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Microstructure Analysis of Arc Welded Mild Steel Plates

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International Conference on Mechanical, Materials and Renewable Energy IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 377 (2018) 012049 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/377/1/012049
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Microstructure Analysis of Arc Welded Mild Steel Plates

Bijaya Kumar Khamari1, Pradip Kumar Sahu2 and B B Biswal3

Product Design and Development Lab,
National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India-769008
Email:[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract. In order to perform arc welding, mild steel plates of variable thickness i.e. 5 mm, 6
mm and 8mm has been chosen as parent material. Total nine numbers of experiments were
conducted by considering the two factors and three levels of design according to Taguchi
method. The welding current and material thickness has been selected as variable input
parameters with 5mm, 6 mm, 8mm level of material thickness and 90 A, 100A, 110A level of
current respectively. The microstructure of the all the nine welded material has been analysed
with the help of an optical microscope which is interfaced computer. The results of
microstructure obtained from the microscopic investigation have been shown. The effect of
current and material on the weldment microstructure is investigated. The result also shows that
the coarse structure is formed in fusion zone and fine structure is formed in Heat affected
region.

1. Introduction
Welding is a process in which localised coalescence (permanent joint) is produced with or without the
application heat with or without the application of pressure or pressure alone or with or without the
application of filler material to joint similar or dis similar material. In welding permanent joint is
formed by the fusion of two welded material. Filler material is usually added to strength the joint.
Welded joint is more reliable and economical. Karadeniz et al. [1], investigate the effect of welding
parameter on the penetration of the weld joint. Boob et al. [2] proposed heat input is the most
significant factor for controlling width of Heat affected zone (HAZ) with increase in heat input width
of HAZ increases. Talabi et al. [3] suggested Increase in the arc voltage and welding current result in
increased hardness values and decreased yield strength, tensile strength and impact toughness. Norman
et al. [4] studies the effect on the microstructure on Al-Mg-Cu-Mn by TIG welding. The welding
current taken is 100-190A and the welding speed varies from 420-1500mm/min. Hargopal et al. [5] et
al. investigates the influence of welding parameter in mechanical properties of Al-65032 alloy with
Taguchi’s method. Sharma et al. [6] the author investigates the effect of welding parameter like
welding speed, voltage and current on the depth of penetration of welded joint. Chandel et al. [7]
derive a relationship between the bead height, bead width, melting rate, depth of penetration in terms
of current, voltage, electrode diameter, electrode extension in submerged arc welding. Furuya et al. [8]
investigate the actual toughness in the weld zone. They established relationship between the toughness
in HAZ with the chemical composition. Both the single layer and multi-layer weld joint is used for the
measurement of toughness in HAZ. Irfan et al. [9] have investigated the effect of welding parameter of
galvanised steel on the depth of penetration in MIG welding. Lienert et al. [10] validated the feasibility
of friction stir welding (FSW) for joining of mild steel. Defect free ultrahigh carbon steel was friction
welded by Sato et al. [11] by employing polycrystalline cubic boron nitride tool. They also investigate
the microstructure and effect of process parameters on weldment. In order to weld and study the
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International Conference on Mechanical, Materials and Renewable Energy IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 377 (2018) 012049 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/377/1/012049
1234567890‘’“”

relation between failure mode and weld fusion zone, austenitic stainless steel and galvanized low
carbon steel they have used resistance spot welding. The result of the of the welding work by Marashi
et al.[12] concludes that the strength of spot weld in the pull-out failure mode is organized by the
strength and fusion zone size of the galvanized steel side. Saeid et al. [13] focused on the effect of the
welding speed on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the stir zone (SZ) in friction stir
welding (FSW) of SAF 2205 duplex stainless steel.

2. Materials and Methodology

Mild steel is one of the cheap materials among steel and it is very commonly used in all
application. It can be easily welded by all common welding technique. It can rust when it
comes in contact of oxygen but still it is very hard and durable. It is used where a large
quantity of iron is required. It contains a maximum of 0.29% carbon, manganese up to 0.9%
along with small amount of phosphorous, sulphur and silicon. Electrical current can easily
transferred through it without leaving any effect on the internal structure of the metals. It has
Superior welding properties than steel. Table 1 shows the mild steel chemical composition.
The thermal and mechanical property of mild steel is given below in the Table 2.

Table 1: Chemical composition of mild steel

Element C Mn Si S P
Percentage 0.16-0.18 0.70-0.90 0.40 0.40 0.40
(Max) (Max) (Max)

Table 2: Various properties of mild steel

Property Value Unit
Conductivity 42 W/m K
Specific heat 481 J/Kg-K
Density 7872 Kg/m
Poisson’s ratio 0.27-0.30
Elastic Modulus 190 to 210 GPa

2.1. Welding machine

The welding machine used is a general welding machine (Fronius MW 2200). The technical
specification of the machine is given below in figure 1. Table 3, shows the specification of the
welding machine used for the experiment.

Figure 1: Arc welding machine [Fronius, Model- NW2200]

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International Conference on Mechanical, Materials and Renewable Energy IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 377 (2018) 012049 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/377/1/012049
1234567890‘’“”

Table 3: Specification of welding machine

Specification MW 2200
Range 10-180 A
Primary voltage 230 V, 50-60 Hz
Open circuit voltage 88 V
Operating voltage 20.4-27.2 V

2.2. Electrode material

The electrode used for welding was of configuration AWS/SFA 5.1 E-6013 of 3.15 mm diameter and
450 mm long is given in fig 2 .The chemical composition of electrode is shown in table 4.

Figure 2: Welding electrode

Table 4: Chemical composition of E6013 Electrode
Element C Mn Si S P
Percent (%) 0.07 0.44 0.22 0.02 0.02

2.3. Experimental parameter

In welding process current was varied along with the thickness of work piece. The current is varied in
three steps as shown in following Table 5.

Table 5: Experimental parameter

2.4. Experimental methodology

For conducting the experiment, 18 specimens of thickness 5, 6 and 8mm are considered. Before
welding the specimens are cleaned from dust, oil to avoid impurity in molten metal pool. Since
welding was made by closed butt joint thus edges of the work piece are suitably prepared. In order to
perform welding, the work pieces are kept in relative position. The safety precautions & corrective
measures were taken to avoid accidents and to get good quality weld bead.

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International Conference on Mechanical, Materials and Renewable Energy IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 377 (2018) 012049 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/377/1/012049
1234567890‘’“”

(a) (b)
Figure 3: Mild steel work piece with V edge, (a) modelled V edge, (b) V edge on work piece

V-groove is prepared for the experiment by considering the following parameters: Bevel angle (450)
Thickness of work piece (5, 6, 8) mm, A=Root Gap (2mm) and B=Root face

2.5. Experiment procedure

 2 factors and 3 level design is selected to calculate the design of experiment (DOE) for 9
samples.
 First 18 specimens of variable thickness cut from mild steel flat bars.
 6 specimen of the size 100 mm lengths x 50 mm width x 5mm thickness , 6 of 100 mm
lengths x50 mm width, 6 mm thickness and another 6 specimens of 100 mm lengths x 50 mm
width x 8 mm thickness have been taken for the experiment.
 45 Single V edge preparations were made on these specimens.
 Set-up was made by tack welding. Root gap and root face 2 mm kept each.
 9 weld joint are formed by 1G welding position as shown in figure 4. Welding ampere was 90,
100, 110 and direct current electrode positive (DCEP) welding polarity was considered.

Figure 4: Experimental set-up Figure 5: Welded mild steel plate

In figure 4 and figure 5, the experimental set-up and final welded joint are shown respectively.

3. Results and discussion

The microstructure investigation of the welded mild steel plates has been performed by the help of an
optical microscope. The optical microscope with an interfaced computer in which microstructure study
was done is shown in the Fig 6. Figure 7 (a) and (b) shows the difference in microstructure between
the heat affected zone (HAZ) and the fusion zone (FZ). From the figure, it can be clearly seen that the
more coarse grain structure is formed in fusion zone. The temperature in the fusion zone is having
more than the melting temperature of the metal so a new coarse grain is formed after welding. The
HAZ experiences less than the melting temperature but due to high temperature recrystallization takes
place and small fines grain structure is formed which is having high hardness and toughness value.
Figure 8, 9 and 10 show the microstructure of the fusion zone of 5 mm, 6 mm and 8mm thick plates
due supply of current 90 A, 100 A and 110 A respectively. As shown in figure as the current increases

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International Conference on Mechanical, Materials and Renewable Energy IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 377 (2018) 012049 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/377/1/012049
1234567890‘’“”

the heat input increases results in formation of coarse grain. The structure becomes coarser when there
is increase in current.

Figure 6: Picture of optical microscope with interfaced computer [Axiocam ERc5s]

Figure 7: (a) and (b) shows the micro structure of the FZ and HAZ

Figure 8: Microstructure of weld zone of thickness 5 mm (a) 90A, (b) 100 A, (c) 110A

Figure 9: Microstructure of weld zone of thickness 6 mm (a) 90A, (b) 100A, (c) 110A

Figure 10: Microstructure of weld zone of thickness 8 mm (a) 90A, (b) 100A, (c) 110A

The above figures show that when the welding current increases the heat input also increases. As the
heat input increases, smaller grains due to rapid cooling and the solidification time also decreases.

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International Conference on Mechanical, Materials and Renewable Energy IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 377 (2018) 012049 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/377/1/012049
1234567890‘’“”

Consequently, there is drop in cooling rate that produces coarse grain. The lower hardness and low
strength and increase in porosity of the weld bead are caused by the coarse grain in the microstructure.
For same thickness of metal, with increase in current value the structure becomes coarse.

4. Conclusion
This research presents an experimental study of effect of welding parameter on the weld quality of
mild steel plate of variable thickness of work piece in arc welding. The microstructural properties of
the welded joint have been discussed. The results shows that coarse structure is formed in fusion zone
and fine structure is formed in Heat affected region. So the hardness value in more in HAZ region as
compare to FZ and base metal as there is fine structure in the HAZ area. In future, the mechanical
properties of the same weldment and the effect of process parameter on weld performance will be
studied. The optimal process parameters combination will be found out for the best weldment.

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