ANALYSIS OF VARIATION OF SMAW – GMAW COMBINATION WELDING FLOW IN THE HARDFACING

PROCESS ON THE MICRO STRUCTURE, HARDNESS, AND IMPACT STRENGTH OF ASTM A36 STEEL

In the current development of industrial technology, steel is a very important material. Steel is a metal
material that is one of the main components in the manufacture of various products, from simple
industries such as household needs to manufacturing and infrastructure industries. One type of steel
commonly used is ASTM A36 steel. This type of steel is usually widely used in shipping construction as a
ship hull. With such use, of course, it can result in failure of the steel material due to shock loads from
waves and reduced dimensions due to corrosion. To prevent and overcome these problems, a
hardfacing process is carried out. This process is done by adding a layer on the metal surface using a
welding process. The types of welding used are Shield Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) and Gas Metal Arc
Welding (GMAW) because these two types of welding are commonly used in the industrial world. In the
research on the hardfacing process using the SMAW – GMAW combination welding to add a layer or add
meat to the ASTM A36 steel plate surface by varying the welding current, namely SMAW 90 A, 110 A,
130 A and GMAW 110 A, 130 A, 150 A. Then it was analyzed by three tests, namely microstructure to
determine the resulting microstructure and hardness testing to determine the size of the material's
response to the indentation given to the material as well as impact strength testing to determine the
material's ability to absorb impact energy until the material undergoes plastic deformation. It is hoped
that this research can produce new materials that can be used in industry.