Influence of Welding Wire Selection on the Strength and Toughness of Welded Armor Steel Joints*

Abstract

Abstract Since MIL-A-46100D high hardness armor steel plates with excellent resistance to penetration exhibit high strength, selecting the proper electrode used in the gas metal arc welding process is particularly important to obtain a weld joint with high quality satisfying the adequate strength and toughness requirements at the same time. Selecting a consumable electrode with a lower strength than the armor material enhances the ductility and the toughness, reduces the risk of cracking in the weld zone, but it may lead to a considerable loss in strength of welded armor steel joints as well. Thus, an optimization of strength and toughness is required in welding high hardness armor steel plates. Within the scope of this study, two different austenitic stainless solid wires, one of which conforms to AWS 5.9 and the other one to AWS 5.28, and two different cored wires conforming to AWS 5.29 standards were analyzed and compared with respect to weld joint strength and toughness. Although weld joints fabricated with solid wires were superior in weld toughness, weld joints with austenitic cored wires exhibited considerably higher tensile strengths without a significant loss in toughness.