World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Chemical, Molecular, Nuclear, Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Vol:10, No:4, 2016
Characterization of Metallurgical and Mechanical
Properties of the Welded AISI 304L Using Pulsed
and Non-Pulsed Current TIG Welding
A. A. Ugla
  maintain a stable arc [5]. By contrast, in CCTW, the heat
Abstract—The present paper aims to investigate the effects of the
welding process parameters and cooling state on the weld bead
geometry, mechanical properties and microstructure characteristics
International Science Index, Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Vol:10, No:4, 2016 waset.org/Publication/10004892
for weldments of AISI 304L stainless steel. The welding process was
carried out using TIG welding with pulsed/non-pulsed current
techniques. The cooling state was introduced as an input parameter to
investigate the main effects on the structure morphology and thereby
the mechanical property. This paper clarifies microstructure-
mechanical property relationship of the welded specimens. In this
work, the selected pulse frequency levels were 5-500 Hz in order to
study the effect of low and high frequencies on the weldment
characteristics using filler metal of ER 308LSi. The key findings of
this work clarified that the pulse frequency has a significant effect on
the breaking of the dendrite arms during the welding process and so
strongly influences on the tensile strength and microhardness. The
cooling state also significantly affects on the microstructure texture
and thereby, the mechanical properties. The most important factor
affects the bead geometry and aspect ratio is the travel speed and
pulse frequency.
Keywords—Microstructure, mechanical properties, pulse
frequency, high pulse frequency, austenitic stainless steel, TIG
welding.
I. INTRODUCTION
T HE austenitic stainless steels (ASS) are probably the most
commonly used material of all the stainless steels
especially the 300 series. AISI 304L is an important grade of
the ASS, which is commonly used in many of important
industries such as containers of transporting chemicals, oil
refinery, nuclear reactor tanks, dairy industries, and textile
industries [1]. Tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding is the most
widely used process for joining the stainless steel components
[2]. It is very suitable for thin sheets due to its easier
applicability, flexibility, and better economy [3]. The
improving in the weld quality depends on the improvement in
process parameters which requires the use of improved
welding techniques and materials. Pulsed current TIG welding
(PCTW) is a variation of continuous current TIG welding
(CCTW) where involves cycling the welding current at a
given regular frequency from a high level to low level [4]. In
PCTW process, the peak current (Ip) is selected to melt the
filler and base metal and to generate adequate penetration,
whereas the base current (Ib) is set at a level sufficient to
A. A. Ugla, Assistant Professor, is with the Department of Mechanical
Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Thi-Qar, Al-Nasiriyah,
Iraq (phone: +9647801324058; fax: +903423601104; e-mail: adnanugla76@
gmail.com).
International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 10(4) 2016
required to melt the filler and base metals is supplied only
during Ip pulses allowing the heat to dissipate into the base
material [6]. PCTW has various good aspects over CCTW
process, such as arc stability,  reducing the amount of heat
input, and reducing the residual stresses of stainless steel
welded parts [7], [8]. Ramkumar et al. [9] used the pulsed and
conventional TIG welding to study the weldability of AISI
904L stainless steel. They demonstrated that the PCTW
generally offers better tensile properties as compared to
CCTW weldments. Prasad et al. [10] used pulsed current in
micro plasma arc welding process to study the quality of
different types of stainless steels. They concluded that the
AISI 304L achieved better quality characteristics compared to
AISI 316L, AISI 316Ti, and AISI 321. Dinesh Kumar et al.
[11] used Taguchi method to analyze and optimize the process
parameters for pulsed TIG welding process of AISI 304L
stainless steels. They showed that travel speed and current are
the most important parameters which affect the response
variables.
From the literature review, it was observed that there is a
huge need for improving the quality of the ASS sheet
weldments, which are used for various applications such as
pressure vessels, automobile and aerospace industries. It
seems worthwhile to select the most suitable welding
parametric combination that would be able to create
microstructural changes and weld bead characteristics and
thereby improving the mechanical performance weld quality.
The present paper highlights an experimental comparative
study carried out to describe in detail the effects of pulse
frequency and continuous water cooling system on the weld
area (HAZ and bead width), depth of penetration and finding
the optimal aspect ratios. Furthermore, microstructural aspects
of the HAZ and weld metal and mechanical properties such as
tensile strength and Vickers's micro-hardness of TIG
weldments using AISI 304L ASS were investigated and
correlated to the effects of process parameters on the
microstructure of the weldments of CCTW and PCTW in low
and high frequencies.
II. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
A. Material and Welding Procedure
In this work, a 3.8 mm thick of AISI 304L stainless steel
sheets have been welded by TIG technique. The filler metal
selected for welding was ER 308LSi stainless steel solid wire
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wiith a diameterr of 0.8 mm. Suggested shielding gas wass argon
wiith 99.90% puurity with 12 l/min. 304L stainless steell plate
annd the filler m
metal were cheemically analyyzed, and the rresults
off the analysis were listed inn Table I. Plaates were cutt using
poower hacksaw w cutting m machine. Foor bead on plate
exxperiments, reequired plate ddimensions w were 100 mm x 200
m
mm whereas foor square butt jjoint configurration requiredd plate
dimensions werre 100 mm x 50 mm. Prrepared platess were
joined by CCT TIG and PCTIIG processes using modernn TIG
weelding machinne, which cann operate in diifferent modes such
ass conventionall TIG weldingg and pulsed cuurrent TIG weelding.
Prrepared specim mens were joined with/withhout filler mettal and
wiith/without ussing a cooling system. Traavel speed annd arc
lenngth were conntrolled using CNC machinee, whereas wirre feed
raate controlled uusing external wire feed maachine. In the ccase of
International Science Index, Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Vol:10, No:4, 2016 waset.org/Publication/10004892
andd so resulting iinto sound quaality welded jooints. Some oof the
proccess parametters were kept k as connstant during all
experiments suchh as welding ccurrent of 1755 A, peak tim me of
50%%, backgroundd current of 877.5 A, arc lenggth of 4 mm, stick
out of 15 mm, aand the anglee enclosed bettween the feeeding
wiree and surface of the plates (feed angle) w was kept at ᵒ40. In
this study, fourr process pparameters w were selected for
inveestigating thee effects of process paraameters on bead
geometry and m mechanical perrformance. Thhe range of each
proccess parameteer levels was selected based on trial weldss and
proccess parameteers such as travvel speed (TSS), wire feed speed
(WF FS), pulse freqquency (F), annd introducingg the cooling state
(Cs)) as a new facctor. Thus, the sets of processs parameters used
for investigating the effects oon the aspect ratio (AR = bead
widdth/depth of peenetration), microstructure
m ccharacteristicss and

ussing the coolinng system, 3044L plates weree placed on a ccopper mecchanical propeerties are summ marized in Tabble II.
baacking plate aas shown in F Fig. 1. The coopper backingg plate
coontains internaal passages, wwhich were m machined by ddrilling
the plate to prooduce water ppassages in a similar way to the
heeat exchangerr. The water interred to the passagess with
temmperature aboout 20 °C to increase the cooling rate of the
m
molten metal. T The temperatture was meaasured by placcing a
thermocouple nnear the fusionn line of the w welding (see FFig. 1).
Tyype K thermoocouple is the most suitablee one for meaasuring
the temperaturre during thhe welding pprocess [12]. The
temmperature reaadings were m measured using an industriaal data
logger, which records
r the teemperature at an interval oof one
seecond. The pullsed current mmode used in thhis welding maachine
is shown in Figg. 2. A number of trial runs were carried out in
Fig.. 1 TIG weldingg experimental setup
s
orrder to fix thhe process paarameters lim mits and to prroduce
saamples with ann adequate fuusion of the baase metal withh filler
TABLE I
THE CHEMICALL COMPOSITION O
OF THE BASE AND THE FILLER MAT
TERIALS (IN WT. %
%)
Elem
ment %C %Si %Mn %S %P %Mo %N Ni %Cr % Fe Others
SS304 actual composition 0.015 0.528 1.011 00.0107 0.02 0.053 8.2002 18.164 R
Rem. V=0.10,, Cu=0.031, Ti =00.01
ER
R308LSi as deposited compositionn 0.018 0.556 1.358 00.0331 0.033 0.115 9.412 19.557 R
Rem. Co=0.941; Cu= 0.181, Ti=00.057

TABLE II
WELDING CONDITIONS USED
D FOR PREPARING
G TESTS SPECIMEN
NS OF BUTT JOINT
T WELDMENTS AN
ND RESPONSES
Input faactors Responsee signs
Exp Weldinng
No. processs F
Frequency Asspect S/N Cooling raate Heat input H
Hi
Cs TS (mm/s) W
WFS (m/min) Peak temperaturre ᵒC ᵒ
F (Hz) ratioo (W/P) ratio C/sec J/mm
1 CC TW W *0 1 0 0 44.47 -13 1046.45 7.12 1815.6
2 CC TW W **1 3 2 0 55.55 -14.9 1044 29 605.2
3 LF-PCT TW **1 2 0 5 22.83 -9.03 829 24 681
4 LF-PCT TW *0 3 4 5 77.33 -17.3 1028 13.23 454
5 HF-PCT TW **1 1 4 500 2
2.6 -8.3 919 13.6 1361.7
6 HF-PCT TW *0 2 2 500 33.29 -10.3 986.5 8 681
*Without coolinng system; ** Withh continuous water cooling system
m

B. Weld Beadd/Aspect Ratioo Characteristiics
The weld beead profiles oof all specimeens were meaasured
caarefully and thhe observed vaalues for beadd width and deepth of
peenetration werre used to calcculate the AR R and correspoonding
S//N ratios as summarized in Table II. The term “ssignal”
reppresents the ddesirable meann value, and thhe “noise” reprresents
the undesirablee value. Hencce, the S/N rratio represennts the
ammount of variiation. S/N iss the perform mance characteeristics
haaving three typpes such as (11) higher the better,
b (2) low
wer the
bettter, and (3) nnominal the bbetter. In the current work, the
weld bead characcteristics such as depth of thhe penetrationn and
beadd width of thee tested weld sspecimens werre identified aas the
respponse. The deepth of penetrration is consiidered as requuired
signn and bead w width is considered as an undesirable sign,
therrefore, the asppect ratio (W//P) is considerred as smallerr the
bettter (SB) is used for minim mizing the asspect ratio off the
welded parts. Thee smaller the better
b performaance is expresssed
S/NSB= -100 log {(y12 + y22 + y32 …yyn2)/n} (1)

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whhere n is the nnumber of repeetition of output response inn the at tthe center of weld metal using Vickerss’s microharddness
saame trial and y is the response. testiing machine. A standard tesst load 300 gr for a dwell peeriod
of 115 seconds waas used with regular intervval distance off 0.5
C. Metallurgiical and Mechhanical Characcteristics
mmm.
The microstrructure evolutiion in the CC CSMD and PC CSMD
prrocesses was extensively investigated in this studdy for
unnderstanding the differennce in the morphologyy and
m
microstructure in both proccesses. Opticaal microscopyy was
ussed to obtain tthe microphotoographs. Crosss-section speccimens
weere prepared for metalloggraphic tests using the staandard
prrocedures repoorted in the litterature [13]. All specimenss were
eleectro-etched uusing 10gr oxxalic acid wiith 100 ml diistilled
waater at 9 V forr 30-60 S.
Transverse tensile tests were
w carried out on the subsize
shheet specimenns prepared according tto ASTM: E E8/8M
International Science Index, Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Vol:10, No:4, 2016 waset.org/Publication/10004892

staandard [14] w with a gauge length of 255 mm, and a cross-

seection of 6.25x3.8 mm2 (seee Fig. 3). Teests were perfformed
ussing a testing m
machine with a displacemennt rate of 1 mm m.min-
1
. Three experiments weree performed and averageed for
asssessing the ultimate teensile strengtth (UTS) oof the
weeldments. Miicrohardness studies
s were carried out oon the
crross-section off the weldmennts. The measuurements weree taken
Fig. 2 (a) Weldinng machine screeen when it is seetup on the pulssed
currrent state and (bb) Schematic diiagram of a stanndard pulse currrent-
tim
me waveform inn the present PC C-TW process; Ip: peak Currentt (5-
2550 A); Ib: backgground current ((5-95% of the Ip); tp: peak curreent
duraation (ms); tb: bbase current duraation (ms); LF: low frequency (0.2-
1000 Hz); HF: high frequency (5000-2500 Hz); On--line pulse (5-95 %)

(a) (b)
F
Fig. 3 Standardd tensile specimeens (a) Sub-sizee specimen; (b) Real tension test specimens prrepared accordinng to ASTM E88/8M standard [14]

IIII. RESULTS AND DISCUSSSIONS
A. S/N Ratioss of Aspect Ratio
R Analysiss and Main E Effects
Pllot
The heat affeected zone (HA AZ) decreasess the strength of the
weelded parts annd reduce the efficiency of tthe joints due to the
m
metallurgical changes at thiis region such as grain grrowth.
Most of the tensile test specimens arre failed at HAZ.
M It iss concluded tthat the TS of o 2 mm/s, no
Thherefore, HAZ Z should be rreduced to a minimum
m as ccan as
poossible by reducing the ccooling time (using the cooling
syystem) or usingg pulse currennt welding metthod. Fig. 4 prresents
the weld area ((HAZ + bead width) of thee welded speccimens
ussing conventioonal and PCT TW techniquess. It is obviouus that
wiith high frequuency (exp. 6) 6 the weldedd area signifiicantly
reduces and hennce weldment efficiency impproves.
Various aspect ratios of bead width and depth of penettration
weere calculatedd experimentallly for all expeeriments as lissted in
Tabble II. The maiin effects plotss for the S/N rratios are show
wn in
Fig.. 5, which shows
s that tthe S/N valuues increase with
incrreasing the coooling rate, F and also TS from 1 mm/s to 2
mmm/s. On anotheer hand, S/N values
v decreasse with increaasing
the WFS, and witth increasing T TS from 2 mm m/s to 3 mm/s.. The
optiimal processs parameters have beenn established by
anallyzing response curves of S S/N ratio as shhown in Tablee III.
n filler wire,, the
freqquency of 500 Hz and coontinuous watter Cs) givess the
optiimal aspect rattio.
B
B. Microstructuure Characterristics
F
From the aforeementioned ressults in Table II, the heatingg and
cooling curves foor all experimments are show wn in Fig. 6. The
peakk temperature values are lissted in Table III. The coolingg rate
wass calculated foor temperature drop from peaak to 300 ᵒC.

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International Journal of Chemical, Molecular, Nuclear, Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Vol:10, No:4, 2016
International Science Index, Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Vol:10, No:4, 2016 waset.org/Publication/10004892

Figg. 4 Macrograpphs of AISI 304L

L joints illustratte (a) Top view of the bead proofile and (b) Crooss-section view
ws of the etchedd specimens shoowing
thhe amounts of bbead width and depth
d of penetraation

Cs TS

-10 TABBLE III

-12
OPTIMIZED PARAMETERS FORR LOWER ASPECT
T RATIO (AR)
S. Perceent
Factor Leveel Vaalue Rank
Mean of SN ratio

-14
No contribbution
-16 Continuous water
1 Cs 2 3 19 %
0 1 1 2 3 coolingg system
WFS F
2 TS 2 2 mm/s
m 1 47 %
-10
3 WFS 1 No filller wire 4 0.3 %
-12
4 F 3 5000 Hz 2 25 %
-14

-16
0 2 4 0 5 500

F
Fig. 5 Effects off main factors oon S/N ratio of tthe aspect ratio oof the
weld beead geometry

Fig. 6 Thee heating and coooling curves

From the miccrostructure reesults, it is clear that two diffferent variiation of δ-ferrrite morpholoogy in weld zzone with Css and
kinnds of delta-fferrite (δ-ferriite), namely laathy and skeleetal δ- otheer parameters in CCTW prrocess of experiments 1 annd 2.
ferrrite are form
med in the ausstenitic matrixx. Fig. 7 show ws the Expperiment 1 sshows the m microstructure of a speciimen

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prrepared withouut using the copper strip aand without aadding
filller metal, whhereas experim ment 2 shows the effects off using
the continuous water coolinng system andd with addingg filler
metal. Fig. 7 ((a) depicts grreater skeletall and vermicuular δ-
m becaause the tempperature gradiient is high, the crystallizaation
ferrrite with highh grain size, annd Fig. 7 (b) reveals
r that thee grain
sizze generally was
w finer and a higher conccentration of tootal δ-
ferrrite content compared
c to exxperiment 1 (FFig. 7 (a)).
Figs. 8 (a)-(c) show the basse metal (BM)), HAZ, fusionn zone
(F
FZ), and weldd metal (WM) of CCTW, low-frequenccy LF-
PCCTW, and high-frequeency HF-PCTW welddments
respectively. It is obvious tthat all welddments consistt of a
coolumnar denddritic structuree with a verttical fusion liine. It
indicates that ggrowth takes places
p along tthe direction of the
m
maximum tempperature gradieent. From Fig. 8 (c), it can bbe seen
that the high ccooling rate associated w with PCTW pprocess
International Science Index, Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Vol:10, No:4, 2016 waset.org/Publication/10004892
results in a narrrow HAZ as comparing to CCTW C process (Fig.
8 (a)). Figs. 8 ((d)-(f) give thee microstructuures of the intterface
F
Fig. 7 CCTW (a)) exp. 1 (TS 1m
mm/s, WFS 0, noo cooling systemm), and (b) exp.. 2 (TS 3 mm/s,, WFS 4 m/min,, continuous waater cooling systtem)
Existing of loong dendrites arrms and continuuous network off residual ferritee
The changes in microstruccture associateed with the aamount
off heat input to weld pooll during the deposition pprocess
acccording to (2)) [15]:
Hi ƞI
mm
m
whhere Hi is thee heat input peer unit length; ƞ is arc efficciency
(aassumed to be 0.83) for TIGG welding [12], Vav: the averrage of
the instantaneoous arc voltagee.
In PCSMD pprocess, the heeat input can be calculatedd using
(22) but here thhe welding cuurrent is Iav ass shown in (3)) [16],
[17] and the avverage peak current
c for puulsed current ccan be
caalculated usingg (4) [18]:
Hi ƞIav
Iav. (A) (4)
whhere Iav the avverage current for pulse currrent TIG weldding, tp
is the peak timee (s) and tb is tthe base curreent duration (ss), Ip is
the peak currentt and Ib is the bbase current.
International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 10(4) 2016
betwween HAZ annd FZ for CCT TW, LF-PCTW W, and HF-PC CTW
weldments withouut using waterr Cs (Cs =0). It is noted thaat the
graiins in HAZ near fusion boundary arre coarse. In FZ,
ratee is small (low
w grain growtth rate). For CCTW
C weldmment,
the low cooling rrate leads to ggrain growth ata the HAZ (F Fig. 8
(d))) whereas forr the PCTW weldment, F has a signifi ficant
effeect on the soliidified weld ppool and so less grain grow wth is
apparent in the HHAZ than in BM M region (see Fig. 8 (f)). Fiigs. 8
(g)--(i) show the mmicrostructuree of the centraal zone of WM M for
the CCTW, LF-P PCTW, and HE E-PCTW resppectively. Fig. 8 (i)
show ws that the pulsed
p currentt with high fr
frequency tendds to
prodduce a smaller grain size annd a more reffined solidificaation
thann the continuoous current weelding methodd (Fig. 8 (g)). This
miccrostructural ddifference willl be reflectedd in the diffe ferent
mecchanical behavvior of the threee weldment ttypes.
T
The amount off δ-ferrite exiists in WM depends on sevveral
facttors, the most significant faactors are chem mical compossition
of tthe filler and BM, weldingg procedure, and a the amounnt of
heatt input to the melting
m pool dduring the wellding process [19].
(2) Furtthermore, the process of raapid solidificaation with a hhigh-
tem
mperature graadient, it iss beneficial to obtain fine
miccrostructure. L Low heat inpuut to the weldd zone may resultr
fromm high TS, uusing the conttinuous coolinng system, annd/or
usinng high F. Higgh frequency leads to break the dendritic arms
of tthe ASS and produces uniform structure (see Fig. 8 (i)).
Mouurad et al. [20] demonsstrated that rresidual ferritte is
stroongly influencced by the heaat input. At high
h cooling rrates,
whiich result from m the pulsedd current proccess, high TS S, or
continuous waterr cooling sysstem the trannsformation of o δ-
(3) ferrrite to austeniite is suppressed and highher residual feerrite
content in the weelding metal iis expected ass shown in Figgs. 8
(h), (i). Fig. 9 desscribes the effe
fects of high-frrequency (5000 Hz)
of the
t pulsed cuurrent on coluumnar grains as comparinng to
conventional currrent process. IIt is obvious thhat F significaantly
affeects the dendrrites arms of the solidifiedd structure at WM
andd hence it influuences the tenssile properties welded parts.
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C. Mechanicaal Test Resultss Fig.. 4. Fig. 11 shows that the frequency

The tensile ttest results arre summarizeed in Fig. 100. It is
obbvious that thee highest UTS S was achieveed at high freqquency
(500 Hz) and coontinuous wateer cooling connditions (experriment
5)), also high U
UTS was obtaiined at low frrequency (5Hzz) and
coontinuous watter cooling staate (experimeent 3). UTS iis also
mproved usingg the continuoous water coooling system in the
im
CCCTW process (experiment 22). From Fig. 10, the lowesst UTS
occcurred in the specimens weere prepared using a set of pprocess
paarameters in eexperiments 4 (see Table III). The deteriooration
off UTS was attributed
a to iinsufficient hheat input whhich is
neecessary for mmelting the fiiller and basee metals durinng the
weelding processs and so leads to incompletee fusion as shoown in
International Science Index, Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Vol:10, No:4, 2016 waset.org/Publication/10004892
f is thhe most signifi
ficant
facttor influencess the microhhardness since it significaantly
affeects the grain size through breaking thee dendrite arm ms as
well as the amouunt of δ-ferritee is relatively higher (see F Fig. 8
(i)).. From the Figg. 11, it is obvvious that the cooling conddition
alsoo significantlyy effects onn the microhhardness, sincce it
incrreases the coolling rate and ccreates a fine sstructure with high
residual δ-ferrite content (see F Fig. 7), whichh leads to incrrease
the hardness of tthe weldmentts. The highest tensile streength
achiieved during tthis research iis 765.8 MPa at a frequenccy of
5000 Hz and usingg the continuoous water coolling system. WhileW
highhest hardness obtained is 3008 HV at a freequency of 500 Hz
andd using the conntinuous waterr cooling systeem.

F
Fig. 8 Optical m
microstructures oof (a) CCTW; (bb) LF-PCTW; (cc) HF-PCTW; ((d) WM of CCT
TW; (e) WM off LF-PCTW; (f) WM of HF-PC
CTW

F 9 Micrograpphs of the effects of frequency on the dendriticc arms (a) contiinuous current ((experiment 1) and
Fig. a (b) pulsed ccurrent (experim
ment
5)

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775
reached to 308 HV in weld zone, also achieved at high
750 frequency and continuous water cooling system.
5. From the microstructure analysis, there is no evidence of
Mean of UTS ( MPa)

725

700
any sensitization of the welded parts can be seen for all
weldments (CCTW and PCTW) also no other defects can
675 F
0
be observed.
650 5
500
625 ----- B.M. REFERENCES
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310 [3] J. Mao, W. LÜ, L. Wang, D. Zhang, J. Qin, “Microstructure and
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