Journal of Materials Processing Technology 212 (2012) 2041–2050

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Journal of Materials Processing Technology

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Influence of process variables on weld bead quality in two wire tandem

submerged arc welding of HSLA steel
D.V. Kiran a , B. Basu b , A. De a,∗
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India
b
Naval Materials Research Laboratory, Ambernath, Thane, Mumbai, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Two-wire tandem submerged arc welding process involves simultaneous depositions from two electrode
Received 9 January 2012 wires with the leading wire usually connected to a DC power source and the trailing wire connected to
Received in revised form 30 April 2012 a pulsed AC power source. The weld bead profile and mechanical properties in the tandem submerged
Accepted 14 May 2012
welding are significantly affected by the leading and trailing wire current transients and the welding
Available online 24 May 2012
speed. We present here a detailed experimental study on the influence of leading wire current, trailing
wire current pulses, and welding speed on the weld bead dimensions and mechanical properties in single-
Keywords:
pass tandem submerged welding of a typical HSLA steel. It is realized that the weld bead penetration is
Tandem submerged arc welding
HSLA steel
primarily influenced by the leading wire current while the weld bead width and the reinforcement height
Experimental investigation are sensitive to the trailing wire current pulses. Greater magnitude of trailing wire current pulses and
Central composite rotatable design shorter negative pulse duration increase the weld pool volume leading to reduced cooling rate and poor
mechanical properties as the formation of the strengthening phases like acicular ferrite is inhibited. In
contrast, increase in welding speed reduces the rate of heat input thereby enhancing the cooling rate
and the weld bead mechanical properties. A set of empirical relations are developed to estimate the weld
bead dimensions and mechanical properties as function of the welding conditions. The predictions from
the empirical relations and the corresponding measured results are observed to be in fair agreement.
© 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Submerged arc welding (SAW) process facilitates high deposi-
tion rate and excellent weld joint quality, and finds wide application
in the fabrication of pressure vessels, pipelines and offshore struc-
tures (Almqvist et al., 1978). Joining of medium to high thickness
plates usually needs multi-pass SAW that requires intermediate
cleaning of the joint and selection of appropriate interpass tem-
perature to ensure good weld joint quality (Uttrachi, 1978; Farhat,
2007). The two-wire tandem submerged arc welding (SAW-T) pro-
cess provides simultaneous deposition from two electrodes – one
electrode leading the other in the direction of welding – into a sin-
gle weld puddle resulting higher deposition rate in comparison to
the single wire conventional SAW process (Uttrachi, 1978; Viano
et al., 2000). The leading and the trailing electrode wires in SAW-T
process are connected respectively to a DC and a pulsed AC power
supply that necessitates an appropriate selection of a large num-
ber of welding conditions. These welding conditions include the
leading wire current, the trailing wire positive and negative cur-
rent pulses and the corresponding pulse durations, welding speed,
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 2225767509; fax: +91 2225726875.
E-mail address: amit@iitb.ac.in (A. De).
and the distance between the two electrode wires in comparison to
only current, voltage and welding speed in the conventional SAW
process (Konkol and Koons, 1978; Farhat, 2007; Viano et al., 2000;
Pilipenko, 2001). A quantitative investigation on the effects of these
welding conditions on the weld bead quality is critically needed for
the successful application of the SAW-T process.
Investigations on SAW-T process are rare in open literature
although several researchers have used the conventional SAW pro-
cess for the joining of medium to heavy thickness plates. Renwick
and Patchett (1976) carried out bead-on-plate welding of 38 mm
thick BS 4360 grade 43A mild steel plates using conventional SAW
process and reported a direct influence of welding current on the
weld bead dimensions. Gunaraj and Murugan (1999) presented
a set of empirical relations to estimate the weld bead dimen-
sions as function of welding conditions in conventional SAW of
6 mm thick IS 2062 carbon steel pipes. Gowrisankar et al. (1987)
observed that the impact toughness of weld deposit would reduce
significantly with the increase in number of intermediate passes
during SAW of 25 mm thick 316L stainless steel plates. Prasad
and Dwivedi (2008a,b) observed a marked reduction in the ulti-
mate tensile strength of weld metal with increase in the rate of
heat input during SAW of 16 mm thick steels (ASTM A384, grade
11). Uttrachi and Messina (1968) could use a significantly higher
welding speed in single-pass SAW-T of 10 mm thick steel plates in

0924-0136/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2012.05.008
2042 D.V. Kiran et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 212 (2012) 2041–2050

Table 1
Chemical composition (wt%) of the base plate, electrode wire and weld metal.

Element C Mn Si Cr Ni Cu V Al Mo

Base plate 0.048 1.583 0.412 0.623 0.642 0.023 0.026 0.047 0.148
Electrode 0.02–0.06 1.0–1.5 0.1–0.3 <0.1 2.2–2.8 <0.05 <0.01 0.01-0.02 <0.1
Weld Bead8 0.037 1.449 0.373 0.597 1.172 0.078 0.023 0.025 0.148
Weld Bead24 0.055 1.452 0.420 0.460 1.154 0.077 0.020 0.028 0.106
Weld Bead41 0.036 1.383 0.373 0.610 1.267 0.109 0.020 0.034 0.174
Weld Bead42 0.045 1.432 0.370 0.584 1.106 0.072 0.022 0.032 0.151
Weld Bead43 0.036 1.417 0.377 0.585 1.160 0.088 0.019 0.032 0.154

The superscripts on “Weld Bead” refers to the set number from Table A1.

comparison to the conventional SAW process. Konkol and Koons
(1978) observed a smaller weld penetration at lower welding cur-
rent and shorter electrode extension in SAW-T of 16.5 mm thick
steel plates. Moeinifar et al. (2011) simulated typical four-wire
SAW process of X80 microalloyed steel using a Gleeble apparatus
and observed that the hardness in the coarse grained heat affected
zone increased with the cooling rate. Shen et al. (2012) reported
that weld and HAZ dimensions would increase with the rate of
heat input in SAW and SAW-T of 20 mm thick ASTM A709 Grade
50 steel. In typical tandem pulsed gas metal arc welding process,
Ueyama et al. (2005) highlighted the need to optimize the electrode
inclination angles in the direction of welding to avoid undercut
and humped weld profiles especially at higher welding currents.
Viano et al. (2000) could enhance the weld joint impact toughness
at reduced rate of heat input in SAW-T of 20 mm thick HSLA 80
steel. Kiran et al. (2010) reported a three-dimensional heat transfer
analysis of two-wire SAW-T process and correlated the computed
cooling rate, T8/5 (from 800 to 500 ◦ C), in the weld pool with the
measured volume fraction of ferrite phases in the final weld bead
at several welding conditions.
In summary, a systematic experimental study on the individual
effects of the key welding conditions on the weld bead dimen-
sions and mechanical properties in two-wire SAW-T process is not
yet readily available in open literature. The authors present here
a detailed experimental investigation on the effect of five signif-
icant welding conditions on the weld bead quality in single-pass
SAW-T process of a typical HSLA steel. These welding conditions
include leading arc current, trailing arc positive and negative cur-
rent pulses, trailing arc negative current pulse duration and welding
speed. Bead-on-groove single-pass SAW-T experiments are per-
formed on 12 mm thick HSLA steel plates at various parametric
combinations which are decided following the principle of central
composite rotatable design. A set of empirical models are developed
to estimate the weld bead qualities as function of the significant
welding conditions. The exclusive effects of each of the five signif-
icant welding conditions on the weld bead quality are studied and
presented subsequently.
electrode wire extensions (stick out) are kept at 25 and 35 mm,
respectively. Table 2 depicts the independent process variables and
their ranges that are considered in the present study. Fifty differ-
ent parametric combinations are decided based on a two level, five
factorial, central composite rotatable design (Montgomery, 2001)
with additional experiments at the axial points and repetitions at
the central points. The total number of parametric combinations
includes 25 (=32) factorial, 2 × 5 (=10) axial (uppermost and lower-
most levels) and 8 center (0 level) points. Each welding condition
is considered in a non-dimensional form as (Montgomery, 2001)
2.3784 × [2X − (XMAX + XMIN )]
Xi = (1)
(XMAX − XMIN )
where XMAX , XMIN and Xi refer to the maximum, minimum and
coded values of a specific condition, respectively.
The weld bead dimensions are measured from the transverse
section of each weld specimen after polishing and etching with 2%
nital solution using a pc-interfaced stereo-microscope (Leica made,
Model no. MZ6). The weld bead width is measured as the width of
the fusion zone on the top surface of the base plate. The penetration
is measured as the depth of the fusion zone from the top surface of
the base plate. The reinforcement height is measured as the height
of the weld deposition above the top surface of the base plate. The
volume fractions of Widmanstatten ferrite (␣ws ), acicular ferrite
(␣ac ), and allotriomorphic ferrite (␣am ) phases are measured at ten
locations (Fig. 2) on each weld zone micrograph captured at 500×
magnification with a pc-interfaced Olympus optical microscope
(Model no. GX51) following the point count method (ASTM E562,
2001). Fig. 3(a) shows the schematic profile of the all-weld sub-
size specimen to measure the weld bead tensile strength (ASTM
E8M, 2001). The tensile strengths are measured in a pc-interfaced
Instron 3369 machine at a crosshead speed of 5 mm/min. Fig. 3(b)
shows the schematic profile of the sub-size specimen to measure
the Charpy impact toughness (ASTM E23, 2001) at −50 ◦ C using

2. Experimental investigation

Table 1 outlines the chemical compositions of the base plate and

the electrode wire used in the present study. The chemical compo-
sition of the base plate confirms to a typical HSLA steel with the
yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and percent elongation
measured at room temperature as 497 MPa, 662 MPa and 27.9%,
respectively. Table 1 also depicts the chemical composition of the
weld bead at five different welding conditions. Fig. 1 schematically
shows the workpiece and the orientation of the leading and trailing
electrodes as used during the SAW-T experiments. Three longitudi-
nal grooves (45◦ ) are made in each sample plate at equal transverse
distance to prepare the sample bead-on-groove welds. The lead-
ing and trailing electrode diameters confirm to 3.15 and 4.0 mm,
respectively. The distance between two electrode wires is kept con-
stant at 20 mm for all the welding runs. The leading and the trailing Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the dimensions of the base plate.
 D.V. Kiran et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 212 (2012) 2041–2050 2043

Table 2
Process variables and their limits.

Parameters Notation Factor levels

−2.3784 −1 0 1 2.3784

Leading arc current ILE (A) 300 384 445 506 590
+
Peak +ve current pulse in trailing arc ITR (A) 319 343 360 377 401
−
Peak −ve current pulse in trailing arc ITR (A) 401 562 680 797 958
−
−ve current pulse time in trailing arc tTR (ms) 8.35 9.56 10.44 11.32 12.53
Welding speed v (mm/s) 7 10 12.23 14.45 17.45

measured and the corresponding estimated values of the response

variables (Montgomery et al., 2006). The insignificant coefficients
in each model are eliminated following the step-wise regression
analysis and the reduced estimation models are tested for adequacy
using the analysis of variance (Montgomery et al., 2006). The non-
dimensional forms of the response variables (Y ∗ ) are considered
as
w d h U
w∗ = ; d∗ = ; h∗ = ; U∗ = WP ; Y∗
wG tp wG U
Fig. 2. Locations considered to measure the volume fractions of ferrite phases in
Y E
fusion zone.
= ; E∗ = (3)
YWP E WP
a Tinius Olsen impact testing machine. The weld dimensions and
mechanical properties are measured on three independently pre- where w and w∗ , d and d* , h and h* , U and U∗ , Y and Y∗ , and, E and
pared samples at each welding condition. Table A1 in Appendix A E* refer to the measured and the corresponding non-dimensional
provides all the measured results and the corresponding welding values of weld width, penetration, reinforcement height, tensile
conditions. strength, yield strength and Charpy impact toughness, respec-
The experimentally measured results are used to develop a set tively. The terms wG , tP , UWP , YWP and E WP in Eq. (3) refer to the
of response surface based empirical models to estimate the weld width of the V-groove at the surface, thickness of the base plate,
dimensions and the mechanical properties as function of weld- ultimate tensile strength, yield strength and Charpy impact tough-
ing conditions (Montgomery et al., 2006). Considering five input ness of the workpiece material, respectively. The values of these
welding conditions considered in the present work, a second order terms are as follows: wG = 7.04 mm; tP = 12 mm; UWP = 662 MPa;
response surface based model is taken as YWP = 497 MPa; E WP = 51 J.


5

5

4 
5
Y ∗ = ˇ0 + ˇi Xi + ˇii Xi2 + ˇij Xi Xj (2) 3. Results and discussion
i=1 i=1 i=1 j=i+1
Fig. 4(a)–(f) shows the effects of welding speed (v), trailing wire
−
Y*
where is a response variable (e.g. weld width, penetration, weld negative current pulse (ITR ) and leading wire current (ILE ) on the
joint tensile strength, etc.) in non-dimensional form, X1 –X5 refer measured weld bead profile. A comparison of Fig. 4(a) and (b)
to the welding conditions in non-dimensional form, ˇ s refer to the depicts a decrease in the weld bead dimensions with increase in
coefficients of Eq. (2). The coefficients, ˇ s, (in Eq. (2)) are estimated welding speed (v) from 10.0 to 14.45 mm/s. Increase in welding
based on the minimization of the error between the experimentally speed reduces the rate of heat input leading to smaller weld bead

Fig. 3. Schematic pictures of sub-size (a) all-weld tensile and (b) Charpy V-notch impact toughness specimens (ASTM E8M, 2001; ASTM E23, 2001), respectively.
2044 D.V. Kiran et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 212 (2012) 2041–2050
Fig. 4. Measured weld macrographs at (a) v = 10.0 mm/s and (b) v = 14.45 mm/s for fixed values of ILE = 506 A, ITR
− + − +
(d) ITR = 797 A for constant values of ILE = 506 A, ITR = 343 A, tTR = 11.32 ms, v = 10.0 mm/s; at (e) ILE = 384 A and (f) ILE = 506 A for constant values of ITR = 343 A, ITR = 797 A,
−
tTR = 9.56 ms, v = 10.0 mm/s.
dimensions. In contrast, increase in either trailing wire negative
−
current pulse (ITR ) (Fig. 4(c) and (d)) or in leading wire current (ILE )
(Fig. 4(e) and (f)) results in higher weld bead dimensions. Increase
in trailing wire current pulses and leading wire current results in
higher rate of heat input and greater weld bead dimensions.
Fig. 5(a)–(e) presents the influence of five welding conditions
on the measured values of the final weld dimensions – weld width,
penetration and reinforcement height. Fig. 5(a) shows that increase
in the leading wire current (ILE ) from 300 to 590 A enhances
the weld width (w) from 15.55 (±0.46) to 19.75 (±0.69) mm, the
penetration (d) from 7.85 (±0.16) to 8.9 (±0.17) mm and the rein-
forcement height (h) from 0.7 (±0.06) to 1.60 (±0.08) mm. The
values within the parenthesis indicate the variability in the mea-
sured data in each case. Fig. 5(b) shows that increase in the trailing
+
wire positive current pulse (ITR ) from 319 to 401 A enhances the
weld width (w) from 15.0 (±0.50) to 18.98 (±0.52) mm, the penetra-
tion (d) from 8.0 (±0.12) to 8.52 (±0.52) mm, and the reinforcement
height (h) from 1.0 (±0.18) to 1.52 (±0.11) mm. Fig. 5(c) shows
−
that increase in the trailing wire negative current pulse (ITR ) from
401 to 958 A enhances the weld width (w) from 13.20 (±0.92) to
19.90 (±1.30) mm, the penetration (d) from 8.0 (±0.50) to 8.80
(±0.53) mm, and the reinforcement height (h) from 0.65 (±0.08)
to 1.60 (±0.11) mm. Increase in leading wire current (ILE ) and in
+ −
trailing wire current pulses (ITR and ITR ) enhances the rate of
heat input leading to greater amount of electrode deposition and
enhanced weld bead dimensions.
Fig. 5(d) shows that as the trailing wire negative current pulse
−
time (tTR ) increases from 8.35 to 12.53 ms, the weld width (w)
reduces from 19.04 (±0.17) to 17.30 (±0.35) mm and the penetra-
tion (d) decreases from 8.34 (±0.09) to 7.70 (±0.26) mm. However,
the reinforcement height (h) increases from 0.64 (±0.08) to 1.11
(±0.10) mm. For a constant pulse frequency of 60 Hz, increase in
−
tTR leads to greater usage of arc energy for melting and deposition
of electrode material in comparison to the melting of workpiece
material in each cycle of AC. In effect, the weld width (w) and
−
penetration (d) reduce with increase in tTR while the reinforce-
ment height (h) increases. Fig. 5(e) shows that as welding speed
(v) increases from 7.0 to 17.45 mm/s, the weld width reduces from
+ − − −
= 343 A, ITR = 563 A, tTR = 9.56 ms; at (c) ITR = 563 A and
−
27.51 (±0.61) to 14.0 (±0.59) mm and the reinforcement height
decreases from 2.74 (±0.11) mm to zero. However, the penetration
remains nearly insensitive to the welding speed. A slight increas-
ing tendency in the measured penetration as the welding speed
increases from 7.0 to 12.23 mm/s can possibly be attributed to the
variability in the experimental results. Increase in welding speed
reduces the rate of heat input resulting in smaller weld dimensions.
Figs. 4 and 5 show that the final weld dimensions are significantly
influenced by the welding conditions in SAW-T process.
Fig. 6(a) and (b) depicts the optical micrographs of the fusion
zone microstructure for a typical welding condition at 500× and
1000× magnifications, respectively. Fig. 6 confirms that the fusion
zone microstructure primarily consists of the allotriomorphic fer-
rite (␣am ), Widmanstatten ferrite (␣ws ) and intragrannularly grown
acicular ferrite (␣ac ) phases. The allotriomorphic ferrite (␣am ) phase
appears as parallel veins and the Widmanstatten ferrite (␣ws ) phase
emerges as parallel branches from the allotriomorphic ferrite (␣am ).
The growth of the Widmanstatten ferrite (␣ws ) with the allotri-
omorphic ferrite (␣am ) as its base is clearly visible in Fig. 6(b). The
microstructure of acicular ferrite (␣ac ) is of interlocking in nature
that facilitates the resistance to crack propagation and improved
mechanical properties (Grong and Matlock, 1986; Farhat, 2007;
Viano et al., 2000).
Fig. 7(a)–(e) shows the influence of welding conditions on
the measured volume fractions of the ferrite phases in the weld
fusion zone. Fig. 7(a) shows that increase in ILE from 300 to 590 A
enhances allotriomorphic ferrite (␣am ) phase from 12% (±6.10) to
40.22% (±7.89) and reduces acicular ferrite (␣ac ) phase from 87.11%
(±7.46) to 55.78% (±8.53). The volume fraction of Widmanstatten
ferrite (␣ws ) phase initially increases from 0.9% (±2.32) to 5.13%
(±4.49) as ILE increases while decreases to 4.0% (±3.9) thereafter
with further increase in ILE . Fig. 7(b) shows that the allotriomorphic
ferrite (␣am ) and Widmanstatten ferrite (␣ws ) phases increase from
24.83% (±6.4) to 35.75% (±10.81) and from 4.0% (±2.45) to 5.38%
+
(±4.47), respectively, as ITR increases from 319 to 401 A. In con-
trast, the acicular ferrite (␣ac ) phase decreases from 71.17% (±5.56)
+
to 58.63% (±11.78) with increase in ITR . Fig. 7(c) shows that the
allotriomorphic ferrite (␣am ) phase increases from 18.93% (±4.88)
 D.V. Kiran et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 212 (2012) 2041–2050 2045

+
Fig. 5. Influence of (a) leading wire current [ILE = 300, 445 and 590 A], (b) trailing wire positive current [ITR = 319, 360 and 401 A], (c) trailing wire negative current
− −
[ITR = 401, 680 and 958 A], (d) trailing wire negative current pulse [tTR at 8.35, 10.44 and 12.53 ms], and (e) welding speed [v = 7.0, 12.23 and 17.45 mm/s] on measured
weld bead dimensions. The constant values of other welding conditions in each case are given in the box at the bottom right of the figure.

Fig. 6. Fusion zone micrographs showing allotriomorphic ferrite (␣am ), Widmanstatten ferrite (␣ws ) and acicular ferrite (␣ac ) phases at (a) 500× and (b) 1000× magnifications.
+ − + −
The welding conditions are: ILE = 445 A, ITR = 401 A, ITR = 680 A, tTR = 6.23 ms, tTR = 10.44 ms, and v = 12.23 mm/s.
2046 D.V. Kiran et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 212 (2012) 2041–2050

+
Fig. 7. Influence of (a) leading wire current [ILE = 300, 445 and 590 A], (b) trailing wire positive current [ITR = 319, 360 and 401 A], (c) trailing wire negative current
− −
[ITR = 401, 680 and 958 A], (d) trailing wire negative current pulse duration [tTR at 8.35, 10.44 and 12.53 ms], and (e) welding speed [v = 7.0, 12.23 and 17.45 mm/s] on
the ferrite phases in the weld pool. The constant values of other welding conditions in each case are given in the box at the bottom right of the figure.

to 43.21% (±8.35) and the acicular ferrite (␣ac ) phase decreases
− −
from 75.92% (±5.95) to 52.49% (±7.35) with increase in ITR from 401
to 958 A. The Widmanstatten ferrite (␣ws ) phase remains insensi-
−
tive to changes in ITR . Higher leading wire current (ILE ) and trailing
+ −
wire current pulses (ITR and ITR ) enhance the rate of heat input
leading to larger weld pool and reduced cooling rate that inhibit the
formation of acicular ferrite (␣ac ) and encourage greater volume
fractions of the allotriomorphic ferrite (␣am ) and Widmanstatten
ferrite (␣ws ) in weld microstructure (Grong and Matlock, 1986;
Farrar and Harrison, 1987; Kiran et al., 2010)
Fig. 7(d) shows that the allotriomorphic ferrite (␣am ) and the
Widmanstatten ferrite (␣ws ) phases reduce from 47% (±3.89) to
−
17.56% (±5.57) and from 1.52% (±1.9) to zero, respectively as tTR
increases from 8.35 to 12.53 ms. In contrast, the acicular ferrite
(␣ac ) phase increases from 51.48% (±4.12) to 82.44% (±5.57). For
a constant pulse frequency (60 Hz), increase in trailing wire nega-
tive pulse duration (tTR ) reduces the arc heating of the workpiece
resulting in smaller weld pool volume and higher cooling rate that
encourages the formation of acicular ferrite (␣ac ) phase. Fig. 7(e)
depicts that the acicular ferrite (␣ac ) phase increases from 41.25%
(±7.83) to 81.88% (±5.9) as the welding speed (v) increases from 7.0
to 17.45 mm/s. In contrast, the allotriomorphic ferrite (␣am ) and the
Widmanstatten ferrite (␣ws ) phases reduce from 55.13% (±10.18)
to 18.88% (±5.36) and from 3.63% (±4.53) to zero. Increase in weld-
ing speed (v) reduces the rate of heat input resulting in smaller weld
pool and increased cooling rate assisting greater volume fraction of
acicular ferrite (␣ac ) phase.
Fig. 8(a)–(e) shows the influence of welding conditions on
the measured values of weld bead yield strength (Y ), ultimate
tensile strength (U ) and Charpy impact toughness (E). Fig. 8(a)
 D.V. Kiran et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 212 (2012) 2041–2050 2047

+
Fig. 8. Influence of (a) leading wire current [ILE = 300, 445 and 590 A], (b) trailing wire positive current [ITR = 319, 360 and 401 A], (c) trailing wire negative current
− −
[ITR = 401, 680 and 958 A], (d) trailing wire negative current pulse [tTR at 8.35, 10.44 and 12.53 ms], and (e) welding speed [v = 7.0, 12.23 and 17.45 mm/s] on measured
weld bead mechanical properties. The constant values of other welding conditions in each case are given in the box at the bottom right of the figure.

depicts deterioration in Y , U and E from 570.0 (±10.3) to from 8.69 (±0.63) to 27.51 (±1.94) J. Increase in trailing wire neg-
511.7 (±12.6) MPa, 713.5 (±13.9) to 637.64 (±10.6) MPa, and 53.3 −
ative pulse duration (tTR ) and in welding speed (v) reduces the arc
(±3.84) to 20.76 (±0.50) J, respectively as ILE increases from 300 heating of workpiece resulting in smaller weld pool and greater
+
to 590 A. Increase in ITR also reduces Y from 552.0 (±12.1) to cooling rate that encourages the strengthening phases like acicu-
522.3 (±10.2) MPa, U from 696.0 (±16.5) to 638.0 (±5.32) MPa, lar ferrite (Fig. 7(d) and (e)) and improved mechanical properties
and E from 57.0 (±5.06) to 18.84 (±4.91) J (Fig. 8(b)). Similarly, (Prasad and Dwivedi, 2008a,b).
−
increase in ITR from 401 to 958 A reduces Y from 557 (±12.2) Eqs. (4)–(9) depict the response surface based empirical mod-
to 517 (±13.0) MPa, U from 727 (±15.2) to 632 (±14.7) MPa, and els for the estimation of weld bead dimensions and mechanical
E from 15.6 (±2.16) to 12.0 (±2.23) J (Fig. 8(c)). Increase in lead- properties as function of five welding conditions,
+ −
ing arc current (ILE ) and trailing wire current pulses (ITR or ITR )
results in greater heat input, larger weld pool volume and reduced w∗ = 2.655 + 0.12X1 + 0.045X2 + 0.157X3 − 0.071X4
cooling rate that inhibits the formation of strengthening phases
like acicular ferrite (Fig. 7(a)–(c)) and leads to poor mechanical − 0.39X5 − 0.032X22 − 0.043X32 + 0.062X52 − 0.037X2 X3
properties. − 0.043X3 X4 (4)
−
Fig. 8(d) shows that increase in tTR from 8.35 to 12.53 ms
improves Y from 509.0 (±9.05) to 533.0 (±2.54) MPa, U from
618.4 (±2.74) to 657.2 (±11.7) MPa, and E from 8.29 (±0.40) to
14.28 (±2.14) J. Fig. 8(e) depicts increase in welding speed (v)
d∗ = 0.709 + 0.026X1 + 0.007X2 + 0.007X3 − 0.01X4 − 0.015X5
from 7.0 to 17.45 mm/s improves Y from 490.2 (±1.47) to 540.6
(±3.24) MPa, U from 614.8 (±3.01) to 665.1 (±6.98) MPa, and E − 0.015X52 − 0.013X3 X4 + 0.012X4 X5 (5)
2048 D.V. Kiran et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 212 (2012) 2041–2050

Fig. 9. Estimated values of response variables vis-à-vis corresponding measured results: (a) weld width, (b) penetration, (c) reinforcement height, (d) ultimate tensile
strength, (e) yield strength, and (f) Charpy impact toughness.

h∗ = 0.126 + 0.023X1 + 0.009X2 + 0.036X3 + 0.01X4 − 0.082X5 E ∗ = 0.205 − 0.102X1 − 0.034X2 − 0.009X3 − 0.018X4

+ 0.005X12 + 0.008X22 + 0.004X32 + 0.107X5 + 0.064X12 + 0.067X22 + 0.047X1 X4 − 0.057X1 X5

+ 0.011X52 − 0.006X1 X3 (6) +0.037X3 X4 (9)

where X1 , X2 , X3 , X4 and X5 refer to the leading wire current (ILE ),

U∗ = 0.972 − 0.014X1 − 0.007X2 − 0.012X3 + 0.001X4 + 0.014X5
+ 0.006X12 + 0.007X32
Y∗ = 1.066 − 0.015X1 − 0.004X2 − 0.012X3 − 0.003X4
+ 0.021X5 + 0.004X12 − 0.005X52
+ −
trailing wire positive (ITR ) and negative (ITR ) current pulses, trailing
−
wire negative pulse duration (tTR ) and welding speed (v) in non-
dimensional form (Eq. (1)). The actual expressions of X1 –X5 are
(7) presented in Appendix A (Eqs. (A1)–(A5)). Eqs. (4)–(9) depict signif-
icant non-linear relations between the welding conditions and the
weld bead dimensions and the mechanical properties. The positive
coefficients corresponding to X1 , X2 and X3 in Eqs. (4)–(6) clearly
indicate that the leading wire current, and the trailing wire pos-
(8) itive and negative current pulses have a direct effect on the final
 D.V. Kiran et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 212 (2012) 2041–2050 2049

weld bead dimensions. In contrast, the coefficients of X1 , X2 and X3
are negative in Eqs. (7)–(9). The weld bead mechanical properties
deteriorate with increase in leading wire current and trailing wire
current pulses as shown earlier in Fig. 8(a)–(c). The negative coef-
ficients of X5 in Eqs. (4)–(6) depict that increase in welding speed
will generally reduce the rate of heat input resulting in smaller weld
bead dimensions. Smaller weld pool enhances the cooling rate and
hence, welding speed shows a direct influence on the weld bead
mechanical properties in Eqs. (7)–(9). The coefficients of X4 in Eqs.
(4)–(6) show that the increase in trailing wire negative pulse dura-
tion would reduce the bead width and penetration while enhance
the reinforcement height slightly. Increase in trailing wire negative
pulse duration results in greater usage of arc energy for melting of
electrode in comparison to workpiece leading to smaller width and
penetration but larger reinforcement height.
Fig. 9(a)–(f) depicts the measured results of the six response
variables (in non-dimensional form) – w∗ , d* , h* , U∗ , Y∗ and E* –
vis-à-vis the corresponding estimated values following Eqs. (4)–(9).
It can be noted that the measured results in Fig. 9(a)–(f) belong to
set nos. #51 to #57 in Table A1 (Appendix A) that are not used to
develop the empirical relations (Eqs. (5)–(9)) are developed. A fairly
good agreement between the estimated values and the correspond-
ing measured results can be observed in Fig. 9(a)–(f). The adequacy
of these empirical relations is examined by computing the adjusted
coefficient of determination, which depicts the proportion of the
variation in the response explained by a response surface based

Table A1
Measured weld dimensions and mechanical properties at various welding conditions.
+ − −
Set no. ILE (A) ITR (A) ITR (A) tTR (ms) v (mm/s) w (mm) d (mm) h (mm) UTS (MPa) YS (MPa) Toughness (J)

1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 19.32 ± 0.34 8.41 ± 0.12 0.86 ± 0.13 645 ± 9.9 526.5 ± 7.4 10.96 ± 1.62
2 +1 −1 −1 −1 −1 21.10 ± 0.56 9.04 ± 0.05 1.32 ± 0.12 638.4 ± 12.0 524.2 ± 9.3 12.86 ± 2.42
3 −1 +1 −1 −1 −1 19.50 ± 0.57 8.60 ± 0.37 1.20 ± 0.08 663.5 ± 10.7 543.2 ± 10.5 19.46 ± 7.37
4 +1 +1 −1 −1 −1 21.00 ± 0.97 9.04 ± 0.31 1.70 ± 0.08 655.0 ± 1.9 539.5 ± 9.1 13.01 ± 2.49
5 −1 −1 +1 −1 −1 22.71 ± 1.03 8.50 ± 0.04 1.75 ± 0.02 640.3 ± 10.6 513.9 ± 12.9 10.21 ± 1.30
6 +1 −1 +1 −1 −1 23.11 ± 0.19 9.61 ± 0.03 1.82 ± 0.11 633.5 ± 6.5 510.0 ± 11.1 8.81 ± 1.33
7 −1 +1 +1 −1 −1 22.71 ± 1.14 8.60 ± 0.38 2.00 ± 0.16 639.0 ± 9.1 522.0 ± 10.3 26.61 ± 4.88
8 +1 +1 +1 −1 −1 24.28 ± 0.21 9.65 ± 0.32 1.99 ± 0.20 632.0 ± 9.1 504.0 ± 8.6 6.47 ± 1.17
9 −1 −1 −1 +1 −1 19.58 ± 0.25 8.14 ± 0.31 1.33 ± 0.12 650.0 ± 9.9 528.7 ± 14.9 7.57 ± 0.22
10 +1 −1 −1 +1 −1 21.60 ± 0.22 8.90 ± 0.33 1.68 ± 0.11 637.0 ± 7.0 511.0 ± 7.2 8.34 ± 2.09
11 −1 +1 −1 +1 −1 18.50 ± 0.93 8.53 ± 0.36 1.45 ± 0.13 652.9 ± 3.6 530.3 ± 4.5 15.68 ± 2.71
12 +1 +1 −1 +1 −1 21.60 ± 0.38 9.02 ± 0.10 1.64 ± 0.03 627.6 ± 5.6 505.0 ± 4.8 7.91 ± 1.86
13 −1 −1 +1 +1 −1 21.42 ± 0.64 7.62 ± 0.20 1.83 ± 0.03 650.0 ± 9.2 523.6 ± 4.4 9.38 ± 2.61
14 +1 −1 +1 +1 −1 22.35 ± 0.45 8.59 ± 0.07 2.03 ± 0.13 638.0 ± 4.5 512.5 ± 8.7 7.86 ± 0.36
15 −1 +1 +1 +1 −1 22.50 ± 0.44 7.65 ± 0.09 1.82 ± 0.06 629.9 ± 9.8 511.6 ± 10.9 9.10 ± 0.29
16 +1 +1 +1 +1 −1 22.38 ± 0.38 8.94 ± 0.21 2.01 ± 0.03 616.2 ± 11.6 497.2 ± 5.2 7.03 ± 1.39
17 −1 −1 −1 −1 +1 14.89 ± 0.39 7.21 ± 0.10 0.00 673.0 ± 9.2 550.0 ± 2.5 47.33 ± 9.53
18 +1 −1 −1 −1 +1 16.58 ± 0.39 8.21 ± 0.31 0.34 ± 0.08 660.1 ± 4.9 545.0 ± 8.2 14.81 ± 0.11
19 −1 +1 −1 −1 +1 14.94 ± 0.91 7.53 ± 0.43 0.00 663.4 ± 6.0 546.1 ± 4.6 51.90 ± 0.67
20 +1 +1 −1 −1 +1 15.82 ± 0.48 8.46 ± 0.14 0.33 ± 0.05 654.6 ± 5.3 543.3 ± 6.3 13.40 ± 3.45
21 −1 −1 +1 −1 +1 16.01 ± 0.71 8.25 ± 0.09 0.61 ± 0.13 673.3 ± 8.2 549.1 ± 12.7 42.80 ± 4.36
22 +1 −1 +1 −1 +1 18.23 ± 0.12 8.61 ± 0.30 0.75 ± 0.09 645.0 ± 3.6 533.2 ± 2.2 9.34 ± 0.60
23 −1 +1 +1 −1 +1 16.76 ± 0.55 8.29 ± 0.10 0.65 ± 0.08 660.0 ± 10.0 544.8 ± 5.7 20.42 ± 2.33
24 +1 +1 +1 −1 +1 20.16 ± 0.28 8.61 ± 0.30 0.83 ± 0.05 645.8 ± 11.4 530.0 ± 9.6 16.69 ± 5.89
25 −1 −1 −1 +1 +1 14.37 ± 0.31 7.65 ± 0.07 0.00 664.0 ± 7.8 552.0 ± 7.5 25.43 ± 3.46
26 +1 −1 −1 +1 +1 15.74 ± 0.21 8.55 ± 0.06 0.49 ± 0.13 652.2 ± 10.4 528.4 ± 9.2 21.14 ± 0.92
27 −1 +1 −1 +1 +1 14.10 ± 0.35 7.83 ± 0.19 0.00 666.0 ± 6.1 549.0 ± 2.0 18.17 ± 5.61
28 +1 +1 −1 +1 +1 15.72 ± 0.23 8.65 ± 0.13 0.50 ± 0.15 640.6 ± 0.36 526.9 ± 2.0 14.64 ± 2.37
29 −1 −1 +1 +1 +1 14.35 ± 0.27 8.19 ± 0.19 0.56 ± 0.11 659.0 ± 11.3 537.0 ± 13.4 35.04 ± 3.33
30 +1 −1 +1 +1 +1 16.81 ± 0.15 8.26 ± 0.06 1.04 ± 0.05 655.5 ± 3.9 532.5 ± 4.1 20.57 ± 11.3
31 −1 +1 +1 +1 +1 15.37 ± 0.25 8.32 ± 0.15 0.62 ± 0.03 661.0 ± 6.6 536.5 ± 8.9 35.22 ± 6.13
32 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 17.06 ± 0.62 8.26 ± 0.18 1.15 ± 0.17 648.0 ± 9.3 528.0 ± 5.8 22.19 ± 2.55
33 −2.3784 0 0 0 0 15.55 ± 0.46 7.85 ± 0.16 0.70 ± 0.06 713.5 ± 13.9 570.0 ± 10.3 53.30 ± 3.84
34 +2.3784 0 0 0 0 19.75 ± 0.69 8.90 ± 0.17 1.60 ± 0.08 637.6 ± 10.6 511.7 ± 12.6 20.76 ± 0.50
35 0 −2.3784 0 0 0 15.00 ± 0.50 8.00 ± 0.12 1.00 ± 0.18 696.0 ± 16.5 552.0 ± 12.1 57.0 ± 5.06
36 0 +2.3784 0 0 0 18.98 ± 0.52 8.52 ± 0.11 1.52 ± 0.11 638.0 ± 5.3 522.3 ± 10.2 18.84 ± 4.91
37 0 0 −2.3784 0 0 13.20 ± 0.92 8.10 ± 0.50 0.65 ± 0.08 727.0 ± 15.2 557.5 ± 12.2 15.60 ± 2.16
38 0 0 +2.3784 0 0 19.90 ± 1.30 8.80 ± 0.53 1.60 ± 0.11 632.6 ± 14.7 517.0 ± 13.0 12.00 ± 2.23
39 0 0 0 −2.3784 0 20.64 ± 0.17 8.44 ± 0.09 0.64 ± 0.08 618.4 ± 2.7 508.9 ± 9.1 8.29 ± 0.40
40 0 0 0 +2.3784 0 17.30 ± 0.35 7.70 ± 0.26 1.09 ± 0.10 657.2 ± 11.7 533.2 ± 2.5 14.28 ± 2.14
41 0 0 0 0 −2.3784 27.51 ± 0.61 7.13 ± 0.04 2.74 ± 0.11 614.8 ± 3.0 490.2 ± 1.5 8.69 ± 0.63
42 0 0 0 0 +2.3784 14.00 ± 0.59 7.20 ± 0.25 0.00 665.1 ± 7.0 540.6 ± 3.2 27.51 ± 1.94
43 0 0 0 0 0 18.63 ± 0.61 8.38 ± 0.19 0.91 ± 0.06 648.4 ± 8.0 527.8 ± 6.7 13.59 ± 3.20
44 0 0 0 0 0 18.73 ± 0.72 8.36 ± 0.19 0.97 ± 0.05 656.0 ± 9.3 532.5 ± 5.7 17.73 ± 4.53
45 0 0 0 0 0 17.45 ± 0.26 8.32 ± 0.11 0.90 ± 0.06 640.9 ± 11.2 516.9 ± 12.4 15.28 ± 4.85
46 0 0 0 0 0 19.50 ± 0.94 8.44 ± 0.12 0.77 ± 0.17 650.3 ± 8.4 522.3 ± 11.0 10.48 ± 2.32
47 0 0 0 0 0 18.62 ± 0.61 8.35 ± 0.19 0.91 ± 0.06 648.4 ± 8.0 527.8 ± 6.7 13.61 ± 3.33
48 0 0 0 0 0 19.18 ± 0.67 8.27 ± 0.29 0.96 ± 0.05 640.5 ± 7.4 521.9 ± 4.1 9.56 ± 1.29
49 0 0 0 0 0 17.88 ± 0.35 8.33 ± 0.29 0.88 ± 0.11 664.5 ± 12.7 543.0 ± 13.5 12.82 ± 3.99
50 0 0 0 0 0 19.05 ± 0.71 8.42 ± 0.10 0.99 ± 0.20 638.3 ± 8.6 530.0 ± 7.6 15.65 ± 4.56
51 +1.5582 −1.3922 +1.5756 +1.775 +0.5075 20.09 ± 0.34 9.06 ± 0.07 1.59 ± 0.09 660.2 ± 2.0 524.3 ± 4.0 9.80 ± 3.40
52 +1.5582 −1.3922 +1.5756 +0.410 +0.5075 20.26 ± 0.37 8.94 ± 0.14 1.47 ± 0.10 658.1 ± 7.8 532.1 ± 8.3 10.67 ± 2.10
53 +1.5582 −1.3922 +1.5756 −1.832 +0.5075 21.89 ± 0.42 8.92 ± 0.22 1.36 ± 0.07 643.2 ± 12.3 522.1 ± 18.2 6.08 ± 0.64
54 +0.4921 −1.3922 +1.5756 +1.775 +0.5075 19.82 ± 0.70 8.55 ± 0.18 1.27 ± 0.02 661.8 ± 12.3 523.9 ± 10.6 10.28 ± 1.30
55 −0.4921 −1.3922 +1.5756 +1.775 +0.5075 17.07 ± 0.56 8.49 ± 0.05 0.89 ± 0.14 671.4 ± 11.2 508.0 ± 13.7 15.70 ± 10.7
56 +0.4921 −1.3922 +1.5756 +1.775 −0.5075 21.78 ± 0.37 9.54 ± 0.16 1.62 ± 0.07 634.0 ± 11.0 512.5 ± 11.1 8.14 ± 1.0
57 +0.4921 −1.3922 +1.5756 +1.775 −1.6956 25.22 ± 0.17 8.14 ± 0.06 2.44 ± 0.26 612.0 ± 17.9 482.6 ± 9.2 7.27 ± 1.88

Set nos. 51–57 are used only for the validation of the response surface based models.
2050 D.V. Kiran et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 212 (2012) 2041–2050
model (Montgomery et al., 2006). The adjusted coefficient of deter-
2 ) corresponding to Eqs. (4)–(6) are calculated as 0.94,
mination (Radj
0.72 and 0.97, respectively. Thus, it can be envisaged that Eq. (4)
is able to capture 94% of the variation in the measured values of
weld width as function of the five independent welding conditions
within the ranges considered in the present study. Similarly, the
2 ) corresponding to Eqs.
adjusted coefficient of determination (Radj
(7)–(9) are estimated as 0.60, 0.69 and 0.67, respectively.
Although the compound influence of the welding conditions
in two-wire SAW-T process on the weld bead quality has been
reported in recent literature (Farhat, 2007; Moeinifar et al., 2011;
Pilipenko, 2001; Shen et al., 2012; Viano et al., 2000), a details
quantitative effects of the individual process parameters on weld
dimensions and mechanical properties are currently not available.
The novelty of the present work is the detailed quantitative inves-
tigation of the effects of the key welding variables on the final weld
bead quality in typical two-wire DC-AC SAW-T, which is critical for
the successful application of the tandem welding process.
4. Conclusions
The present work has reported a detailed experimental study
on single-pass two-wire tandem submerged arc welding process
of a typical HSLA steel plate of 12 mm thickness. In particular, the
quantitative effects of the trailing wire current pulses and neg-
ative current pulse duration, leading wire current, and welding
speed on the weld bead dimensions and mechanical properties
are studied at fifty different sets of welding conditions that are
designed following the principle of two-level, five factor central
composite rotatable design. The experimental results show that
the final weld bead width and reinforcement height are primar-
ily influenced by the trailing wire current while the penetration
is influenced by the leading wire current with the other condi-
tions remaining constant. Increase in trailing wire current pulses
enhance the weld pool size that tends to reduce the cooling rate,
inhibit acicular ferrite phases in weld microstructure and result in
poor mechanical properties. In contrast, increase in welding speed
tends to reduce weld pool size leading to higher cooling rate that
encourages greater volume fraction of acicular ferrite phase and
better weld bead mechanical properties. The predictions of weld
dimensions and mechanical properties from the empirical rela-
tions, which are developed based on the experimental results, are
in fair agreement with the corresponding measured values within
the ranges of the welding conditions considered in this work.
Acknowledgment
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial sup-
port provided by the Government of India (grant no.
NMRL/PP&C/1207/MISC) to carry out the present research work.
Appendix A.
See Table A1.
[2 × ILE − (590 + 300)]
X1 = 2.3784 × ; (A1)
590 − 300
+
[2 × ITR − (401 + 319)]
X2 = 2.3784 × (A2)
401 − 319
−
[2 × ITR − (958 + 401)]
X3 = 2.3784 × ; (A3)
958 − 401
−
[2 × tTR − (12.53 + 8.35)]
X4 = 2.3784 × (A4)
12.53 − 8.35
[2 × v − (17.45 + 7.0)]
X5 = 2.3784 × (A5)
17.45 − 7.0
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