Experimental investigation of effect of welding parameters on surface roughness, micro-hardness and tensile strength of AISI 316L stainless steel welded joints using 308L filler material by TIG welding

Abstract

Tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding is type of arc welding with area of applications in food industry, pharmaceutical industry, chemical plants, marine, aerospace, medical devices, and implants, etc. TIG welding process involve several parameters. Many parameters are controllable by the operator, and these parameters have a direct or indirect impact on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the joints. In the present study, three TIG welding parameters, arc current, voltage, and shielding gas flow rate, were changed up to three levels and their effects on surface roughness, hardness and tensile strength were investigated. Experiments were carried out on a 3 mm thick plate of austenitic stainless steel AISI 316L utilizing a TIG welding equipment and were designed according to Taguchi L9 orthogonal array (OA). ER308L was used as filler material. Results were analyzed using signal to noise S/N ratio and analysis of variance. It was observed that, for optimization of each response, arc current is the most influential factor. Minimum surface roughness was achieved at parametric combination of current 125 A, voltage 18 V and gas flow rate 12 L/min. Maximum hardness was achieved at parametric combination of current 125 A, voltage 20 V and gas flow rate 9 L/min. Maximum tensile strength was achieved at parametric combination of current 100 A, voltage 18 V and gas flow rate 6 L/min.