Investigation Effect of Welding Polarity in Joint Bead Geometry and Mechanical Properties of Shielded Metal Arc Welding Process

Journal of Engineering and Technology
100
Riyadh Mohammed Ali Hamza, Abdulkareem Aloraier, Emad Abdulradh Al-Faraj
INVESTIGATION EFFECT OF WELDING POLARITY IN JOINT BEAD GEOMETRY AND
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF SHIELDED METAL ARC WELDING PROCESS

Riyadh Mohammed Ali Hamza, Abdulkareem Aloraier,
Emad Abdulradh Al-Faraj

ABSTRACT- The aim of this paper is to study the effect of welding polarity of the shielded metal arc welding
process on bead geometry, microstructure and hardness of welding 1020 carbon steel plate. The results show that
the highest hardness measurement was recorded when welding was performed using the DC- polarity. In all
samples, the hardness values decreased along the distance were taken away from the weld metal toward the
parent metal through the Heat Effected Zone (HAZ). The lowest hardness measurements were recorded when the
welding was performed using the AC polarity. When the microstructure was analyzed, it was found that the DC-
polarity samples consisted of martensitic with some bainitic structure in the weld metal and bainitic structure in
the HAZ. The undesired microstructure in the weld metal using this polarity resulted from the heat difference
between the cathode and the anode. The DC+ polarity samples were observed to have bainitic structure in the
weld metal and a mixture of bainite and ferrite was observed in the HAZ. The AC polarity samples were noticed
to have more complex microstructures compared with the other two polarities, and a bainitic microstructure was
observed in the weld metal and the HAZ. Some regions in these samples were noticed to be contained some
widmanstatten ferrite and martensite.

INTRODUCTION

Welding is commonly used in industries fabrication
and to repair damaged structures such as pipelines,
heat exchangers and pressure vessels. Unfortunately,
the thermal effect of the welding process sometimes
produces hard and brittle microstructure which affects
adversely the mechanical properties in the Heat
Affected Zone (HAZ), see Aloraier (2005). In
Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) process, the
heat for welding is generated by an arc established
between a flux-covered consumable electrode and the
workpiece. The core wire conducts the electric
current to the arc and provides filler metal for the
joint. The heat of the arc melts the core wire and the
flux covering at the electrode tip into metal droplets.
Molten metal in the weld pool solidifies into the weld
metal while the lighter molten flux floats on the top
surface and solidifies as a slag layer. The weld area is
protected by a gaseous shield obtained from the
combustion of the flux. Additional shielding is
provided by the slag, see Robert and Messler (2004).
The quality of SMAW can be affected by several
welding parameters such as arc-length, type of
electrode, metal deposition, arc-travel rate and
welding polarity [ Robert J., Messler W (2004), Seow
Chandel and Cheong (1997)]. In particular, these
factors have control on the bead geometry, depth of
penetration and heat affected zone (HAZ). Apps
,Gourd and Nelson (1963) reported that several arc
welding parameters such as current, voltage, welding
speed and polarity can influence the bead shape and
size. In addition, it has been demonstrated that the
depth of penetration is influenced by polarity, current,
voltage and arc-travel rate , see [ Gill and Simons
(1950), Jefferson (1951), and Jackson (1960).
Moreover, some researchers like Nagesh and
Datta(2002), and Yang, Chandel., and Bibby (1992)
considered welding polarity as a primary factor which
influences SMAW process. The importance of the
polarity arises mainly out of the difference in the
amount of heat input into the workpiece. Changing
101

the polarity affects the amount of heat in the weld
zone, and thus alters the bead geometry, depth of
penetration, and HAZ.
From the literature, there seems to be no agreement
on the magnitude of effect between the anode &
cathode. Therefore, the present work is a study of the
effect of welding polarity of the shielded metal arc
welding process on bead geometry, microstructure,
residual stresses, and hardness of 1020 carbon steel.

HEAT INPUT
Heat input is a relative measure of the energy
transferred per unit length of weld. It is an important
characteristic because, like preheat and inter-pass
temperature, it influences the cooling rate, which may
affect the mechanical properties and metallurgical
structure of the weld and the HAZ.
Murti V., and et al (1993) show the heat input rate
can be varied by changing the voltage, current setting
and welding speed as can be seen in Eq. (1). Higher
voltages alter the bead geometry and fusion area,
which affects the resultant microstructure, and can
also destabilize the arc and produce spatter. Heat
input is typically calculated as the ratio of the power
(i.e., voltage x current) to the velocity of the heat
source (i.e., the arc) as follows:

S
I V
Q
1000
60
(1)

Where, Q is the heat input in (kJ/in or kJ/mm), V is
the arc voltage (volts), I is the current (amps), S is the
travel speed (in/min or mm/min) and is the process
efficiency.
Gery , Long , and Maropoulos (2005) show the
increase of heat input in the welding process result in
a coarsening of the microstructure of the weld metal
(WM) and mainly of the HAZ and promotes the
formation and coarsening of upper bainite in this zone
and even the appearance of some ferrite side plates, a
loss of hardness, and increases the yield and tensile
strength under-matching of the WM, and also
produces HAZ under-matching.

POLARITY
There are three different polarities which might be
used when using SMAW depending on the power
supply being used. The direction that the electrons
flow is referred to as the polarity. Electrons generally
flow from a negatively charged (polarized) body to a
positively charged body. If a direct current power
supply is used and the workpiece is connected to the
positive terminal is called direct current electrode
negative (DC-). On the other hand, if the parent
material is connected to the negative terminal of a
direct power supply is called direct current electrode
positive (DC+). If an alternating current power supply
is used the polarity is referred as to AC [2].
Moreover, about 70% of the heat in DC- polarity is
directed to the workpiece and 30% of the heat is
directed to the electrode and vice versa when DC+
polarity is used. In AC polarity about 50% of the heat
is directed to the workpiece and the other 50% of the
heat is directed to electrode. The difference in heat
distribution results in varying the weld geometry. In
the DC- polarity produces narrow and deep weld pool
due to high energy in the parent metal. The arc forces
the droplets away from the workpiece due to the low
rate of electron emission from the negative electrode.
For the DC+ polarity, the weld pool is shallow. This
method can be used to clean the surface of the
workpiece by knocking off oxide films by the
positive ions of the shielding gas. The AC polarity
provides reasonably good penetration of the weld
pool and oxide cleaning, see Kou (2003).

EXPERIMENTAL METHODOLOGY
The main requirement of the experimental work was
to study the effect of welding polarity of the shielded
metal arc welding process on mechanical properties
and bead geometry of 1020 carbon steel.

Welding machine description
A constant current DIALARC 250 AC/DC welding
power source (Miller) was used in this experimental
work, see figure (1). The polarities used in this
102

experimental work were direct current positive
polarity (DC+), direct current negative polarity (DC-)
and alternating current polarity (AC).

Material selections and electrodes
Welding electrode confirming to AWS E6013 with
diameter and length of 5.0 mm x 400 mm
respectively was used to lay down the weld beads.
Figure (2) shows the electrode used in this
experimental work. The parent material used in this
experimental work was AISI 1020 carbon steel
having dimensions of 200x100x10 mm3 as shown in
figure(3). The chemical composition of the parent
material and the deposited metal are shown in table
(1) and table (2) respectively. The chemical
composition analysis for the parent material was
obtained using the spectrometer. This test was
repeated three times and the results were averaged to
be as accurate as possible. Table (3) shows the results
of these three tests.

Table 1: Chemical analysis of the parent material
used in the experimental work

Fig. 1: The welding machine used in the experimental
work

Fig. 2: The electrode used in the experimental work
confirming to AWS E6013

Table 2: Chemical analysis of the weld metal used in
the experimental work

Table 3: Chemical analysis of the parent material
Elements Test-1 Test-2 Test-3 Average
Fe 98.75 98.71 98.64 98.700
C 0.187 0.201 0.199 0.196
Si 0.19 0.2 0.21 0.200
Mn 0.56 0.57 0.6 0.577
P 0.01 0.015 0.014 0.013
S 0.01 0 0.01 0.007
Cr 0.04 0.038 0.05 0.043
Ni 0.048 0.044 0.055 0.049
Mo 0 0 0 0.000
Cu 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.070
Ni 0.013 0.01 0.014 0.012
Elements C Si Mn P S
Composition
(%)
0.12 0.35 0.3-
0.6
0.04 0.035
103

Welding procedure
To study the effect of different polarities, the bead on
plate technique was adopted. In this experimental
work the bead was deposited on the center of the
plate so that it would have a start and stop distances
of 25 mm from both sides of the plate. The weld bead
length was 150 mm as shown in figure (3). Figure (4),
figure (5), and figure (6) show the deposited beads
when using the three proposed polarities, DC+, DC-
and AC polarities respectively. The current used was
175 amps as specified by the electrode manufacturer.
The welding speed was between the range of 69 to 73
seconds for each single bead (150 mm) as shown in
table (4).

Fig. 3: Schematic illustration of the bead on plate
location and dimensions

Fig. 4: Bead on plate sample when the polarity used is
DC+

DC-

AC

Elem
ents
C Si Mn P S Cr Ni Cu Ni
Comp
ositio
n (%)
0.19
6
0.2 0.5
77
0.0
13
0.0
07
0.0
43
0.0
49
0.0
7
0.0
12
104

Table 4: Welding parameters used in the experimental
work

Mechanical testing
After the weld has been completed, the plate was left
to cool down to the ambient temperature. The plate
was then sectioned from the middle using a band saw
as can be seen in figure (7).

Fig. 7: Location of plate sectioning

After that, various types of mechanical tests were
selected to evaluate and compare the effect of
welding polarity on the mechanical properties of the
selected steels. Hardness testing for example was
selected to compare different zones of the weldments.
The mechanical tests were conducted at different
locations of the weldment. This include weld metal,
heat affected zone and parent material. Rockwell
hardness B scale tests were carried out using 1/16"
ball indenter with 100 kgf load. The hardness
measurements were taken along the sample thickness
at the center of bead, starting from the weld metal (at
the top surface of the bead) towards the parent metal
(at the bottom surface of the workpiece). The
hardness measurements were taken on 2 mm
intervals. Figure (8) shows locations of hardness
measurements.

Fig. 8: Hardness measurements locations

The weld bead geometry was examined to evaluate
the effect of welding polarity on the weld bead height
and width. The effects of welding polarity on the size
of the heat affected zones were also examined in this
experimental work.

Fig. 9: shows different variables of the weld bead
geometry.

Microscopy
Optical microscopy was used mainly to evaluate the
microstructure in different areas such as the weld
metal, the heat affected zones and the parent material
produced using different polarities. Basically after
sectioning the required test specimen from the
weldments as shown in figure (7), this sectioned part
(coupon) was then cut from both ends using abrasive
wheel cutter as can be seen in figure (10-A).

Fig. 10: (A) Abrasive wheel cutter and (B) Mounting
machine
Specimen
No.
Type of
current &
Polarity
Time
(Seconds)
Amperage
(Amp.)
J DC- 71 175
K DC+ 69 175
L AC 73 175
DCN DC- 71 175
DCP DC+ 70 175
AC AC 73 175
105

Fig. 11: (A) Manual grinding process and (B)
Automatic grinding process

Fig. 12: (A) Lapping Disc (15m) and (B) Lapping
Disc (1m)

Fig. 13: (A) Etching with 2% natal and (B) Optical
.microscope

(A)
(A)
(A)
(B)
(B)
(B)
106

Fig. 14: Metallurgical microscope with digital camera

The cut surface was then milled and ground until a
satisfactory surface finish was obtained. Samples
were then mounted face down for easy handling
during the automatic grinding and polishing. Figure
(10-B) shows the mounting machine used to produce
mounted samples. The machined surface was then
abraded on successively finer grades of waterproof
silicon carbide paper. A sequence of grit sizes of
P100, P240, P600 and P1200 were used. These
grinding and polishing processes were carried out
manually and automatically as can be seen in figure
(11- A and B).
A high quality surface finish was then achieved using
lapping discs with diamond grades of 15 and 1m
respectively as can be seen in figure (12-A and B).
Finally, the specimens were immersed in the etchant
(2% nital) as can be seen in figure (13-A) until a good
definition of the structure was obtained.
An optical microscope was used to measure the bead
geometry as can be seen in figure (13-B). A
metallurgical microscope with a digital camera was
also used to evaluate the microstructure of the weld
for each polarity type as can be seen in figure (14).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Effect of Welding Polarity on Bead Geometry
The element of bead geometry studied were bead
width, height and HAZ size as can be seen in figure
(9) Each bead geometry element for each polarity was
measured. Table (5) shows the measurement of these
elements. It was observed that welding using DC-
polarity provided the maximum bead width and HAZ
size. The bead width and HAZ size were 15.1 and 6.6
mm respectively for the DC- polarity. The minimum
bead width and HAZ size were for DC+ polarity
(12.5 and 4.5 mm respectively). In addition, the
maximum bead height of 4.3 mm was found in the
sample which was welded using the DC+ polarity,
while the minimum bead height of 3.7 mm was
recorded when welding was performed using the DC-
polarity. The results in general suggest that the DC-
polarity provided extra heat input for the workpiece,
compared to DC+ and AC polarities, and thus
resulted in bead flattening and larger HAZ. Bead
reinforcement (height) was observed to have
maximum peak in the samples which were welded
using the DC+ polarity.

Table 5: Measurements of bead geometry elements
using different polarities

Polarity Bead
Width
(mm)
Bead
Height
(mm)
HAZ Size
(mm)
DC- 15.1 3.7 6.6
DC+ 12.5 4.3 4.5
AC 12.7 3.9 6.0
107

Effect of welding polarity on mechanical
properties
the hardness measurements of the DC- polarity, the
hardness measurements of the DC+ polarity, and the
hardness measurements of the AC polarity is shown
in figure (15). The measurements were made at the
center line of the bead. Each hardness measurement
was repeated three times and the average
measurement was recorded and plotted against its
location. The highest hardness was identified for
sample with DC- polarity, with maximum of 88 HRB
at the weld down to 80 HRB for the parent metal. The
lowest hardness measurements were recorded when
the welding was performed using the AC polarity.
Welding polarity of DC (-) and (+) demonstrated an
enhancement of the hardness in the weld area. This is
mostly due to the development of acicular ferrite
and/or bainite in their microstructures. On the other
hand, welding with AC polarity caused only little
improvement in the hardness. The results of hardness
are found to be consistence with common hardness
for 1020 steel.

Fig. (15): Hardness comparison of the three polarities

Effect of welding polarity on microstructure
the microstructure of the as received 1020 carbon
steel in cold rolled condition is shown in figure (16).
The parent metal consists of fine structure of ferrite
and pearlite. The weld microstructure of the DC-
polarity workpiece is presented in figure (17), and
examined further at locations a, b, and c. Location (a)
presents the microstructure at the center of the weld
metal which consists mainly of columnar grains of
grain boundary ferrite (allotriomorphs),
Widmansttten ferrite and some martensite as can be
seen in Figure (17) (a). Small amount of acicular
ferrite and bainite can also be observed. Location (b)
describes the microstructure at the weld/HAZ
interface which has large equiaxed grains consisting
of grain boundary ferrite and Widmansttten ferrite as
shown in figure (17) (b). Figure (17) (c) shows
microstructure at location c, i.e. the interface between
HAZ and parent metal, indicating similar ferrite
phases to that in location b but with finer grain size.
Moreover, figure (18) shows microstructure of the
sample welded using DC+ polarity. The weld area,
shown in figure (18) (a), is primary made of columnar
grains of grain boundary ferrite and Widmansttten
ferrite, with minor amount of acicular ferrite. The
weld/HAZ and HAZ/parent metal interfaces are very
similar to that obtained for the DC- polarity sample.
Figure (18) (b) and (c) show the microstructure at
locations b and c. For the AC polarity sample, shown
in figure (19), the microstructure is very similar to
that of the DC+ polarity.

Fig. 16: Microstructure of the parent metal 1020
carbon steel plates before welding consisting of
ferrite and pearlite

108

In general, all samples shows small amount of
acicular ferrite and/or bainite that decrease towards
the HAZ; at some points, pearlite was also detected at
the interface between HAZ and parent metal. For
steels of low carbon content (0.2% to 0.4%C), a
significant amount of Widmansttten ferrite can be
formed when an appreciable under-cooling below the
eutectoid temperature is made during solidification of
the weld. It was also indicated that the structural
constituents that form in the HAZ depends on the
composition of the parent metal as given by the
carbon equivalent (CE), as shown in Eq. (2), see
Kalpakjian S. and Schmid (2010):

CE = C + Mn/6
(2)

The structure of HAZ zone is mostly pearlitic for
small CE, with proeutectoid ferrite (i.e. grain
boundary ferrite and Widmansttten ferrite) in
decreasing amount as CE increases. For the current
parent metal, CE is 0.292, which favors the formation
of proetectoid ferrite and small amount of pearlite. It
was indicated that for low CE, the formation of
martenistic structure rarely occurs. Moreover, it is
reported that the development of Widmansttten
ferrite is affected by decarburization [13]. This was
demonstrated by the scarcely formation of
Widmansttten ferrite at the outermost layer of the
sample which had the lowest amount of carbon
content due to decarburization. Such phenomenon
was also observed in the current study, as
demonstrated by the low formation of Widmansttten
ferrite at the top layer of the bead as can be seen in
figure (20).

Fig. 17: Microstructure of the DC- polarity welded
workpiece at: a) weld, b) weld/HAZ interface, and c)
interface between HAZ and parent metal. (W: Grain
boundary ferrite, X: Widmansttten ferrite, Y:
Acicular ferrite, Z: Bainite)

109

Fig. 18: Microstructure of the DC+ polarity welded
workpiece at: a) weld, b) weld/HAZ interface, and c)
interface between HAZ and parent metal

Fig. 19: Microstructure of the AC polarity welded
workpiece at: (a) weld, (b) weld/HAZ interface, and
(c) interface between HAZ and parent metal

110

Fig. 20: Decarburization of the weld at the bead top
surface

CONCLUSIONS
In this experimental work, three different polarities
(AC, DC- and DC+) were used to examine their
effects on bead geometry, microstructure, residual
stresses and hardness of low alloy steel. The bead
geometry elements were measured in this
experimental work and it was found that the
maximum bead width and HAZ size were recorded
when welding was performed using DC- polarity. The
minimum bead width and HAZ size were recorded
when welding was performed using DC+ polarity.
Also, the maximum bead height was observed in the
samples which were welded using DC+. However,
the minimum bead height was observed in the
samples which were welded using DC- polarity.
The microstructure analysis in this experimental work
showed that the DC- polarity samples consisted of
martensitic with some bainitic structure in the weld
metal and bainitic structure in the HAZ. The
undesired microstructure in the weld metal using this
polarity resulted from the heat difference between the
cathode and the anode. The DC+ polarity samples
were observed to have bainitic structure in the weld
metal and a mixture of bainite and ferrite was
observed in the HAZ. The AC polarity samples were
noticed to have more complex microstructures
compared with the other two polarities. A bainitic
microstructure was observed in the weld metal and
the HAZ. Some regions in these samples were noticed
to be contained some widmanstatten ferrite and
martensite.
When studying the hardness profiles in this
experimental work, it was noticed that the highest
hardness measurement was recorded when welding
was performed using the DC- polarity. In all samples,
the hardness values were dropped down as the
measurements were taken away from the weld metal
moving through the HAZ to the parent metal. The
lowest hardness measurements were recorded when
the welding was performed using the AC polarity

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Gill E. and Simons E. (950) Modern Welding
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Jefferson T. (1951) The Welding Encyclopedia. 13
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Kalpakjian S. and Schmid S. (2010) Manufacturing
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Kou S. (2003) John Willey and Sons, Inc., USA,
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Seow H., Chandel R., Cheong F. (1997) Effect of
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Investigation Effect of Welding Polarity in Joint Bead Geometry and Mechanical Properties of Shielded Metal Arc Welding Process

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