding parameters using optimization techniques like Hooke & Jeeves and Genetic Algorithms for AISI 304L
sheets. The values of process parameters used in this study are the optimal values obtained from our earlier papers on AIS 304L
(Prasad et al., 2011a,b,c; 2012). Hence peak current, background current, pulse rate and pulse width are chosen and their values
are presented in Table.3.

Table 1a Chemical composition of AISI 304L, AISI 316L, AISI 316Ti, AISI 321 (weight %)
Material C Si Mn P S Cr Ni Mo Ti N
AISI 304L 0.02 0.36 1.31 0.03 0.003 18.13 08.03 -- -- 0.06
AISI 316L 0.04 0.52 1.61 0.02 0.007 17.02 12.48 2.04 -- --
AISI 316Ti 0.04 0.43 1.69 0.02 0.002 16.50 10.60 2.12 0.41 0.01
AISI 321 0.02 0.35 1.60 0.03 0.014 17.42 09.25 -- 0.32 0.02

Table 1b Tensile properties of AISI 304L, AISI 316L, AISI 316Ti, AISI 321
Material Elongation (%) Yield Strength (MPa) Ultimate Tensile strength (MPa)
AISI 304L 49 350 784
AISI 316L 43 220 550
AISI 316Ti 47 261 634
AISI 321 56 265 608

Table 2 Welding conditions

Power source Secheron Micro Plasma Arc Machine
(Model: PLASMAFIX 50E)
Polarity DCEN
Mode of operation Pulse mode
Electrode 2% thoriated tungsten electrode
Electrode Diameter 1mm
Plasma gas Argon & Hydrogen
Plasma gas flow rate 6 Liters/min
Shielding gas Argon
Shielding gas flow rate 0.4 Liters/min
Purging gas Argon
Purging gas flow rate 0.4 Liters/min
Copper Nozzle diameter 1mm
Nozzle to plate distance 1mm
Welding speed 260 mm/min
Torch Position Vertical
Operation type Automatic

Table 3 Important weld parameters

Input Factor Units Value
Peak Current Amperes 7
Background Current Amperes 4
Pulse rate Pulses/second 40
Pulse width % 50

2.1 Measurement of Weld Bead Geometry

Sample preparation and mounting was done as per ASTM E 3-11 standard. Three samples at a distance of 25mm to each other
are cut at the middle of the welded joint. The samples are mounted using Bakelite powder. After standard metallurgical polishing
process, Oxalic acid is used as the etchant to reveal weld bead geometry. The weld pool geometries were measured using
162 Prasad et al./ International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2012, pp. 159-168

Metallurgical Microscope, Make: Dewinter Technologie, Model No. DMI-CROWN-II. A typical weld bead geometry is shown in
Figure 1.The values of weld bead geometry are measured at three different locations of the same sample and their average values
are reported in Table 6. Figures 2a, 2b, 2c,2d indicates welded joint of AISI 304L,AISI 316L, AISI 316Ti, AISI 321 respectively.

Fig.1 Typical weld bead geometry (Giridharan and Murugan, 2009)

100X 100X

Fig.2aWeld bead of AISI 304L (Front side) Fig.2b Weld bead of AISI 316L (Front side)

100X 100X

Fig.2c Weld bead of AISI 316Ti (Front side) Fig.2d Weld bead of AISI 321(Front side)

The weld bead geometry dimensions of AISI 304L is better compared to other austenitic stainless steel because of low carbon
and nickel content.
2.2 Microstructure measurement
For Microstructure measurement ASTM E 407 was followed for etching, along with ASM Metal Hand Book, Volume 9. The
samples at a distance of 25mm to each other are cut at the middle of the welded joint. For revealing the Microstructure the weld
samples are mounted using Bakelite and polishing was done according to standard Metallurgical procedure. Oxalic Acid was used
as an etchant. For revealing the Microstructure, Electrolytic Etching was done. The Microstructure was measured using
Metallurgical Microscope at a magnification of 100X. Fig.3a,3b,3c, 3d indicates the microstructures of AISI 304L,AISI 316L,
AISI 316Ti, AISI 321 respectively. The left portion in the Fig.3a, 3b indicates weld fusion zone and right portion indicates HAZ.
163 Prasad et al./ International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2012, pp. 159-168

FUSION HAZ FUSION HAZ

100X 100X

Fig.3a Microstructure of AISI 304L Fig.3b Microstructure of AISI 316L

FUSION HAZ
FUSION HAZ

100X 100X

Fig.3c Microstructure of AISI 316Ti Fig.3d Microstructure of AISI 321

2.3 Grain Size measurement
The samples at a distance of 25mm to each other are cut at the middle of the welded joint. In order to reveal the grains, polishing
was done according to standard Metallurgical procedure and Etching was done as per ASTM E407. Electrolytic was done using
Nitric Acid for about 1 minute. Scanning Electron Microscope, Make: INCA Penta FETx3, Model: 7573 is used to measure the
fusion zone grain size and parent metal. Figure 4a, 4b,4c,4d indicates the fusion zone grain size at welding speeds of AISI 304L,
AISI 316L, AISI 316Ti, AISI 321 respectively. As the grains in some parts of the weld fusion zone are elongated, an average value
was reported by measuring grain size (perimeter) at different locations in the fusion zone of each sample.

Fig.4a Grain size of AISI 304L Fig.4b Grain size of AISI 316L
164 Prasad et al./ International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2012, pp. 159-168

Fig.4c Grain size of AISI 316Ti Fig.4d Grain size of AISI 321

From Figure 4a, 4b,4c,4d , it is observed that for same welding conditions, the fusion zone grain size of AISI 316L is high at 33
microns and AISI 321 has the smallest size of 24 microns.

2.4 Measurement of Vickers Micro Hardness

Vickers Micro hardness was done as per ASTM E384. The samples at a distance of 25mm to each other are cut at the middle of
the welded joint and Vickers Micro Hardness values across the weld joint at an interval of 0.3mm using Digital Micro Hardness
testing Machine, make METSUZAWA CO LTD, JAPAN, Model No: MMT-X7 is carried out. The average values are reported in
Table 4. Hardness values reported in Table 4 are measured at a load of 0.5 Kg.

Table 4 Variation of hardness values across the weld joint at 0.3mm interval
Parent Hardness values in VHN at different locations on the weld joint
material HAZ zone Fusion zone HAZ zone
Material
hardness
in VHN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
AISI 304L 176 204 217 216 201 203 207 213 206 194
AISI 316L 161 174 169 191 175 192 188 179 170 159
AISI 316Ti 171 175 187 176 181 180 195 182 184 182
AISI 321 168 171 179 172 172 166 177 169 175 168

In the Table.4 points 1,2,8,9 indicates at HAZ and the points 3, 4,5,6,7 indicates at Fusion Zone (FZ). The location of the
hardness measuring points is shown in Figure.5. The variation of hardness across the weld is shown in Figure.6.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Heat Affected Zone

Fusion Zone

Fig.5 Location of hardness measuring points in the weld fusion zone

165 Prasad et al./ International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2012, pp. 159-168

Fig.6 Variation of hardness across the weld

From Table 4 and Figure 6 it understood that hardness at centre of FZ is less and it keeps on increasing away from the centre and
decreases towards HAZ. The hardness values of AISI 304L are high; whereas least is for AISI 321.The higher hardness values of
AISI 304L may be due to martensite formation during welding. From Table 4, it is understood that the hardness values of the weld
metal is more than the parent material hardness. It is due to grain refinement taking place in the FZ during welding because of
usage of pulsing current and also because of martensentic transformation.

2.5 Measurement of ultimate tensile strength

Three transverse tensile specimens are prepared as per ASTM E8 guidelines and the specimens after wire cut Electro Discharge
Machining are shown in Fig.7. Tensile tests are carried out in 100kN computer controlled Universal Testing Machine (ZENON,
Model No: WDW-100). The specimen is loaded at a rate of 1.5kN/min as per ASTM specifications, so that the tensile specimens
undergo deformation. From the stress strain curve, the yield and ultimate tensile strength of the weld joints is evaluated and the
average of three sample results for each material is presented in Table 6. During testing AISI 304L and AISI 316L failed at FZ,
where as AISI 316Ti failed at FZ. The tested specimens are presented in Fig.8

Fig.7 Schematic diagram of tensile specimen as per ASTM E8.

AISI 304L

AISI 316Ti

AISI 316L

Fig.8 Tensile specimens after testing

166 Prasad et al./ International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2012, pp. 159-168

3. Results & Discussions

The results of all the weld quality characteristics discussed in chapter 2 on the welded samples of AISI 304L, AISI 316L, AISI
316Ti, AISI 321 are summarized and presented in Table 6.

Table 6 Comparison of weld quality characteristics

Material Weld bead Geometry (mm) Fusion Fusion Yield Ultimate
Zone grain Zone Strength Strength
size hardness (MPa) (MPa)
Front Back Front Back
(Microns) (VHN)
Width(mm) Width(mm) Height(mm) Height(mm)
AISI 304L 1.509 1.439 0.060 0.047 31 208 256 657
AISI 316L 1.408 1.342 0.052 0.044 33 185 205 526
AISI 316 Ti 1.225 1.084 0.048 0.038 28 183 237 594
AISI 321 1.134 0.966 0.046 0.036 24 171 247 582

From Table 6, it is understood that for same welding conditions, front width, back width, front height and back height of weld
bead geometry are higher for AISI 304L compared to the other austenitic stainless steels. The reason may be due to low carbon
and nickel content compared to others. Higher the front width and back width in the weld bead geometry indicates complete fusion
of the parent metal and hence the joint is strong. The FZ grain size of AISI 304L is around 31 microns, which is higher compared
to other austenitic stainless steels. As grain size and hardness are inversely proportional to each other, AISI 304L has higher
hardness of about 208VHN compared to other austenitic stainless steels. During welding the parent metal is subjected to large
amount of heat, because of which the grains are disturbed and there occurs a weak zone known as HAZ, where there are more
chances of failure of weld specimen during tensile test. The yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of AISI 304L welded joint
are better compared to the other austenitic stainless steels and the corresponding values are 256 MPa and 657 MPa respectively.
The higher values of AISI 304L may be due to martensite transformation taking place during welding.

Table 7 Comparison of mechanical properties of parent metal and weldment

Hardness Yield Strength Ultimate
(VHN) (MPa) Strength (MPa)
Material Parent weldment % Parent weldment % Parent weldment %
grade Variation Variation Variation
AISI 304L 176 208 -18.1818 350 256 26.85714 784 657 16.19898
AISI 316L 161 185 -14.9068 220 205 6.818182 550 526 4.363636
AISI 316 Ti 171 183 -7.01754 261 237 9.195402 634 594 6.309148
AISI 321 168 171 -1.78571 265 247 6.792453 608 582 4.276316

From Table 7, it is clear that hardness of the weldment is more than the parent metal for all the steels which were considered
in the present study. This may be due to martenistic transformation taking place during welding. The yield and ultimate strength
values for weldment are less than the parent metals. It is due to grain coarsening taking place at HAZ. The % variation of
mechanical properties like hardness, yield strength and ultimate strength of AISI 304L is more compared to other austenitic steels
considered in the study. However there is no much variation in % variation of mechanical properties for AISI 316L, AISI 316Ti
and AISI 321.

4. Conclusions

Pulse current MPAW was carried out successfully on various austenitic stainless steels like AISI 304L, AISI 316L, AISI 316Ti,
and AISI 321for same welding conditions and same thickness. Peak current, background current, pulse rate and pulse width are
chosen as the important welding parameters in the present study and welding was carried out based on the optimal values of
welding parameters obtained for AISI 304L from earlier studies. For same thickness and uniform welding conditions, it is
observed that AISI 304L has better weld bead geometry, higher hardness and tensile properties compare to other stainless steels
selected. The high hardness and tensile strength may be because of martensite transformation taking place during welding. The
present paper is limited to comparison of static properties only, however one may consider dynamic properties like creep &
fatigue.
167 Prasad et al./ International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2012, pp. 159-168

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Shri. R.Gopla Krishnan, Director, M/s Metallic Bellows (I) Pvt Ltd, Chennai for his support to
carry out experimentation work.

References

Ahmad M., Akhter J. I., Akhtar M., Iqbal M., 2007. Microstructure and characterization of phases in TIG welded joints of
Zircaloy-4 and stainless steel 304L, Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 328-331.
Balasubramanian.M, Jayabalan.V, Balasubramanian.V, 2010. Effect of process parameters of pulsed current tungsten inert gas
welding on weld pool geometry of titanium welds, Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters), Vol. 23, No. 4, pp. 312-320.
Balasubramanian.B, Jayabalan.V, Balasubramanian.V, 2006. Optimizing the pulsed current gas tungsten arc welding parameters,
Journal of Material Science and Technology, Vol. 22, No. 6, pp. 821-825.
David S.A., Goodwin G.M. and Braski D.N., 1979. Solidification behavior of austenitic stainless steel filler metals, Welding
Journal, Vol. 58, No. 11, p. 330-s – 336-s.
Giridharan P. K. and Murugan N., 2009. Optimization of pulsed GTA welding process parameters for the welding of AISI 304L
stainless steel sheets, The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Vol. 40, No. 5-6, pp. 478-489.
Lee W.-S., Lin C.-F., Liu C.-Y., Chin-Wei Cheng C.-W., 2004. The effects of strain rate and welding current mode on the dynamic
impact behavior of plasma-arc-welded 304L stainless steel weldments, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, Vol. 35,
No. 5, pp. 1501-1515.
Malik R.K., 1981. HIP heals defects in austenitic stainless steel welds, Metal Progress, Vol. 119, No. 4, p.86.
Palaniappan M., Subbaratnam R., Baskaran A., Chandramohan R., 1996. Effect of repeated repairs on the stainless steel welds
upon the ultrasonic examination sensitivity, 14th World Conference on Non Destructive Testing, New Delhi, India, 8 – 13
December.
Prasad K.S., Rao C.S., Rao D.N., 2011a. Prediction of weld pool geometry in pulsed current micro plasma arc welding of SS304L
stainless steel sheets, International Transaction Journal of Engineering, Management, and Applied Sciences and Technologies,
Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 325-336.
Prasad K.S., Rao C.S., Rao D.N., 2011b. A study on weld quality characteristics of pulsed current micro plasma arc welding of
SS304L sheets, International Transaction Journal of Engineering, Management, and Applied Sciences and Technologies, Vol.
2, No. 4, pp. 437-446.
Prasad K.S., Rao C.S., Rao D.N., 2011c. 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,p.112.
Prasad K.S., Rao C.S., Rao D.N., 2012. Establishing empirical relations to predict grain size and hardness of pulsed current micro
plasma arc welded SS 304L Sheets, American Transactions on Engineering and Applied Sciences,Vol.1, No.1, pp. 57-74.
Reddy K.G., 2000. Analysis of corroded austenitic stainless steel welds, Praktishe Metallographie (Practical Metallurgy), Vol. 37,
No. 11, p. 600.
Sadek A.Z., El-Sheikh A.M., 2000. Failure analysis of SS 304 weldments by metallurgically enhanced stress corrosion cracking in
laboratory environments, Corrosion 2000, Orlando.
Singh P.J., Achar D.R.G , Guha B , Nordberg H. 2003. Fatigue life prediction of gas tungsten arc welded AISI 304L cruciform
joints with different LOP sizes, International Journal of Fatigue, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 1-7.
Sonsuvit N., Somrerk C.-A., Gobboon L., 2005. Effects of TIG pulse welding parameters and nitrogen gas mixed in argon
shielding gas on weld bead formation and microstructure of weld metals of AISI 304L stainless steels at the 10-h welding
position, Session PE3: Pipeline Symposium: Properties & Structures.
Vannan K.V., Thangavel B., 1978. Occurrence of delta ferrite in type 304/304L stainless steel pipe welds, The Third International
Symposium of the Japan Welding Society, Tokyo, Japan .
Velasco F, Blanco G, Bautista A, Martinez M.A., 2009. Effect of welding on local mechanical properties of stainless steels for
concrete structures using universal hardness tests, Construction and Building Materials, Vol. 23, No. 5, pp. 1883-1891.

Biographical notes

Kondapalli Siva Prasad is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Anil Neerukonda Institute of Technology & Sciences,
Visakhapatnam,India. He graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Vasavi Engineering College (Affiliated to Osmania University, Hyderabad) in 2000. He
received his Masters Degree from JNTU Hyderabad, India in 2002. He has published 16 research papers in International Journals and various papers in
International and National conferences.

Chalamalasetti Srinivasa Rao is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India. He
graduated in Mechanical Engineering from SVH Engineering College, Machilipatnam,, India in 1988. He received his Masters Degree from MANIT, Bhopal, India
in 1991. He received PhD from Andhra University in 2004.He has published over 25 research papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings.
168 Prasad et al./ International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2012, pp. 159-168

Damera Nagesawara Rao worked as a Professor in Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India for past 30 years and presently he is working as Vice Chancellor,
Centurion University of Technology & Management, Odisha, India. Under his guidance 19 PhDs were awarded. He has undertaken various projects sponsored by
UGC, AICTE and NRB. He worked as a coordinator for Centre for Nanotechnology, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam.

Received March 2012

Accepted August 2012
Final acceptance in revised form September 2012