Comparative Studies on Conventional Groove SMA and GMA Welds of Dissimilar 304LN ASS and HSLA Steels

Dissimilar metal welds (DMWs), between austenitic stainless steel (ASS) and micro alloyed high strength low alloy steel (HSLA), are used in high temperature applications in power stations and petrochemical plants. The gas metal arc welding (GMAW) has surpassed the shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) process due to its advantages of producing fast, long, clean continuous weld at any position [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. A studies on mechanical and metallurgical properties of conventional V-groove SMAW and GMA Welding of dissimilar 20 mm thick 304LN ASS and micro alloyed HSLA steel plate were carried out by using austenitic E308L- 15 electrode with gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) root pass. The tensile (axial and all-weld) properties, hardness and microstructure of the weld and HAZ are analyzed. It is observed that the GMA welded joints gives comparatively better strength, hardness and microstructure than those of SMA welded joints and it adversely affects the weld pool size and grain coarsening in HAZ adjacent to the fusion line.