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ABSTRACT
In this study, the effect of various welding parameters on the weldability of Mild Steel specimens having dimensions 50mm 40mm 6 mm welded by metal arc welding were investigated. The welding current, arc voltage, welding speed, heat input rate are chosen as welding parameters. The depth of penetrations were measured for each specimen after the welding operation on closed butt joint and the effects of welding speed and heat input rate parameters on depth of penetration were investigated. Keywords: Mild Steel (MS), metal arc welding, welding current, arc voltage and welding speed. 1. INTRODUCTION Welding technology has obtained access virtually to every branch of manufacturing; to name a few, ships, rail road equipments, building construction, boilers, launch vehicles, pipelines, nuclear power plants, aircrafts, automobiles, pipelines. Welding technology needs constant upgrading and with the widespread applications of welding, [1]. To consistently produce high quality of welds, arc welding requires experienced welding personnel. One reason for this is the need to properly select welding parameters for a given task to provide a good weld quality which identified by its micro-structure and the amount of spatter, and relied on the correct bead geometry size. Therefore, the use of the control system in arc welding can eliminate much of the guess work often employed by welders to specify welding parameters for a given task [2]. Investigation into the relationship between the welding process parameters and bead geometry began in the mid 1900s and regression analysis was applied to welding geometry research by Lee and Raveendra [3, 4]. Many efforts have been carried out for the development of various algorithms in the modeling of arc welding process [5, 6]. In the early days, arc welding was carried out manually so that the weld quality can be totally controlled by the welder ability. McGlone and Chadwick [7] have reported a mathematical analysis correlating process variables and bead geometry for the submerged arc welding of square edge close butts. Similar mathematical relationship between welding variables and fillet weld geometry for gas metal arc (GMA) welding using flux cored wires have also been reported [8]. Chandel [9] first applied this technique to the GMA welding process and investigated relationship between process variables and bead geometry. These results showed that arc current has the greatest influence on bead geometry, and that mathematical models derived from experimental results can be used to predict bead geometry accurately..Nearly 90% of welding in world is carried out by one or the other arc welding process; therefore it is imperative to discuss the effects of welding parameters on the weldability of the materials during the arc welding. Mild steel is the most common form of steel because its price is relatively low while it provides material properties that are acceptable for many applications. The variables affecting weld quality in arc welding are classified into the following groups: 1.1 Welding current Welding current is the most influential variable in arc welding process which controls the electrode burn off rate, the depth of fusion and geometry of the weldments. 1.2 Welding voltage This is the electrical potential difference between the tip of the welding wire and the surface of the molten weld pool. It determines the shape of the fusion zone and weld reinforcement. High welding voltage produces wider, flatter and less deeply penetrating welds than low welding voltages. Depth of penetration is maximum at optimum arc voltage. 1.3 Welding speed Speed of welding is defined as the rate of travel of the electrode along the seam or the rate of the travel of the work under the electrode along the seam. Some general statements can be made regarding speed of travel. Increasing the speed of travel and maintaining constant arc voltage and current will reduce the width of bead
ISSN: 0975-5462
512
Before welding, edges of the work pieces are suitably prepared. The edges and the area adjoining them is cleared of dust using wire brush. Afterwards, the work pieces to be welded were positioned with respect to each other and welding process was performed under constant voltage and current in flat (down hand) position. During the welding process, following data are chosen: M.S. (Mild Steel) electrode (E 6011) of 2.5 mm diameter was used. Current = 105 Amp Terminal voltage = 24 V Only arc time was varied during the welding of 18 specimens. Welding speed was calculated for each welded specimen. Having finished the welding processes, in order to measure the depth of penetration, welds were cut perpendicular to the direction of welding on power hacksaw. Then with the help of measuring instrument, depth of penetration of welded specimens was measured. 3. CALCULATIONS Speed of welding is defined as the rate of travel of the electrode along the seam or the rate of travel of the work under the electrode along the seam. Speed of welding = Travel of electrode/ arc time mm/min. Heat input rate or arc energy = VI60 /v joules per mm Where, V is arc voltage in volts, I is welding current in ampere, v is speed of welding in mm/min. [12]
ISSN: 0975-5462
513
S. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Welding voltage(V) 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24
Welding current(A) 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105
Arc time(sec) 25.40 23.60 21.90 21.74 19.70 18.47 15.76 14.60 13.50
Welding mm/min) 94.48 101.43 109.58 110.39 121.82 129.94 152.28 164.38 177.77
speed(
Heat input rate(J/mm ) 1600.30 1490.68 1379.81 1369.68 1241.17 1163.61 992.90 919.82 850.53
Penetration (mm) 4.3 5.1 5.3 5.41 3.7 3.5 3.3 3.19 3.10
4.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION This chapter deals with the results and discussions of the experimental findings of welded joints prepared at different current, voltage, electrode size and welding technique (Down hand welding). The specimens prepared under different current, electrode size, heat input rates and welding speeds are having different effects. 1. The effect of welding speed on depth of penetration: Readings of depth of penetration obtained through measuring instrument after cutting all the welded specimens perpendicular to the direction of welding are shown in the table and variations in the penetration are analyzed with the help of graph which is plotted between welding speed and penetration. Voltage (24v) and current (105A) are taken constant and arc time is varied during the welding of specimens. The depth of penetration increases with increasing welding speed up to 110.39 mm/min which was optimum value to obtain maximum penetration, because it begins to decrease linearly after this point. Increasing the speed of travel and maintaining constant arc voltage and current increases penetration until an optimum speed is reached at which penetration is maximum. Increasing the speed beyond this optimum results in decreased penetration. So it can be concluded from experimental analysis that for the mild steel specimen having dimension 50mm 40mm 6 mm, optimum weldability can be achieved by considering the welding parameters as welding speed,110.39 mm/min with current 105 Amp, arc voltage 24 V and electrode(E 6011) diameter2.5mm.
ISSN: 0975-5462
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2 The effect of heat input on depth of penetration From above analysis, it is evident that there occurs maximum depth of penetration occurs at heat input rate of 1369.68 J/mm. Greater the depth of penetration, better is the weldability. So, Optimum weld ability can be obtained with heat input rate as 1369.68 J/mm.
ISSN: 0975-5462
515
ISSN: 0975-5462
516