Comparative Evaluation of Mechanical Properties and Micro Structural Characteristics of 304 Stainless Steel Weldments in TIG and SMAW Welding Processes

Abstract

Welding technique is one of the widely used permanent fastener techniques, where in different types of welding are used for different applications. Welding creates property changes in the welded location, so it is important to investigate the core mechanical properties after welding to create better designs using welding techniques. In this project the effect of the welding process of Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) and the relatively Tungsten inert gas welding (TIG) process on 304 Austenitic Stainless steel is studied. The welding process was carried out on 6mm thick plate of 304 Stainless Steel using SMAW and TIG welding processes The two set of plates having the single plate size of 200mmX150mmX6mm were welded using Tungsten Inert Gas welding And Shielded metal arc welding process. This project focuses on tensile property, toughness; micro hardness and micro structure of the each welding process of weld joints are studied and compared with those properties of each process related to the base metal, which shows the better welding process on Stainless Steel. The output variables of SMAW and TIG welding process on 6mm weld plate tensile strengths are compared. The studies indicated that the TIG joints were having better tensile strength than SMAW welded joints on 304stainless steel.