IBP1241_19

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF HIGH STRENGTH

STEEL WELD METALS OBTAINED BY GMAW
PROCESS WITH ROTATING ELECTRODE
Walker A. Silva Filho1, Jeferson F. M. Costa2, Guilherme M.
Silveira3, Felipe A. C . Almeida2, Marcos M. Lobato4, Tatiane C.
Chuvas5, Matheus Campolina Mendes6, Luís Felipe Guimarães de
Souza6, Jorge Carlos Ferreira Jorge6
Copyright 2019, Brazilian Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Institute - IBP
This Technical Paper was prepared for presentation at the Rio Pipeline Conference and Exhibition 2019, held
between 03 and 05 of September, in Rio de Janeiro. This Technical Paper was selected for presentation by the
Technical Committee of the event according to the information contained in the final paper submitted by the
author(s). The organizers are not supposed to translate or correct the submitted papers. The material as it is
presented, does not necessarily represent Brazilian Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Institute’ opinion, or that of its
Members or Representatives. Authors consent to the publication of this Technical Paper in the Rio Pipeline
Conference and Exhibition 2019.

Abstract
The increase of manufacturing and industrial components repair operations has motivated the
development of welding processes, aiming for improvement of productivity allied with
quality and low costs. In this respect, the investigation of new welding processes with higher
productivity is an interesting alternative to guarantee competitiveness gains.
The GMAW Process with Rotating Electrode (GMAW-RE) is a variation of the conventional
GMAW process (GMAW), where the electrode continuously fed into a molten pool is
submitted to a rotating movement. The radial projection of the metallic droplets reduces the
risk of lack of lateral fusion, which contributes to the feasibility of welding in narrow gap,
with significant reduction of the deposited weld metal and welding time (Prasad et al., 2018;
Wang et al., 2007). Although there are some studies about operational characteristics of the
process, the literature involving mechanical properties of welded joints is still very limited
and more experimental evidences are necessary to confirm the potential of this process as
substitute of the conventional GMAW process in industry. The present work investigates the
behavior of high strength steel weld metals obtained by GMAW-RE and conventional
GMAW processes, by using a welding consumable usually applied for welding of API steels.
Charpy-V impact tests and metallographic examination by optical microscopy and electron
backscattered diffraction of the weld metals were carried out in samples removed from the
center line of the weld metals. The results revealed that weld metals obtained by GMAW-RE
process presenting higher productivity provided mechanical properties equivalent to those
obtained by conventional GMAW process. It indicates that this process can be an interesting
alternative for substitution of the Conventional GMAW process in industry.
Keywords: GMAW process, Rotating Electrode, Mechanical Properties, Productivity.

1. Introduction

The increase of manufacturing and industrial components repair operations has

motivated the development of welding processes, aiming for improvement of productivity
allied with quality and low costs. In this respect, the investigation of new welding processes
with higher productivity is an interesting alternative to guarantee competitiveness gains.
______________________________
1
Master, Mechanical Engineer - CEFET-RJ
2
Master, Metallurgical Engineer - CEFET-RJ
3
Mechanical Engineer - CEFET-RJ
4
Master, Mechanical Engineer - Consultor
5
Doctor, Mechanical Engineer - CEFET-RJ
6
Doctor, Metallurgical - Engineer – CEFET-RJ
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However, when some innovation in this area arises, it is necessary to define the operational
conditions that would provide a better performance and many investigations are necessary for
a final conclusion.
The GMAW Process with Rotating Electrode (GMAW-RE) is a variation of the
conventional GMAW process, where the electrode continuously fed into a molten pool is
submitted to a rotating movement, with pre-established rotation diameter and frequency. The
radial projection of the metallic droplets reduces the risk of lack of lateral fusion, which
contributes to the feasibility of welding in narrow gap, with significant reduction of the
deposited weld metal, welding time, preparation of the joint and residual strength levels
(Wang et al., 2007; Prasad et al; 2018). Although there are some studies about operational
characteristics of the process (Wang et al, 2007; Yang et al., 2009; Guo et al., 2011; Bai et al,
2012; Santos et al., 2018; Xu et al., 2018), the literature involving mechanical properties of
welded joints is still very limited (Shinji et al., 2009; Xu et al., 2014; Venkatesh et al., 2018)
and more experimental evidences are necessary to confirm the potential of this process.
This work is part of an extensive research program which main goal is the evaluation
of the technical and economic characteristics of welded joints obtained by the GMAW-RE
process, in order to allow the substitution of the GMAW process in industry. In the present
article, a comparison of the mechanical and microstructural properties between the high
strength steel weld metals obtained by GMAW-RE and conventional GMAW process is done.
The investigated weld deposits, which tensile strength is 110ksi (760MPa), are usually
applied for welding API steels.

2. Experimental Procedure

2.1. Materials

ASTM A36 steel plates with 500x300x10mm were used as base metal and a 1.2mm
diameter AWS A 5.28-96 class ER 110S-G solid wire was used as filler metal.
Table 1 shows the chemical composition of the base metal and deposited welded
metals obtained by optical emission spectroscopy.

Table 1. Chemical composition of the used materials

Element (wt, %) C Si Mn P S Cr Mo Ni Cu
Base metal 0.22 0.19 1.22 0.016 0.001 0.02 0.01 0.02 0.03
Weld metal – GMAW 0.14 0.43 1.35 0.013 0.003 0.24 0.26 1.15 0.11
Weld metal – GMAW-RE 0.15 0.38 1.27 0.017 0.002 0.26 0.23 1.04 0.12

2.2. Welding

The joint geometry is illustrated in Figure 1. Welding was performed in flat position
by GMAW and GMAW-RE processes, preheated at 100°C and the interlayer temperature was
maintained at 150oC. M13 Ar-O2 mixture according to AWS 5.32:2011 (2011) was used as
shielding gas with a flow rate of 20 l/min. Welding parameters shown in Table 2 were
obtained from a portable welding parameters monitoring system, with acquisition rate of 5
kHz. In addition, a frequency of 3,000 rpm and a diameter of rotation of 3 mm were employed
for GMAW-RE process.
After welding, magnetic particle and ultrasound inspections were performed, and no
welding defects were observed.

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Figure 1. Weld joint geometry.

(a) GMAW (b) GMAW-RE

Table 2. Welding parameters used.

Current Voltage Welding Welding energy Number of
Process
(A) (V) Speed (mm/s) (kJ/mm) passes
GMAW 241 27 2.88 2.26 3
GMAW-RE 247 27 2.90 2.30 2

2.3. Residual Stress Analysis

The surface residual stresses were measured by the X-ray diffraction technique using
2
sen Ѱ method, with Stressrad analyzer and CrKα radiation. Readings were taken at five
angles of inclination () at each point. The software presents, for each measured point, a
graphic with 5 readings that relate the interplanar distance (d) with angle of inclination (𝜓).
The residual stress at the point is the average of the five readings and the error margins are
calculated in relation to the trend line.

2.4 Mechanical tests

Specimens were sampled at the mid-thickness for impact Charpy-V and
microhardness tests. Charpy-V impact tests at 25ºC temperature were performed on reduced
test pieces (5x10x55mm) removed transversally to the weld bead. The notch was positioned
in the thickness section at position corresponding to the weld metal centerline as shown in
Figure 2.

(a) (b)
Figure 2. Position of Charpy-V impact test specimen.
(a) GMAW (b) GMAW-RE

Microhardness test was performed on a specimen transverse to the weld bead, using
Vickers scale with a load of 500gf., at points located within the weld deposits as shown in
Figure 3.

(a) (b)
Figure 3. Location of Vickers microhardness measurements.
(a) GMAW (b) GMAW-RE
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2.5 Metallographic examination

Transverse sections were prepared and a detailed examination by optical microscopy
(OM) and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) in samples removed from regions related
to the Charpy-V notch was carried out, in order to clarify the microstructural constituents and
micro-phases present in the weld metal.
Quantitative analysis of the columnar and reheated regions, at the position relative to
the Charpy-V notch, was performed on the OM screen, to evaluate the influence of different
welding procedures on the impact toughness of weld metals. The samples were prepared
using the conventional procedure of grinding and polishing with diamond paste with 6, 3 and
1 µm, followed by nital 2% etching.
Additional analysis by Electron Back Scattering Diffraction (EBSD) was conducted.
The EBSD maps were collected with SEM operating at 20kV and step size of 0.3 m. A post
processing (reconstructed map) of the EBSD data was conducted by using the HKL Channel 5
software package. Matrix grain orientation was interpreted by the inverse pole figure (IPF) in
Z direction (transverse direction, perpendicular to the screen). High-angle grain boundaries
(HAGBs, misorientation >15°) (Diaz-Fuentes et al., 2003) were distinguished by the scalar
misorientation between the adjacent pixels. For EBSD sample preparation, 0.02 m colloidal
silica suspension was also used for automatic polishing without further etching.

3. Results and Discussion

Figure 4 shows the macrograph of the welded joints, where the effect of the multi-pass
welding and the absence of defects can be noted. Furthermore, it is seen the strong effect of
dilution on the root of the welded joint.

(a) (b)
Figure 4. Macrographs of welded joints. Etching: nital 2%.
(a) GMAW (b) GMAW-RE

It is also observed the high level of dilution in both welded joints, which is more
pronounced for GMAW-RE process due to the rotation of the arc (GMAW-RE = 21.6% /
GMAW = 19.3%). Even so, the volume of deposited weld metal by GMAW-RE process was
reduced at around 30% in comparison to GMAW process as consequence of the significant
difference of the joint geometry (Figure 1). This evidence has contributed to the lower level of
residual stresses observed in longitudinal direction (Table 3). It is also important to mention
that the results observed in the transverse direction are not representative since they are
compressive or null. These results are consistent with other experimental works [Lins, Junior
et al., 2017; Araujo et al., 2008].

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Table 3. Residual stresses obtained in the weld deposits.

GMAW-RE (MPa) GMAW (MPa)
Longitudinal Transverse Longitudinal Transverse
160 ±9 3 ±0 259 ±8 -57 ±1

Figure 5 shows the microstructure of the weld metals, where the presence of primary
ferrite (PF), acicular ferrite (AF) and the predominance of ferrite with second phase (FS) is
observed. These results are in accordance with the available literature for weld metals of the
class 690 MPa (Svensson, 1999; Farneze et al., 2010; Kitagawa et al., 2013; Lins Junior et al.,
2014; Jorge et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2018; Zhang et al., 2016). Despite a
different fraction of reheated region due to the number of passes (Table 2), the
microstructures of the weld metals are very similar and a slightly more refined microstructure
is observed for columnar region of the GMAW-RE process (Figure 6).

GMAW (45% columnar region) GMAW-RE (57% columnar region)

CR

RR

Figure 5. Microstructure of the weld metals (OM). Etching: nital 2%.

Where: AF – Acicular ferrite; PF – Primary ferrite; FS – Ferrite with second phase;
CR – Columnar Region; RR – Reheated Region.

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EBSD results (Figure 7) also show equivalent frequencies of high angle grain
boundaries (HAGB) and low energy coincidence lattice grain boundaries (low-ΣCSLs),
mainly Σ3 and Σ25b, for GMAW-RE process.

GMAW GMAW-RE

Figure 6. All Euler map of the colimnar region of weld metals at the position relative to the Charpy-V notch.
(EBSD).
Where: EGS – Effective Grain Size.

Figure 7. Histograms of misorientation angles and Coincidence Site Lattice (CSL) of weld metals.

The microstructural characteristics showed above are responsible for the mechanical
properties. Indeed, it is clearly seen that microhardness (Figure 8) and impact toughness
(Figure 9) follow the tendency of the microstructure and, consequently, present equivalent
results for both welding processes. In particular, an average value slightly superior of the
impact toughness is observed for GMAW-RE process, due to the microstructural
characteristics cited above as consequence of the rotation of the arc (Guo et al., 2011b, Bai et
al., 2012). It is an expected result since the radial movement of the arc promotes a lower peak
of temperature in the weld center line for GMAW-RE process (Guo et al., 2011b).
According to Surian et al. (2013), although consumables suitable for welding of high
strength steels have been extensively studied, the majority of reports are related to the “pure
weld metal”. So, the development of specific welding procedure is still required to the
appropriate performance of the weld deposits for each base metal. In this regard, the results
obtained in the present work, even presenting higher carbon content (Table 1), showed similar

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results in comparison to other experimental works (Magudeeswaran et al., 2008; Farneze et

al., 2010; Jorge et al., 2016; Lins Junior et al., 2017).

Figure 8. Results of Vickers microhardness tests (HV0.5).

Figure 9. Results of Charpy-V impact tests performed at room temperature (25 oC).

The investigation conducted in this present work is representative, since it shows the
possibility of achieving the mechanical properties required for the welding of high strength
steels. Although more evidences are necessary to a final conclusion, the present results
motivate the continuing study of this process in order to replace conventional GMAW process
in several industrial applications, since it can provide acceptable mechanical properties in
association with a higher productivity and reduction of costs (Silveira, 2018).

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4. Conclusions

Based on the results obtained in the present work, the main conclusions are:
a) The GMAW Process with rotating electrode provided weld deposits with mechanical
properties similar to those obtained with the conventional GMAW process;
b) The GMAW Process with rotating electrode can be an interesting alternative for industrial
application, since it promotes a significant improvement on the productivity and reduction
of costs associated with appropriate mechanical properties;
c) Further experimental evidence is needed for a definitive conclusion on the acceptance of
this process as substitute of conventional GMAW process in industry.

5. Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the following institutions for the support given during
the execution of the present work: CEFET-RJ, UFF, WHITE MARTINS, CTEx, CNPq e
FINEP.

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