Advances in Science and Technology

Research Journal
Volume 10, No. 32, Dec. 2016, pages 156168 Research Article
DOI: 10.12913/22998624/65119

THE ROLE OF SHIELDING GAS ON MECHANICAL, METALLURGICAL

AND CORROSION PROPERTIES OF CORTEN STEEL WELDED JOINTS
OF RAILWAY COACHES USING GMAW

Byju John1, Sathiya Paulraj2, Jolly Mathew3

1
Centre for Excellence in Corrosion and Surface Engineering (CECASE), National Institute of Technology,
Tiruchirappalli 620 015, Tamilnadu, India
2
CECASE & Department of Production Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli 620 015,
Tamilnadu, India, e-mail: [email protected]
3
Central Workshops, Southern Railway, Tiruchirappalli 620 004, Tamilnadu, India

Received: 2016.08.16 ABSTRACT

Accepted: 2016.10.08 This analysis lays emphasis on finding a suitable combination of shielding gas for
Published: 2016.12.01 welding underframe members such as sole bar of Railway Coaches made of cor-
ten steel; for improved mechanical, metallurgical and corrosion properties of welds
using copper coated solid MIG/MAG welding filler wire size 1.2 mm conforming
to AWS/SFA 5.18 ER 70 S in Semi-automatic GMAW process. Solid filler wire is
preferred by welders due to less fumes, practically no slag and easy manipulation of
welding torch with smooth wire flow during corrosion repair attention, when com-
pared to Flux cored wire. Three joints using Gas metal arc welding (GMAW) with
shielding gases viz., Pure CO2, (80% Ar 20% CO2) and (90% Ar 10% CO2) were
made from test pieces cut from Sole bar material of Railway Coach. Study of Me-
chanical properties such as tensile strength, hardness and toughness revealed that
welded joint made using shielding gas (80% Ar 20% CO2) has better Mechanical
properties compared to the other two shielding gases and comparable to that of Par-
ent metal. Type of Shielding gas used has influence on the chemical composition and
macro & micro structures. The Tafel extrapolation study of freshly ground samples
in 3.5% NaCl solution revealed that the welded joint made using shielding gas (80%
Ar 20% CO2) has also better corrosion resistance which is comparable to the Parent
metal as well as similar commercial steels.

Keywords: gas metal arc welding, shielding gas, corrosion, weld microstructure, cor-
ten steel.

INTRODUCTION reaction(electrochemical reaction) with the re-

lease of energy and is the process of metal return-
Welding is one of the main activities for the ing to Ore. To increase the longevity of the life of
corrosion repair attention of Railway Coach- the Coaches, the corrosion should be minimized
es during periodical overhauling (POH). With by taking suitable steps at the maintenance stages.
the adoption of light gauge steel sheets and Railway coaches which are constructed using
plates in the manufacture of Railway Coaches low alloy high yield strength corten steel, gener-
for weight reduction and also due to their ex- ally require their first corrosion repair after 9 to
posure to sun light, moisture, industrial and at- 11 years and does not require corrosion repairs
mospheric pollution, the life of the Coaches are at the same location for a further period of 6 to 7
affected due to corrosion, which is the natural years. But in view of factors such as non-avail-

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ability of materials of the prescribed quality and contents of hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen dis-
specification variations in quality of workman- solved in the weld metal [18].
ship and climatic and service conditions from The low alloy high yield strength corten steel
Railway to Railway, it is difficult to predict the to IR Specification No. M-41 [10], used in the
period for repair with any degree of accuracy [8]. construction of Indian Railway Coaches, falls in
It will, therefore, be necessary that on subsequent the category of weathering steels [13, 21] and it
despatch of these coaches to workshops for Peri- is similar to commercially available steels such as
odical Overhauling (POH) which is now fixed as SAILCOR grade steel produced by Bokaro Steel
once every 18 months, all coaches irrespective of Plant,SAIL, India and patented CORTEN steel
age and the degree of attention given in the previ- USA [6]. They contain small amounts of alloying
ous POHs should be subjected to a thorough ex- elements such as Chromium, Nickel, Copper and
amination. During POH, the corroded portions of Phosphorus for mitigating atmospheric corrosion
structural members such as sole-bar are gas cut and solid-solution strengthening. The enhanced
and new parts are welded in position. corrosion resistance of Corten Steel is due to the
This analysis is carried out to find a suitable formation of a dense and well-adhering corrosion
combination of shielding gases for improved product layer known as the patina [13] which
mechanical, metallurgical and corrosion proper- protects the steel from corrosive environment.
ties of welds during corrosion repair using semi- Besides possessing greater mechanical strength
automatic GMAW process with copper coated and corrosion resistance than mild steel or plain
solid MIG/MAG welding filler wire size 1.2 mm carbon steel, the patina is also valued for its at-
conforming to AWS/SFA 5.18 ER 70 S. The solid tractive appearance and self-healing abilities.
wire is found to have a good operator appeal due It is sometimes difficult to determine why
to less noxious fumes , smooth wire flow and easy welds corrode and many factors starting from
manipulation of weld Torch for corrosion repair weld design are implicated. Weldments can ex-
activities in coaches at various locations in Semi- perience all the classical forms of corrosion, but
automatic GMAW process and also economical they are particularly susceptible to those affected
due to low cost compared to Flux cored wire. by variations in microstructure and composition
[4]. Corrosion resistance can usually be main-
tained in the welded condition by balancing alloy
LITERATURE SURVEY compositions to inhibit certain precipitation reac-
tions, by shielding molten and hot metal surfaces
High productivity, applicability for a wide from reactive gases in the weld environment,
range of base metal thickness in all welding posi- by removing chromium-enriched oxides and
tions, and adoptability to automation are charac- chromium-depleted base metal from thermally
teristics of Gas metal arc welding (GMAW) pro- discoloured (heat tinted) surfaces, and by choos-
cess [14]. GMAW process has become popular ing the proper welding parameters. Weldments
because of its high quality welded joints that can exhibit special microstructural features that need
be obtained at relatively low cost [5], and its con- to be recognized and understood in order to pre-
siderable potential for automation [7]. The pri- dict acceptable corrosion service life of welded
mary function of the shielding gas is to protect structures. Weldments inherently possess com-
the molten metal from atmospheric gases as the positional and microstructural heterogeneities,
weld pool is being formed. The gas also promotes which can be classified by dimensional scale. On
a stable arc and uniform metal transfer. The qual- the largest scale, a weldment consists of a transi-
ity, efficiency, and overall operating acceptance tion from wrought base metal through an HAZ
of the welding operation are strongly dependent and into solidified weld metal and includes five
on the shielding gas, since it dominates the mode microstructurally distinct regions normally iden-
of the metal transfer [7]. The shielding gas not tified as the fusion zone, the unmixed region, the
only affects the properties of the weld but also partially melted region, the HAZ, and the unaf-
determines its shape and penetration pattern. fected base metal. On a fine scale, microstructural
During welding, the shielding gas also interacts gradients exist within the HAZ due to different
with the welding wire determining the strength, time-temperature cycles experienced by each el-
toughness and corrosion resistance of weld de- ement of material. Gradients on a similar scale
posits. The shielding gas also affects the residual exist within solidified multi-pass weld metal due

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Table 1. Chemical composition requirement of parent metal and filler wire (in weight %)
Incidental Elements
C Si Mn Ni Cu Cr S P
(0.15 max)
Mo=0.05 max
Parent
0.10 0.28 0.25 0.20 0.30 0.35 0.03 0.075 V=0.05 max
metal
max. to 0.72 to 0.45 to 0.47 to 0.60 to 0.60 max. to 0.140 Al=0.08 max
Nb=0.04 max

0.07 0.80 1.40 0.2 0.025 0.025

Filler wire
to 0.15 to 1.15 to 1.85 -- to 0.4 -- max. max. --

Table 2. Mechanical property requirement of parent 5.32 [1] and have the compositions: (1) Pure CO2,
metal and filler wire (2) 80% Ar 20% CO2, (3) 90% Ar 10% CO2.
Mechanical property Parent Metal Filler wire The experimental work setup is shown in Fig-
Tensile strength(MPa) 480 min. 510 ure 1, thus to obtain good actual heat input (HI);
Yield strength(MPa) 340 min. 350 electric cables of arc data monitor III device were
Elongation (%) 22% min. 26% precisely fitted according to the manual user of
the device especially to the contact tube and work-
piece to minimize the losses in the generated HI
to bead-to-bead variations in thermal experience. and to obtain high arc efficiency for each shield-
Compositional gradients on the scale of a few ing gas. On the other hand, for the theoretical HI
microns, referred to as microsegregation, exist the welding machine was precisely programmed
within individual weld beads due to segregation to reduce the losses in the resulted HI.
of major and trace elements during solidification. The optimum welding conditions were select-
ed as shown in table 3 and complete weld joints
were accomplished using plates of 5 mm in thick-
MATERIALS AND METHODS ness with dimensions 130 mm (length) 125 mm
(width) for each composition of shielding gas as
The sample pieces of Parent metal for ex- shown in Figure 2. Each plate was mechanically
periment were made ready from the cut pieces of bevelled to an angle of 30 to form a single V
new Sole bar material conforming to corten steel butt groove joint with 1 3 mm root gap opening
to Indian Railway Standard, IRS M41/97 [10]. to study the effect of shielding gas compositions
The filler wire used for the welding of three test
pieces was Copper coated solid MIG/MAG wire
conforming to AWS/SFA 5.18 ER 70 S with 1.2
mm nominal diameter. The chemical composition
and mechanical property requirements of both
parent metal and filler wire are shown in Table 1
and Table 2 respectively.
Semi-automatic GMAW process with combi-
nations of argon (Ar) and carbon dioxide (CO2) as
shielding gas was used in this study. The welded
specimens were subjected to test and analysis to Fig. 1. Experimental work setup
find out the Mechanical, metallurgical and corro-
sion properties to arrive at the most appropriate
shielding gas. Table 3. Welding conditions/Welding parameters
Current 220 Amps
Voltage 24 V
EXPERIMENTAL WORK Gas flow rate 15 Lpm
Welding speed 35 mm/min
Pure carbon dioxide (CO2) and combinations
Coil feed rate 80 mm/min
of argon (Ar) and CO2 were used throughout this
Standoff distance 15 to 18 mm
study. They meet the requirements of ASME SFA

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Fig. 2. Welded Joints

on both mechanical, metallurgical and corrosion

properties of the weldments.
Required Specimens were prepared from the
welded joints using band saw, machining, grind-
ing and polishing for the tests and analysis to find
out the Mechanical, metallurgical and corrosion
properties. The specimens were marked as 1 for
pure CO2, 2 for (80% Ar 20% CO2) and 3 for
(90% Ar 10% CO2) and analysed in Atlantis-
optical emission spectrometer and the chemical
composition of parent metal and weld metal ob-
tained are given in Table 4. Chemical composi-
tion of parent metal is found conforming to the
requirement as per Table 1.
Tests for mechanical properties such as Ten-
sile strength and Impact strength were carried out
in FIE make Universal Testing Machine,UTE-60
and Charpy impact test machine Model: IT 30
respectively. Transverse tensile and impact tests
were carried out with the weld centerline perpen-
dicular to specimen longitudinal axis as shown
in Figure 3 and Figure 4 respectively. Tensile
specimen dimensions were according to ASME
(IX) [2],while impact specimen dimensions were Fig. 4. Specimens after Charpy Impact test

10555 mm long according to ASME (II) [3].

Vickers hardness tests were also carried out using
a load of 10 Kgf.
Metallographic examinations including
macro and microstructure were carried out to
identify the phases in both weld metal and heat
affected zone using optical microscope. Exami-
Fig. 3. Specimens after Tensile Test
nation of the fracture surfaces of impact speci-

Table 4. Chemical composition of parent metal and weld metal (in weight %)
Fe C Si Mn Ni Cu Cr S P Nb
Parent metal 98.238 0.097 0.31 0.34 0.21 0.30 0.41 0.02 0.075 --
Weld Metal 1 97.972 0.069 0.604 1.009 0.068 0.123 0.087 0.019 0.032 0.017
Weld Metal 2 97.969 0.069 0.542 1.076 0.073 0.122 0.078 0.024 0.024 0.023
Weld Metal 3 97.703 0.076 0.647 1.132 0.092 0.149 0.132 0.013 0.025 0.031

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Fig. 5. Potentiodynamic polarisation measurement

mens and tensile specimens were carried out

using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and
EDAS. Image analysis was carried out to esti-
mate the area percent of the different phases of
microstructures of complete joined weldments
using image analyser software with metallurgi-
cal microscope.
Tafel extrapolation study using potentiometric
polarisation technique was conducted to analyse
the corrosion potential of the welds using Equip-
ment-Princeton Applied research (Fig. 5) [16].

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Three test piece welds were carried out by

using copper coated solid MIG/MAG wire con-
forming to AWS/SFA 5.18 ER70 S with 1.2 mm
Fig. 6. Bead profile of the joints
nominal diameter and the selected three shielding
gases; (1) pure CO2, (2) 80% Ar 20% CO2 and
(3) 90% Ar 10% CO2, by using approximately
the same heat input and controlling the welding Effect of the different shielding gas
parameters. compositions on weld metal microstructure
The microstructure of parent metal (PM), heat
Effect of the different shielding gas
affected zone (HAZ) and weld metal (WM) of in-
compositions on macrostructure
vestigated weld specimens as a function of the
The macrographs indicated good penetra- shielding gas compositions were obtained from
tion for all welds but non-uniform side wall fu- metallurgical microscope with a magnification of
sion for specimen 1 and specimen 3 as shown 200X as shown in the Figure 7. The area percents
in Figure 6. In the case of (90% Ar 10% CO2) of the various microstructure phases are shown in
composition (specimen 3), less heat input Table 5.
caused non-uniform side wall fusion. (80% Ar The parent metal microstructure reveals
20% CO2) weld (specimen 2) shows a more Ferrite (light phase) Pearlite (darker phase)
uniform penetration of weld and uniform weld microstructure as shown in Figure 7(a), which
bead and optimum deposition rate. High rate is typically observed in low carbon low alloy
of oxidation was caused by CO2 gas at weld steels [6].The pearlite content is estimated to 8%
temperature and hence irregular fusion of base and the ASTM grain size is 6 to 7. The micro-
metal (specimen 1) in case of pure CO2 shield- structure of the welds primarily consists of Po-
ing gas is observed. lygonal ferrite(PF), Grain boundary ferrite(GF)

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Fig. 7. Microstructure of weld specimens

and Acicular ferrite(AF) and also the so-called

micro-phases, which include small amounts
of martensite, retained austenite or degenerate
pearlite. HAZ of specimen 1 (pure CO2) consists
of coarse ferrite of ASTM size 4 to 5, Pearlite
and carbides (Fe3C) and the Weld metal of speci-
men 1 consists of high fraction of grain boundary
ferrite (GF), polygonal ferrite (PF) and network
of pearlite and carbides as shown in Figures 7(b)
and 7(c) respectively.

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Table 5. Microstructure phases of shielding gases used Table 6. Effect of the different shielding gas composi-
for complete welded joints tions on tensile strength
Microstructure phases percent Tensile
Shielding gas Shielding gas Point of
Strength
composition PF and FC composition Fracture
AF GF(%) MPa
(%)
Specimen 1, Weld
Pure CO2 36 60 4 459.10
Pure CO2 metal
80% Ar 20% CO2 56 40 3
Specimen 2, Parent
90% Ar 10% CO2 32 28 40 531.37
(80% Ar 20% CO2) metal
Specimen 3, Weld
460.89
(90% Ar 10% CO2) metal

It is evident that an increase in CO2 content

in the shielding gas in the mixture of gases in-
creases the grain size due to the higher heat in- WM due to less dilution of the weld pool, which
put [11].Degree of oxidation is high for pure CO2 helped for cleavage failure as observed in SEM
and increases with higher quantities of CO2 in the structure with bright cleavage surfaces in Fig-
shielding gas and the microstructure of deposited ure 9, specimen 3 and the same can be deduced
weld metal is a coarse structure. In the cases of from corresponding EDAS. CO2 is an active gas,
specimen 2 (80% Ar 20% CO2), the HAZ has react with or burn up some of the alloy from the
dendritic structure with Ferrite, Pearlite and Car- weld pool in the arc [11], resulting in less recov-
bides. The WM microstructure reveals the Pine ery of alloy such as Mn by the weld metal from
tree formation of pearlite in the matrix of Ferrite base metal dilution as observed from EDAS for
associated with fine Acicular ferrite as shown in specimen 1 in Figure 9 and the micro structure
Figure 7 (d) and 7(e).The percentage of Acicular reveals high fraction of Grain boundary Ferrite.
Ferrite is found high with less fraction of (GF). In This in turn resulted in a lower weld metal yield
case of specimen 3 (90% Ar 10% CO2), the mi- and tensile strength for the weld using pure CO2.
crostructure of HAZ consists of Ferrite and Pearl- A combination of good penetration and high frac-
ite but the structure is coarse having ASTM size tion of acicular ferrite in microstructure and alloy
4 to 5. The WM consists of high fraction of Po- recovery were obtained because of combination
lygonal ferrite (PF), Pearlite and carbides. Com- of (80% Ar 20% CO2) gas resulting in greater
paratively larger pearlite of about 3% segregation strength.
is seen as shown in Figure 7(f) and 7(g). Weld
metals lean in alloy contents would be expected Effect of the different shielding gas
to transform at relatively high temperatures to compositions on impact toughness test and
produce a microstructure often consisting of fer- fracture appearance
rite and carbides (FC) having low strength [17] The result of the Charpy impact toughness test
and reduction in Acicular Ferrite (AF). conducted at room temperature (30 C)is shown in
Figure 8. Generally, the Charpy impact toughness
Effect of the different shielding gas values of WM revealed that as the CO2 percent in-
compositions on transverse tensile testing creases in the shielding gas, the absorbed energy
The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of weld- value decreases. This can be attributed to the pre-
ed joint with (80% Ar 20% CO2) shielding gas vious observed microstructures in Figure 7, which
composition exceeded the corresponding value for
the investigated base metal [Table 2]; the fracture
was in the base metal giving an average value for
the UTS of 531 MPa. The ultimate tensile strength
(UTS) of welded joints with pure CO2 and (90%
Ar 10% CO2) shielding gas compositions were
appeared below the UTS of base metal; the frac-
ture was in the welded joint as shown in Table 6.
Low UTS for welds with (90% Ar 10% CO2)
shielding gas may be due to segregation of carbide Fig. 8. Average impact energy values of weld metal at
aggregates at HAZ and oxide aggregates in the room temperature

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Fig. 9. Fracture appearance figures (1) Pure CO2, (2) 80% Ar 20% CO2, (3) 90% Ar 10% CO2

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confirmed that Acicular Ferrite percent decreased Effect of the different shielding gas
and Grain boundary Ferrite percent increased with compositions on hardness test
the increase in CO2 content of the shielding gas
[14, 18]. Acicular Ferrite has a beneficial effect on Hardness was measured at several points
the toughness in the absence of other brittle zones which represented its distribution along the dif-
[18]. In the case of (90% Ar 10% CO2), tough- ferent areas of weldment. Plots of test positions
ness reduced due to formation of coarser alloy against hardness values (HV 10) for all the three
carbides and reduction in Acicular Ferrite as seen shielding gases are shown in Figure 10. At HAZ,
from microstructures in Figure 7 (g) and fracture the microstructure is relatively harder due to the
surface of specimen-3 in Figure 9. On increasing transformation of structure from austenite to pearl-
silicon content toughness decreases due to the for- ite with some martensite caused by heat treatment
mation of coarser alloy carbides [6]. during welding. Whereas at weldment area, the
Scanning electron micrographs of fracture hardness is relatively low due to overheat treat-
surfaces of Tensile and Charpy impact toughness ment received inside the fusion zone. Weld metal
test specimens in magnification of 2000X are hardness decreases with increasing CO2 content in
shown in Figure 9 along with EDAS for specific the shielding gas, this may be related to the loss
inclusions. in some alloying elements such as Mn, Ni and Cu
It is clear that the fracture surface morphol- during arc welding. The hardness in case of pure
ogy for the weld using (80% Ar 20% CO2) CO2 shielding gas showed the lowest values. In
shielding gas is dimple rupture that was recog- case of (90% Ar-10% CO2) shielding gas, inad-
nized by numerous cuplike depressions which equate weld dilution resulted in segregation of in-
are the direct result of the microvoid coales- clusion and caused non uniform hardness of weld.

cence, and this shows that the impact fracture
Effect of the different shielding gas
surface of weld metal exhibited exclusively duc-
compositions on corrosion rate
tile fracture and also the parent metal is ductile
as seen from tensile fracture surface, as shown Electrochemical polarisation method is pre-
in Figure 9, specimen 2. On the other hand, with ferred for corrosion measurement because it en-
pure CO2 shielding gas, the resulting fracture ables the determination of instantaneous reaction
surface of weld revealed shiny (cleavage) areas rates at electrode or solution interface in a single
as shown in Fig 9, specimen 1. As mentioned experiment while other methods require multiple
previously in section 5.2, as the CO2 percent in measurements over time to obtain the required
the shielding gas increases; the Grain boundary corrosion rate data [19]. Further the data gener-
Ferrite (GF) percent also increases. Accordingly, ated from such study is broad and can be analysed
cleavage cracks propagate more easily in the GF in many forms thus, serving as the basis for an
than in Acicular Ferrite (AF). This observation effective corrosion mitigation.
confirms that Acicular Ferrite has a beneficial Samples for Tafel extrapolation study were
effect on toughness [18]. In case of (90% Ar grounded successively to 1200 grit SiC abra-
10% CO2) gas, fracture surface of weld reveals sive paper and were degreased with acetone.
relatively less number of cuplike depressions The polarization experiments were conduct-
with oxide inclusions and shiny cleavage areas ed in a standard flat cell (Princeton Applied
for crack propagation. Research,Ametek, USA) in the potential range

Fig. 10. Hardness results of real welded test pieces

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250 mV to +250 mV versus open circuit poten- used for the potentiostatic Tafel polarization is
tial of samples, using a computer controlled po- aerated and neutral where the cathodic reaction
tentiostat (Princeton Applied Research, Ametek- consists of the oxygen reduction (O2 + 2H2O +
273A, USA). 3.5% NaCl was used to simulate 4e 4OH-) [6]. This is also evident from Pour-
the immersed corrosion in saline environment baix diagram of Fe-H2O system [15]. Therefore,
[12]. A saturated silver-silver chloride (SSC) as the diffusion controlled oxygen reduction is
reference electrode with platinum counter elec- the only dominant cathodic reaction, the linear-
trode was used. The scan rate employed for the ity of cathodic Tafel region is absent. The icorr and
polarization studies was 0.25mVs-1. corrosion rate (in mpy) obtained from the Tafel
The corrosion current density (icorr) and zero polarisation curves of specimens under investiga-
current potential (Ecorr) were evaluated from Tafel tion are tabulated in Table 7.
polarization plots by Tafel extrapolation method as The corrosion rate is proportional to icorr and
per ASTM Standard G3-89 [9,20].Corrosion rate from the table 6, it can be seen that the specimen-
in penetration units, mils/year (mpy) was calcu- 1(pure CO2) and specimen 2 (80% Ar 20% CO2)
lated from icorr using the following equation [20]: are found to be having lower corrosion potential
and the corrosion rate is in the acceptable range
(1) when comparing to similar commercial steels [6].
Steel with Acicular ferrite microstructure exhibits
where: = 1.2866105 [equivalentssecmil]/ the lowest corrosion rate [22].
[Coulombscmyears] It is found that the surface of the Acicular
I corr the corrosion current density in ferrite specimen uniformly covered by corrosion
Amps/cm2 (Amp = 1 Coulomb/sec), products is seemingly denser and more compact
density (7.86 grams/cm3 for iron), as shown in Figure 12, and can provide some
equivalent weight (27.56 grams/ amount of protection to the steel; thus the charge
equivalent, for iron) (According to stan- transfer resistance and modulus values of the
dard ASTM (G.102-89 of 1999) practice Acicular ferrite specimen are the largest.
for calculation of corrosion rates and re- However corrosion products on martensite
lated information from electrochemical and polygonal ferrite are generally loose, porous,
measurements, the calculation of equiva- and defective, and can provide minor protective-
lent weight () for alloys entails that only ness; thus, the charge transfer resistance values
elements above 1 mass percent are in- for polygonal ferrite and martensite are lower
cluded. Hence, in the case of corten steel, and hence the icorr value for specimen 3 (90% Ar
iron (Fe) is the only relevant element (see 10% CO2) is higher indicating high corrosion
table 1). Equivalent weight is therefore rate and the icorr value for Specimen 2 (80% Ar
calculated for Fe only in the equation for 20% CO2) is lower indicating better corrosion
calculation of mpy). resistance than the others.

The obtained Tafel plots of weld joint speci-

mens and parent metal are shown in Figure 11. CONCLUSIONS
The cathodic branch of all Tafel plots exhibit dif-
fusion controlled reaction as corrosion current The following conclusions are drawn from
variations is less and similar. The NaCl solution the experimental results.

Table 7. Corrosion test details

Sample-1 Sample-2 Sample-3
Base Metal
Pure CO2 80%Ar -20%CO2 90%Ar -10%CO2
Corrosion rate E(1=0) - 459.136mV -442.563mV -448.329 -615.739
Icorr -19.05A -20.454 A -11.899 A -51.817 A
Area exposed 3.0 Cm2 1.5 Cm2 1.5 Cm2 1.5 Cm2
0.635x10 A -5
1.36x10 A -5
0.793x10 A -5
3.45x10-5 A
icorr =(Icorr/area exposed/10-6)
/Cm 2
/Cm 2
/Cm 2
/Cm2
Corrosion rate (mpy) 2.86 6.15 3.5 15.5

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a)

b)

c)

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d)

Fig. 11. Tafel plots of weld joint specimens and parent metal

3. The corrosion resistance is found increasing

with Acicular Ferrite due to adherent protec-
tive layer formed over the surface, which pro-
tects the surface from corrosive environment.
4. The study shows that Acicular Ferrite gives
the steel strength, toughness and corrosion
resistance, whereas Polygonal Ferrite, Grain
boundary Ferrite, other micro phases and mi-
cro segregations reduce the strength.
5. Increasing the amount of CO2 in the shielding
gas decreases the hardness of Weld Metal and
may be related to losses in some alloying ele-
Fig. 12. SEM of surface of specimen-2(80% Ar ments such as Mn and Si resulting in decrease
20% CO2) after corrosion test of Acicular Ferrite content. The area percent
of Grain boundary Ferrite is higher than that
of Acicular Ferrite indicates that the cooling
1. The shielding gas compositions have great ef- rate is slow in case of pure CO2 shielding gas.
fect on the cooling rate due to the ionization po- 6. As the CO2 percent in the shielding gas in-
tential of each shielding gas that governs pro- creases, the required absorbed energy (impact
ducing high or low HI. Cooling rate of shield- toughness) of Weld Metal decreases due to the
ing gas with high percentage of Argon (Ar) decrease of the amount of Acicular Ferrite.
content such as 90%Ar and above was faster
7. Among the investigated shielding gas combi-
than that of other shielding gas composition has
nations, keeping the parameters constant, the
resulted in microsegregation within individual
weld using shielding gas composition of (80%
weld beads due to segregation of major and
Ar 20% CO2) has achieved better Mechani-
trace elements during solidification.
cal, metallurgical and corrosion properties.
2. The Weld Metal macrostructure of corten steel
weld using (80% Ar 20% CO2) shielding gas Acknowledgements
shows good penetration, uniform side wall
fusion and uniform weld bead and the micro- Authors are thankful to the Chief Workshop
structure has formation of a high amount of Manager, Central Workshop, Southern railway,
Acicular Ferrite which leads to the improve- Trichy for sponsoring for the M.S. (By research)
ment of strength & toughness. programme and providing the necessary support
to carry out this research work. And also thank-

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