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EFFECTS OF JOINT GEOMETRIES ON WELDING OF MILD STEEL BY

SHIELDED METAL ARC WELDING (SMAW)
Brajesh Kumar Singh1, A.K. Jha2, Pravin K. Singh3
1 M.Tech Scholar, Mechanical Engineering Department, UIT Barkatullah University Bhopal, M.P, India
2 Chief Scientist , CSIR-Advanced Materials and Processes Research Institute Bhopal, M.P, India
3 Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, UIT Barkatullah University Bhopal, M.P, India

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Abstract: In the present study experimentation on
welding were carried out. Effect of the variations in joint 1. INTRODUCTION
designs on the properties of the weldment was studied. Welding is the permanent joining process of similar or
Mild steel plates, IS 2062: E250, were taken as sample for dissimilar metals with or without the application of heat
the study. The experimental weld metals were aimed at and pressure. Unlike other manufacturing process
employed to produce a single component, welding
high strength applications and were prepared using the
processes are used to assemble different members to yield
shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) technique. Main the desired complex configuration[1]. It is an efficient and
objective was to compare the effects of variations in economical method for joining of metals. It has made
geometry of butt-joint welding on the mechanical significant impact on the large number of industry by
properties of mild steel plate. The welding was carried out raising their operational efficiency, productivity and
on different butt-joint designs, such as, square butt-joint, service life of the plant and relevant equipment. SMAW
single V-joint, double V-joint and single J-joint, keeping all occupies the most important position in the group of
fusion welding processes, and due to its flexibility and cost
other process parameters like current, voltage, welding
effectiveness, it is an indispensable technology for the
speed etc. as constant. The mechanical test and the construction of steel-framed buildings, ship building,
microstructural investigation were carried out to analyse motor vehicle manufacture, power plants and other
the change in mechanical and microstructural behaviour industries[2]. Since the SMAW method is so versatile; it is
of the weld metal. The results of tests peformed revealed the most suitable method to work with even in the most
that the Double-V joint was the superior of all other joints, awkward situations
having better mechanical properties than other joints.
Single-V was also up to the mark but the more width of 1.1 Butt Joints:
A Butt joint is used to join two members aligned in the
HAZ was recorded in this case as compared to others. This
same plane. This joint is frequently used in plates, sheet
increased the chances of weld defects and thus limiting its metal, and pipe work where high strength is required.
application areas. Single-J joint on the other hand was also They are reliable and can withstand stress better than any
a good option, but the presence of martensite in its other type of weld joint[3].
microstructures increases its hardness value considerably,
inducing the property of brittleness in it and hence
limiting its applications too. In case of square joint, it was
found that this joint is not suitable for plates having high
thickness, as taken in the present study. The study led to
the comparative analysis of the results obtained and it
enhanced the working knowledge of the welding
processes.

Key Words: SMAW, Butt joints, Mild steel, Mechanical

properties, Microstructures

Fig. 1: Butt joint geometry[4]

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1.2 Metallurgy In Welding: Table 2: Chemical composition of AWS-6013

Metal is heated over a range of temperature up to fusion
and followed by cooling to ambient temperature. Because ELEMENTS Wt %
of differential heating, the material far away from the weld
bead will be simply warmed out, but as the weld area is
approached, progressively higher temperatures are CARBON 0.06
obtained, resulting in a corresponding complex
microstructure [5]. The heating and cooling also results in PHOSPHORUS 0.012
setting up internal stresses and plastic strain in the weld.
So at high temperatures physical, chemical and MANGNESE 0.32
metallurgical properties are liable to change.
SILICON 0.23
2. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
2.1 Parent Metal SULPHUR 0.013
The Mild Steel specimen of standard (IS2062: E250) was
taken as the base material for welding. IS2062 is an Indian IRON REMAINDER
Standard covers the requirement of steel. It is easily
available and commonly used materials for welding and
fabrication in industry. The chemical compositions of the 2.3 Welding Procedure
base material [7], based on material data sheets, are Plates of dimensions (250 × 125 × 15) mm were cut from a
shown in tables 1. large sheet of the mild steel and finished by machining. In
order to perform welding operation the finished plates
Table 1: Chemical compositions of IS2062: E250 were again cut transversally into equal halves of
(125×125×15) mm for groove preparation as required in
Sr ELEMENTS Wt % the present study. Before welding, the plates’ surfaces
No. were cleaned, thoroughly using both chemical and
mechanical processes. This was done to remove any types
1 CARBON 0.23 of contaminations, which may results from oil, grease,
corrosive products etc. to obtain a good quality weld [8].
2 MANGANESE 1.50 max. The power source used for welding was a Rectifier type
air-cooled welding machine of model Adore Arc 601.
During welding m/c was set at a range of, Current: (100-
3 SILICON 0.40
110) A and Voltage: (80-100) V. The welding rod used was
of mild steel having length: 350mm and diameter: 3.15mm
4 SULPHUR 0.045
for filling the groove and 2.5mm for weld take.
5 PHOSPHORUS 0.045
Table 3: Detailed welding descriptions
6 IRON REMAINDER
Joint G B in A N D S V
shape mm (cm) mm3
Square 2 3 30 2 10.4 9.03 90
The parent metal possesses a tensile strength: 410 MPa,
butt
yield strength: 200 MPa and elongation: 23%.
Single- 3 6 45 12 10.4 13.95 270
V
2.2 Filler Metal Double- 3 4.5 45 10 10.4 11.17 203
The filler metal of specification AWS-6013 was used in this
V
study. It is a low carbon steel electrode with high titanium
Single-J 3 4 45 10 10.4 13.5 180
and can be used on AC or DC and is suitable for all
positions. Its arc is smooth and quite stable and the
striking and the re-striking properties are good. It is an all- Here,
purpose welding rod with good penetration and fast ‘G’ is root gap in mm, ‘B’ is weld width in mm, ‘A’ is approx.
deposition rates. The chemical compositions of AWS-6013 Gap to thickness (t=15mm) area in mm2, ‘N’ is no. of
are shown in table-2. passes required for welding, ‘D’ is weld distance in cm, ‘S’
is the average welding speed in cm/min., and ‘V’ is approx.
weld metal Volume for given weld width (B).

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2.4 Sample Preparation

The samples for tensile, impact and hardness tests were 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
prepared of the strips, cut from the welded plate followed 4.1 Tensile Test
by machining them according to the ASTM standards. The The graphs obtained during tensile tests of each joint were
samples for hardness test were firstly used for the merged in Plot (Fig.2) to visualise their variations.
metallographic examination by polishing them to produce
mirror like and ridge free surface. The polished samples
were etched with 2% nital agent and finally dried by using
air blower. After the metallographic tests, same samples
were used for hardness testing.

3. MECHANICAL TESTING
3.1 Tensile Test
The welded samples were tested for tensile strength using
an universal testing machine (Model-8801) make-
INSTRON, UK. The load was applied at a rate of 0.50000
mm/sec, uniaxially along the axis of the specimens until
fracture. This was used in determining the strength and
stiffness of the materials.

3.2 Charpy Impact Test

Charpy V-notch testing was used to measure the impact
energy which is sometimes also termed the notch Fig. 2: Stress-Strain curve of weld joints
toughness of the welded samples. For Charpy testing, High
Energy Impact Tester (Model-600 MPX) make-INSTRON According to the tensile test results shown in the Fig. 2
was used having maximum capacity of 600 J. Double-V joint has maximum ultimate tensile strength of
482.73MPa followed by Single-V and Single-J joints having
3.3 Hardness Test
values of 469.01MPa and 365.90MPa respectively.
The hardness value is a measure of the weld metal’s
resistance to localized plastic deformation or the
4.2 Impact Testing
resistance of a material to any scratch or indentation.
Hardness testing was conducted according to Brinell
hardness test method using load step of HBW 5/250.
Hardness of samples were tested starting in the weld bead
followed by proceeding in the both leftward and
rightward, of the weld bead across the section in 2 mm
steps.

3.4 Metallographic Examination

Analysis of the microstructures of welded samples was
done using Optical microscopy and Scanning Electron
Microscope. The structural changes in parent zone, weld
metal zone and HAZ region were analyzed at different Fig. 3: Toughness comparisons of weld joints
magnifications.
The energy absorbed in breaking the test samples were
3.5 Simulation Of Tensile Test measured in Joules. The results obtained is shown in Fig. 3,
The simulation of tensile specimen were done to show the it is evident that the impact strength of the Double-V joint
stress distribution in tensile testing. The model were was maximum with a value of 83.39 J, while the
prepared on ANSYS workbench [10]. The dimensions of downtrend in the impact strength was followed by Single-
model samples were same as of experimental tensile V, Single-J and Square butt joint respectively. This is a
specimen. measure of toughness of the materials.

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4.3 Hardness Test

Fig.6: Microstructure of single-v joint weld

Fig.4: Hardness profile comparisons of weld joint

Figure 4 reveals that the hardness profile of single-j joint is

superior to all other weld joints. The decreasing trend in
the hardness profile is followed by single-v, double-v, and
square butt weld joints respectively. But in all joints the Fig.7: Microstructure of square butt weld
maximum hardness values were measured in the area of
fusion zone and heat affected zone (HAZ). The variation in
hardness across the weld can be attributed to several
factors, mainly to residual stresses just after welding.
However, other factors like grain size, phase composition
and metallic inclusion can also contribute to this
hardening.

4.4 Metallographic Test Results

To analyse the microstructural changes after welding, the
microstructures of fusion zone, HAZ, and base metal (BM)
were observed using Light optical microscope (LOM) and
Scanning electron microscope (SEM) with magnification of
200×.
Fig.8 Microstructure of single-j joint weld

Fig.9 Microstructure of as-received metal

Micrographs (Fig.5) clearly reveal that the metal is the

rolled product and consists of pearlite colonies (dark
contrast) at grain boundaries edges and corners and
Fig.5 Microstructure of double-v joint weld ferrite grains (light contrast), a characteristics of mild
steel[6]. Figures 6, 7, 8 & 9 show the microstructures of
regions across the weld i.e. fusion zone, HAZ, and base
metal. The variations in the structures and grain sizes
were mainly due to directional heat flow from the fusion
line (Fig.7). The coarse grained region of the HAZ is
adjacent to the fusion zone and contains grains larger than
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those in the base metal, while in the weld metal zone the
grains are finer[9] Fig.8. The irregularities observed in the
pattern of microstructure for different weld joints was
solely due to the level of diffusion take place during
welding, which is the results of variation in groove
designs. Figure 10 shows the micrograph of double-v joint
weldment. Interface is also evident in fig.10.

Fig.12 Stress distribution diagram of Double-V joint weld

In case of simulation of double-V joint tensile test, it was

found that the result was much away from that of
experimental one. The portion of fillets instead of the
gauge length, were highly stressed (see fig.12). This is
because of the flaws in finite element modelling, which
results as the groove was not axisymmetric. While in case
of square butt joint model, the groove was axisymmetric.

5. CONCLUSIONS
Following conclusions may be drawn from this study:
 The tensile strength and toughness of Double-V
Fig.10 SEM micrographs of double-v joint weld joint is superior to other joint geometries. While
its hardness value is comparatively low. This is
4.5 Stress Distribution Diagram because of the presence of ferrite and pearlite in
It was a 3-D finite element model, composed of solid the microstructures of the weld zone.
elements.
 The hardness value is maximum in case of Single-J
Table 4: Details of material property joint and its toughness and tensile strength are
comparatively low. This is because of the traces of
Sr. No Material Property Parent Metal Filler Metal martensite and bainite found in the WZ of this
1 Density 7.85 g/cc3 7.87 g/cc3 joint, which results from the rapid cooling of the
2 Young’s Modulus 200 MPa 205 MPa weld metal. This rapid cooling was not done
3 Poisson’s Ratio 0.29 0.29 intentionally in this case, it happened of its own
4 Tensile Strength 410 MPa 470 MPa due to its unique groove design.
 The limitation to this study was that the square
butt joint was inferior in every aspects but the
detailed analysis suggested that this inferiority is
mainly because of the poor root gap available for
proper penetration. And this is due to the excess
thickness of the plates chosen for the present
work.
 Highest volume of weld metal was deposited in
the Single-V joint followed by Double-V, Single-J
and the least volume in the square butt joint. This
Fig.11 Stress distribution diagram of square butt joint difference in weld metal volume is because of the
weld variation in groove design of the joints. High
volume of the weld metal increases the weld
The weldament and the HAZ in gauge length of finite
element model were highly stressed region [11]. These width and so HAZ width, and thus increases the
were shown by red colours in fig.11. chance of weld defects.

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 In the context of the present study, Double-V weld

joint was superior and the best choice to go for.
 The simulation results was solely dependent on
the accuracy of finite element modelling. In the
present study the model for each weld design was
difficult to generate due to their unsymmetric
nature of grooves.
 The simulation results of square butt joint was in
agreement with the experimental results.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to express our sincere gratitude and
appreciation to all the staffs of Advanced Materials and
Processes Research Institute (AMPRI), Bhopal for their co-
operation and support throughout the duration of this
work.

REFERENCES

[1] O P Khanna (2001), “A Text Book of Welding

Technology”, Dhanpat Rai Publications, pp. 570-577
[2] P. Houldcrould and R. John, Welding and Cutting,
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[3] O.P. Khanna, Material Science and Metallurgy, Dhanpat
Rai Publication
[4] ISO 9692-1:2003, Welding and allied processes-
Recommendation for joint preparation-part 1: Manual
metal arc welding of steels, ICS 25:160.40
[5] Dr. Swadesh Kumar Singh, Production engineering,
Made Easy Publication.
[6] R.W.K. Honeycombe & H.K.D.K. Bhadeshia, Steel
Microstructure and Properties, 2nd Ed., Edward Arnold,
London, 1995.
[7] J. Lancaster, Handbook of structural welding, Abington
Publishing, 1992
[8] L.-E. Svensson: Control of microstructure and
properties in steel arc welds, CRC Press, Inc., 1994
[9] K. Easterling, Introduction to the Physical Metallurgy of
Welding, Butter -worths & Co Ltd., 1983.
[10] J.N. Reddy, An Introduction to Finite Element Method,
Third Edition, 2006, ISBN : 978-0-07-246685-0.
[11] Introduction to Finite element modelling, Mechanical
engineering- University of California- Berkeley.

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