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Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 8874–8882 www.materialstoday.com/proceedings

ICAAMM-2016

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Gas tungsten arc

welded High Strength Low Alloy (15CDV6) steel joints

Srinivasan.La, Sanjay J.Jakkaa, Sathiya.P a *

a
Department of Production Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Trichy, Tamilnadu, India-620015

Abstract

15CDV6 is a high strength low alloy (HSLA) steel being extensively used in aerospace applications, particularly in
manufacturing of solid rocket booster motor cases because of its excellent strength to weight ratio and good weldability. The
present investigation was carried out by Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) process using L9 orthogonal array. The welding
trials were conducted with different welding parameters such as current, voltage, welding speed and gas flow rate. The
dimensions of the plates used in this work are 150x300x3.7mm. The 8CD12 filler wire of diameter 2.6 mm was used by GTAW
process with DCEN polarity. The weld coupons were heat treated for hardening at 975 ºC followed by air quenching and
tempering at 650 ºC. Bead geometry (Reinforcement, bead width) and hardness were measured as performance characteristics.
Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution Method (TOPSIS) was used for the optimization of multi
performance characteristics. ANOVA was used to predict the influence of welding parameters on the multi performance
characteristics. The metallurgical characterization of optimized weld is discussed briefly.

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Selection and Peer-review under responsibility of the Committee Members of International Conference on Advancements in
Aeromechanical Materials for Manufacturing (ICAAMM-2016).

Keywords: 15CDV6; TIG welding ; TOPSIS; Metallurgical Studies

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 04312503510; fax: 04312500133.

E-mail address: psathiya@nitt.edu

2214-7853 © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Selection and Peer-review under responsibility of the Committee Members of International Conference on Advancements in Aeromechanical
Materials for Manufacturing (ICAAMM-2016).
 Sathiya.P/ Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 8874–8882 8875

1. Introduction

15CDV6 steel is a high strength low alloy (HSLA) steel. It has very high strength to weight ratio along with good
toughness and weldability. The name 15CDV6 is a French designation in which 15 indicates the 100 times
percentage of carbon. The last digit 6 shows 4 times the concentration of chromium. The letter C stands for
chromium, D stands for molybdenum and V for vanadium. The concentration of molybdenum and vanadium are
less than 1.5% each. In this alloy steel the weight proportion of all alloying elements combined is less than 5%
hence it is a low alloy steel. The major applications of 15CDV6 steel are solid rocket booster (SRB) motor casing,
defense, power generation, pressure vessels, suspension components, sub frames, track and push rods, roll cages
and motorsport applications [1, 2]. The microstructure of 15CDV6 steel after quenching shows predominantly lower
bainite and small proportion of lath martensite (see 1st reference in [3, 4]. In 15CDV6 steel the increase in
concentration of carbon (0.15% to 0.26%) and chromium (1.5% to 4%) leads to increase in martensite content in the
mixed microstructure [3]. Bainitic structure of 15CDV6 shows an secondary hardening effect when it is tempered by
increase in temperature up to 650°C which leads to increase in strength and hardness of material due to precipitation
of alloy carbides namely Mo2C, VC [2, 4]. Higher hardness in weld compared with parent metal is observed in case
of 15CDV6 steel which is quenched and tempered condition before welding [5]. Load carrying capacity and
percentage elongation of TIG welded 15CDV6 steel using 8CD12 filler wire without copper coating is greater than
with copper coating filler wire [1].Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), also known as tungsten inert gas (TIG)
welding, is an arc welding process that uses a non-consumable tungsten electrode to produce the weld. Filler metal
is added by hand or cold wire feeder with inert gas protection to the weld and tungsten electrode. Advantages of
GTAW are high quality and precision, pin point control, No sparks and spatter, No smoke and fluxes. For GTAW
the operator should have very good hand-eye coordination skill [6, 7]. Simple fluxes of only one component present
an adequate performance for ATIG welding, resulting in a great increase of penetration in comparison to TIG
welding, without any important deterioration of the welding conditions or of the microstructure of the welds [8].
Successful joining of any materials depends on the selection of correct welding parameters. Proper selection of
parameters can be done with the help of optimization techniques. Of the various optimization techniques available
technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution method (TOPSIS) is one of the Multi Criteria Decision
Making Method (MCDM) which is used to solve decision making problem. This technique is based on the concept
that the chosen alternative should have the shortest distance from the ideal solution, and the farthest from the
negative ideal solution. TOPSIS thus gives a solution that is not only closest to the hypothetically best, that is also
the farthest from the hypothetically worst [9]. Lan et al [10] in their work successfully implemented TOPSIS in
selecting the optimized parameters in CNC turning process.
Thus in this work an effort is made to apply TOPSIS for multi performance characteristics optimization in TIG
welding of 15CDV6 steel.

2. Experimental Procedures

15CDV6 steel is selected as a research material to study mechanical and metallurgical characterization. The plates
which are taken for welding are of dimensions 300x150x3.7 mm. The base material chemical composition is
tabulated in table-1 and its mechanical properties as annealed condition shown in Table 2.
8876 Sathiya.P/ Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 8874–8882

Table 1. Chemical composition of the Base Metal.

Alloying C Mo V Cr P S Fe
Elements
% 0.15% 0.90% 0.25% 1.25% 0.009% 0.004% 97.4%
Composition

Table 2. Base Material Mechanical Properties

UTS (Mpa) 0.2% Proof Stress (Mpa) % Elongation (Mpa) Hardness (HV) Impact Strength (Joules)
830 650 20 270 25

The machine specifications of TIG welding are tabulated in Table 3. Filler wire selection is very important in
welding and in this present work 8CD12 filler wire was used. The name 8CD12 is a French designation in which 8
indicates the 100 times percentage of carbon and the last number 12 indicates the 4 times percentage of chromium.
The letter C and D stands for chromium and molybdenum respectively. Chemical composition of filler wire is
tabulated in Table 4. To achieve high quality joint the major affecting process parameters are Voltage (V), Current
(Amp), Travel speed (mm/min) and Gas flow rate (lpm) which are directly contribute in the heat input calculation.
Working range of each parameter was decided and it is divided into 3 levels. Parameter and their ranges used in this
work are shown in Table 5. L9 orthogonal array was selected form orthogonal array matrix. From L9 orthogonal
array 9 experiments were designed as tabulated in Table 6. The prepared samples of 300x150x3.7 mm size using
abrasive cutting machine were cleaned by acetone. Welding trials for 9 experiments according to DOE were carried
out along the 300mm length. After welding the samples were heat treated and sliced by required sizes for analyzing
mechanical and metallurgical characterization.

Table 3. Machine Specifications of TIG Welding

Machine AC, DC Pulse TIG

Duty Cycle 60/40
Capacity 370 Amp
Make Lincoln
Power Supply DCEN
Electrode Tungsten Alloy
Shielding Gas Argon

Table 4. Filler wire Chemical Composition

Alloying C Mn Cr Mo Si S P
Elements
% 0.1% 1.1% 3.0% 1.0% 0.9% 0.009% 0.015%
Composition

Table 5. Welding Parameters and their levels

Sr. No. Parameters Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

1 Current (Amp) 80 110 140
2 Voltage (Volts) 14 16 18
3 Travel Speed (mm/min) 25 45 65

4 Gas Flow Rate (lpm) 7 8 9

 Sathiya.P/ Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 8874–8882 8877

Table 6. L9 Orthogonal array with output parameters

Expt Current Voltage Travel Speed Gas Flow Rate Bead Reinforcement Tensile strength
No. (Amp) (Volts) (mm/min) (lpm) width (mm) (Mpa)
(mm)
1 80 14 25 7 10.02 1.2769 977
2 80 16 45 8 9.96 1.315609 968
3 80 18 65 9 10.1 1.21 959
4 110 14 45 9 10.42 2.0736 995
5 110 16 65 7 10.38 1.1025 984
6 110 18 25 8 10.43 1.240996 973
7 140 14 65 8 10.66 2.0736 981
8 140 16 25 9 10.72 2.56 987
9 140 18 45 7 10.876 1.893376 1008

Any heat treatment after welding is often used to improve the properties of weldment. The details of PWHT as
follows, at first temperature raised up to 975°C±5°C for soaking period of 4min/mm or minimum 20 min followed
by forced air quenching with maximum of 30sec quench delay. Further it is tempered at 640°C with soaking period
of 8min/mm or minimum 30 min followed by air cooling. Base material properties after PWHT are tabulated in
Table 7.

Table 7. Base Material Mechanical Properties after PWHT

UTS (Mpa) 0.2% Proof Stress % Elongation (Mpa) Hardness (HV) Impact Strength Fracture
(Mpa) (Joules) Toughness (Mpa)
985 835 14 350 52 40

3. TOPSIS

The step by step procedures involved in TOPSIS is explained below

Step 1: First step in TOPSIS method is the normalization of performance of different criterion.
This step provide path for comparing different criterion by converting various attributes dimension into non
dimensional attribute.
Normalize scores or data as follows:
Rij = xij/ (x2ij) for i = 1… m; j = 1…
The Normalized value for all the output parameters are shown in Table 8.

Table 8. Normalized Matrix

Sl.no Bead width Reinforcement Tensile Strength
1 0.321134 0.331829 0.331829
2 0.319211 0.328772 0.328772
3 0.323698 0.325715 0.325715
4 0.333954 0.337942 0.337942
5 0.332672 0.334206 0.334206
6 0.334274 0.33047 0.33047
7 0.341646 0.333187 0.333187
8 0.343569 0.335225 0.335225
9 0.348568 0.342358 0.342358

Step 2: Allocating weights for the entire criterion which are considered for optimization. The weights considered for
this research were: depth of penetration=0.33, bead width=0.33, hardness=0.33. The sum of weight should be equal
to one.
Step 3: Construct the weighted normalized decision matrix.
Suppose we have weights for each criteria wj for j = 1…n.
8878 Sathiya.P/ Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 8874–8882

On multiplying each column of normalized decision matrix by its respective weight, the element obtained is:
Vij = WjRij
The weighted Normalized value for all the output parameters are shown in Table 9.

Table 9. Weighted normalized decision matrix

Sl.no Bead width Reinforcement Tensile Strength

1 0.105974 0.097106 0.109504
2 0.10534 0.098567 0.108495
3 0.10682 0.094528 0.107486
4 0.110205 0.123746 0.111521
5 0.109782 0.090231 0.110288
6 0.110311 0.095731 0.109055
7 0.112743 0.123746 0.109952
8 0.113378 0.137495 0.110624
9 0.115028 0.118246 0.112978

Step 4: The next step is determination of ideal and negative ideal solution
Ideal solution.
A+ = { V1+, …, Vn+}, where
Vj+={ max (Vij) if j J ; min (Vij) if j J' }
Negative Ideal solution.
A- = { V1-, …,Vn- }, where V- = { min (Vij) if j J ; max (Vij) if j J' }

V+ = 0.105 V+ = 0.09 V+ = 0.112

- -
V = 0.115 V = 0.137 V- = 0.107
Step 5: Separation measure determination is the fifth step in TOPSIS method. The value obtained is given below in
Table 4
The separation from the ideal alternative is:
Si+= [  (Vj+– Vij)2 ] ½ i = 1, …, m
Similarly, the separation from the negative ideal alternative is:
Si-= [  (Vj' – Vij)2 ] ½ i = 1, …, m

The Separation measure values obtained for each experimental value are presented in Table 10.
Table 10. Separation Measure for all the experimental run

Experiment no S+ S-
1 0.007729 0.041441
2 0.009465 0.040128
3 0.007129 0.043744
4 0.033897 0.015119
5 0.005193 0.047637
6 0.008387 0.042059
7 0.034456 0.014154
8 0.048 0.003546
9 0.029643 0.020017

Step 6: The relative closeness of a particular alternative are calculated and presented in Table 11
Pi = Si- / (Si+ +Si- ) , 0Pi  1
Select the option with Pi closest to 1
 Sathiya.P/ Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 8874–8882 8879

Table 11. Relative closeness value

S.No. Relative Closeness Rank

1 0.842809 3

2 0.809151 5

3 0.859875 2

4 0.308452 7

5 0.901703 1

6 0.833739 4

7 0.291184 8

8 0.068784 9

9 0.403091 6

4. Results and Discussion

4.1 Optimization of Multi performance characteristics

In TIG welding of 15CDV6 high strength low alloy steels lower value of bead width and reinforcement, higher
value of tensile strength are an indication of better performance. Relative closeness values for each experimental run
were calculated using the above mentioned formula and it was observed that the fifth experimental run had
maximum relative closeness value. Thus the fifth experimental run is the optimized parameters. Relative closeness
values obtained in each experimental run are represented in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. Relative Closeness values obtained for each experimental run.

8880 Sathiya.P/ Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 8874–8882

4.2 Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

In the present study ANOVA was carried out at a confidence level of 95% and significance level of 5 %. Table 12
shows the results of ANOVA for the influence of input parameters on the multiresponse characteristics.

Table 12. ANOVA Table

Sl. No. Welding Degrees of Sum of squares Mean Square F value Percentage Contribution
parameters freedom (%)
1 Current 2 0.54641 0.273205 9.188767 66.92182
2 Voltage 2 0.07137 0.035685 1.200202 8.741075
3 Travel speed 0.04756 0.02378 0.799798 5.824934
4 Shielding gas 2 0.15115 0.075575 2.541831 18.51217
flow rate
5 Error 0
6 Total 8 0.81649
7 Pooled Error 4 0.11893

In this work total error was found to be zero. Thus pooled error method was implemented in calculating the
percentage contribution of the individual’s parameters. Pooled error’s degree of freedom was calculated by
summing up the least values from parameters sum of square values. From ANOVA table it was found that current
was the most influential parameter on the multi response characteristics followed by shielding gas flow rate, voltage
and travel speed. The percentage contribution of individual parameter on multi response parameters is presented in
Fig.2.

Fig.2. percentage contribution of individual parameters on Multi-response characteristics

In the above figure 1, 2, 3, denotes current, voltage, travel speed and shielding gas flow rate

4.3Metallurgical characterization of optimized weld

Cross section of the weld was subjected to polishing using Sic papers of varying grit size (200 to 1200) followed by
cloth polishing using alumina powder. Nital solution containing 95 % ethanol and 5 % nitric acid was used as
etchant for revealing the microstructure. The microstructure of the base metal, weld metal and heat affected zone
obtained in fifth experimental run is shown in the fig. 3. Base metal had lower bainite structure with feather like
 Sathiya.P/ Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 8874–8882 8881

features. Weld zone had martensitic structure with epitaxial grain growth. In heat affected zone martensitic
decomposed in to austenitic, ferrite and carbides. The grain size of the weld and base metal were almost same
resulting in the same tensile strength.

100 µm 100 µm

(a) Base metal (b) Weld

100 µm

(C) Heat affected zone

Fig. 3 Microstructure of base metal, weld metal

5. Conclusions

TIG welding was successfully implanted in welding 15CDV6 high strength low alloy steels.

TOPSIS was successfully implemented in optimizing the multi performance characteristics and the optimized
parameters for getting lower bead width, reinforcement and higher tensile strength are as follows. Fifth experimental
run had the maximum closeness value and their parameters are current: 110 A, Voltage: 16 V travel speed: 65
mm/min, shielding gas flow rate: 7 lpm.
Through ANOVA it was understood that Current as the most significant factor on the multi performance
characteristics and travel speed was the least significant factor on the multi performance characteristics.
Tensile strength of the weld had same value as that of base metal after post weld heat treatment.
8882 Sathiya.P/ Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 8874–8882

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