Effect of number of welding passes on the microstructure, mechanical and intergranular corrosion properties of 409M ferritic stainless steel
ISSN: 1708-5284
Article publication date: 18 May 2021
Issue publication date: 10 May 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the effect of number of welding passes on microstructure, mechanical and corrosion properties of 409 M ferritic stainless steel. Shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) process is used to weld two metal sheets of 409 M having 3 mm thickness as bead-on-plate with single, double and triple passes. Microstructures were observed at transverse section with the help of optical microscope and with increasing number of passes grain growth, and the width of heat-affected zone (HAZ) increases. The results of tensile tests revealed that as number of passes increases, there is reduction in tensile strength and ductility. Double loop electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation (DL-EPR) test revealed that as number of passes increases, the degree of sensitization increases. This is due to the deposition of chromium carbides at the grain boundaries and the associated depletion of chromium.
Design/methodology/approach
Three welded plates of single, double and triple pass were welded by SMAW process. From three welded plates (single, double and triple passes), samples for microstructural examination were cut in transverse direction (perpendicular to welding direction) with the help of wire-cut electrical discharge machine (EDM). The welded plates were sliced using wire-cut EDM along transverse direction for preparing optical microscopy, tensile testing, microhardness and DL-EPR testing specimens.
Findings
From the microstructure, it was observed that the large grain growth, which is dendritic, and the structure become finer to increase in number of welding passes. As number of passes increases, the width of HAZ increases because of the higher temperature at the welded zone. The tensile strength decreases to increase the number of welding passes because of grain coarsening and chromium carbide precipitation in sensitized zone and wider HAZ. The maximum microhardness value was observed for single-pass weld as compared to double- and triple-pass welds because of the fast cooling rate. The degree of sensitization increases to increase the number of passes because of chromium carbide deposition at the grain boundaries.
Originality/value
The authors declare that the manuscript is original and not published elsewhere, and there is no conflict of interest to publish this manuscript.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Director of Visvesraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur, for conducting the experimental work. The authors would also like to thank Dr Y. M. Puri, Department of Mechanical Engineering, for providing Electrical Discharge Machine facility for cutting plates of exact dimension. The authors would like to thank for support given by Mr S. L. Gadge, Corrosion lab, for providing corrosion facility for chemical testing.
Conflict of interest: The authors declare that the manuscript is original and not published elsewhere, and there is no conflict of interest to publish this manuscript.
Citation
Ambade, S., Tembhurkar, C., Patil, A. and Meshram, D.B. (2022), "Effect of number of welding passes on the microstructure, mechanical and intergranular corrosion properties of 409M ferritic stainless steel", World Journal of Engineering, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 368-374. https://doi.org/10.1108/WJE-11-2020-0591
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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