Effects of welding parameters on tensile

strength of weld metal in flux cored arc

welding
K.-S. Bang*1, D.-H. Jung1, C. Park1 and W.-S. Chang2
Effects of welding parameters such as welding current, voltage and travel speed on the tensile
strength of weld metal in flux cored arc welding were studied. The results were interpreted in
terms of chemical composition and microstructural change in the weld metal. When heat input
was increased to 2?1 kJ mm21 by increasing welding current, the tensile strength of the weld
metal increased. However, the tensile strength of the weld metal decreased when heat input was
increased from 2?1 to 4?5 kJ mm21 by reducing travel speed or by increasing voltage. It showed
that when heat input is higher than 2?1 kJ mm21 the decrease in tensile strength was related with
the microstructural change. However, when heat input is lower than 2?1 kJ mm21 the increase in
tensile strength was hardly related with the microstructural change. As Pcm value in the weld
metal increases in the heat input up to 2?1 kJ mm21, it is believed that Pcm value has more
powerful effect than microstructure in the heat input range. It showed that variation of the welding
parameter resulted in different recoveries of the alloying elements in the wire. The recoveries
increased with an increase in welding current and/or travel speed, but they decreased with an
increase in voltage. The effects of welding parameters on the recoveries were rationalised with the
time available for the reaction with oxygen during welding.
Keywords: Weld metal, Welding parameter, Tensile strength, Chemical composition, Recovery

Introduction A range of heat input was achieved by varying travel

The flux cored arc welding of high strength steels has
gained significant importance during the past 10 years.
In addition to the work1 on metal transfer during
welding, various research works on mechanical proper-
ties2–4 and microstructure5,6 of weld metal have been
conducted. Regarding to the tensile properties of weld
metal, de Rissone et al.7 reported that lower tensile and
yield strength were obtained when using CO2 shielding
gas or depositing two passes per layer. In general, as
heat input increases and cooling rate becomes slower,
soft microstructural constituent such as grain boundary
ferrite in weld metal forms more and thus tensile
strength of weld metal decreases.8,9 In addition to
microstructures, as chemical composition of weld metal
influences tensile strength of weld metal, it is very
important to clarify the effect of heat input on the
chemical composition of weld metal. Evans10 investi-
gated the effect of heat input on the microstructure and
chemical composition of C–Mn all weld metal deposit.
1
Division of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering, Pukyong
National University, Busan 608-739, Korea
2
Welding Research Center, Research Institute of Industrial Science and
Technology, Pohang 790-330, Korea
*Corresponding author, email ksbang@pknu.ac.kr
speed in manual metal arc welding. It was found that the
contents of carbon, manganese and silicon in weld metal
were reduced and the amount of grain boundary ferrite
increased at the expense of acicular ferrite when heat
input was increased from 0?6 to 4?3 kJ mm21. As a
result, tensile strength of weld metal decreased substan-
tially. Vercesi and Surian11,12 studied the effect of heat
input on the mechanical properties of all weld metal
deposits made by E 11018-M electrode. The heat input
was varied by increasing current and voltage. They
concluded that as heat input increased, tensile and yield
strength decreased because of the loss of manganese and
silicon, as well as the softening of the microstructure. de
Rissone et al.13 also studied the effects of heat input on
the all weld metal microstructure and mechanical
properties by varying current, voltage and travel speed,
simultaneously. They concluded, however, that no
influence of heat input was observed on the chemical
composition, but the carbon, manganese, and silicon
contents were somewhat lower in the welds obtained in
flat welding position than in uphill position.
Heat input is controlled by three welding parameters:
welding current, voltage and travel speed. In most
research works including above mentioned works,11–13
the parameters were varied simultaneously to change
heat input. Little has been attempted to evaluate the

ß 2008 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining

Published by Maney on behalf of the Institute
Received 23 October 2007; accepted 17 September 2007
DOI 10.1179/174329307X249397 Science and Technology of Welding and Joining 2008 VOL 13 NO 6 509
 Bang et al. Effects of welding parameters on tensile strength of weld metal in flux cored arc welding

effect of each welding parameter separately. The
objective of present study was to establish the effect of
each welding parameter on the chemical composition
and tensile properties of weld metal in flux cored arc
welding.
Experimental
Two AWS E80T1-Ni1 flux cored wires (1?4 mm
diameter) were used to get multipass weld metals by
100%CO2 gas metal arc welding. Chemical compositions
of wires determined by inductively coupled plasma
emission spectrometry are given in Table 1. Wire no. 1
was used to evaluate the overall effect of heat input on
the tensile properties of weld metal, while wire no. 2 was
used to evaluate the effect of each welding parameter
separately. Detailed welding conditions and joint con-
figuration are shown in Table 2. Conditions 1–4 were
used for wire no. 1. Note that all three welding
parameters were varied simultaneously to get heat
inputs from 2 to 4?6 kJ mm21. Conditions 5–12 were
used for wire no. 2 to get heat input from 1?4 to
4?5 kJ mm21. In contrast with conditions 1–4, only one
welding parameter was varied while maintaining the two
others as constant as possible. For example, for
conditions 5–7, welding current was varied from 251 to
370 A while maintaining voltage and travel speed almost
constant as 33 V and 5?8 mm s21 respectively. Similarly,
travel speed was varied from 5?8 to 3?3 mm s21 for
conditions 7–9, and voltage from 38 to 45 V for
conditions 10–12. A plate (600 MPa grade) with
19 mm thickness was used as a base plate. Its chemical
composition is also given in Table 1.
After welding, two tensile specimens with 24 mm
gauge length and 6 mm diameter were obtained from the
centre of each weld metal and tested at room tempera-
ture in as welded condition. Chemical composition of
weld metal was also determined from the centre of weld
metal by spectrographic analysis. Average width of the
columnar prior austenite grains and area fractions of
microstructural constituents were measured in the last
pass of weld metal using specimens prepared by
standard metallographic techniques. Samples were
etched in a 2% nital solution. Measurement of area
fractions of microstructural constituents was performed
according to IIW classifications.14 Ten fields of 100
points were measured at 5006.
Results and discussion
Chemical compositions and tensile test results of all weld
metals are summarised in Table 3. Tensile properties are
average of two specimens. Variation of tensile strength
of the weld metals that were welded by wire no. 1 as a
function of heat input is shown in Fig. 1. As expected, it
decreases continuously with an increase in heat input.
Figure 2 shows variation of columnar prior austenite
grain size and area fraction of grain boundary ferrite in
the weld metal as a function of heat input. Increases in
both columnar prior austenite grain size and area
fraction of grain boundary ferrite are observed, indicat-
ing the microstructural change caused the decrease in
tensile strength. To determine the effect of heat input on
chemical composition of the weld metal, Pcm value of
weld metal was calculated. Pcm is often used as a weld
cracking parameter because it indicates hardenability of
weld metal or heat affected zone. The formula used for
the calculation is as follows15
Pcm~CzSi=30zMn=20zCu=20zNi=60z
Cr=20zMo=15zV=10z5B
where all the elements are expressed in wt-%. According
to the equation, higher Pcm means larger amounts of
alloying elements such as carbon, manganese, silicon,
etc. in the weld metal. Figure 3 shows variation of Pcm
as a function of heat input. It decreases with an increase
in heat input, indicating that the loss of alloying

Table 1 Chemical compositions of wires and base plate

Chemical composition, wt-%

C Si Mn Cr Ni Mo Al Nb Ti B

Wire no. 1 0?075 0?51 2?39 – 0?80 – 0?30 – 2?07 0?0099

Wire no. 2 0?049 0?66 2?58 – 0?95 – 0?44 – 2?12 0?0099
Base plate 0?037 0?137 1?50 0?197 0?209 0?069 0?043 0?039 0?019 –

Table 2 Welding conditions and joint configuration used

Welding conditions

No. Current, A Voltage, V Speed, mm s21 Heat input, kJ mm21 Joint configuration

1 367 32 5?8 2?0

2 377 41 5?3 2?9
3 417 42 4?3 4?1
4 428 43 4?0 4?6
5 251 32 5?8 1?4
6 303 33 5?8 1?7
7 370 33 5?8 2?1
8 364 32 4?7 2?8
9 373 33 3?3 3?7
(mm)
10 425 38 4?2 3?9
11 427 42 4?2 4?2
12 419 45 4?2 4?5

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 Bang et al. Effects of welding parameters on tensile strength of weld metal in flux cored arc welding

1 Variation of tensile strength of weld metal as function 3 Variation of Pcm value of weld metal as function of
of heat input (welding wire no. 1; welding conditions heat input (welding wire no. 1; welding conditions 1–4)
1–4)

2 Variation of columnar size and area fraction of grain 4 Variation of tensile strength of weld metal as function
boundary ferrite in weld metal as function of heat input of heat input (welding wire no. 2; welding conditions
(welding wire no. 1; welding conditions 1–4) 5–12)

elements in the weld metal is also a reason for the
decrease in tensile strength of weld metal.
Variation of tensile strength of the weld metals
that were welded by wire no. 2 as a function of heat
input is shown in Fig. 4. It is quite different from Fig. 1
in that it does not show continuous decrease in tensile
strength with an increase of heat input. Instead it
increases initially and reaches maximum 725 MPa at
2?1 kJ mm21, and then decreases with an increase in
heat input. The welding parameter used to vary heat
input was indicated in the figure. Heat inputs up to
2?1 kJ mm21 were obtained by increasing welding
current, while range of 2?1–3?7 kJ mm21 by reducing
travel speed, and range of 3?9–4?5 kJ mm21 by increas-
ing voltage. The continuous decrease in tensile strength
with an increase in heat input above 2?1 kJ mm21 is

Table 3 Chemical compositions and tensile properties of weld metals

Chemical composition, wt-% Tensile properties

No. C Si Mn Cr Ni Al Nb Ti B Tensile strength, MPa Yield strength, MPa Elongation, %

1 0?049 0?49 1?69 0?06 0?70 0?03 0?02 0?046 0?0034 664 600 26
2 0?044 0?40 1?42 0?03 0?76 0?02 0?01 0?035 0?0026 599 533 27
3 0?046 0?41 1?42 0?04 0?73 0?02 0?01 0?032 0?0023 588 506 28
4 0?046 0?40 1?38 0?04 0?78 0?02 0?01 0?028 0?0022 573 488 29
5 0?036 0?53 1?93 0?05 1?05 0?03 0?01 0?049 0?0047 650 568 31
6 0?038 0?53 1?95 0?06 0?93 0?03 0?02 0?053 0?0042 678 589 26
7 0?047 0?59 2?03 0?06 1?00 0?04 0?02 0?064 0?0053 731 629 23
8 0?047 0?58 1?96 0?06 0?94 0?04 0?02 0?058 0?0049 724 591 27
9 0?045 0?53 1?91 0?06 0?95 0?03 0?02 0?043 0?0046 682 551 27
10 0?041 0?54 1?87 0?06 0?98 0?03 0?02 0?048 0?0044 677 598 25
11 0?041 0?47 1?72 0?06 1?02 0?03 0?02 0?038 0?0044 648 561 27
12 0?039 0?37 1?49 0?07 0?80 0?02 0?02 0?033 0?0028 573 471 32

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 Bang et al. Effects of welding parameters on tensile strength of weld metal in flux cored arc welding

5 Variation of area fraction of grain boundary ferrite in

weld metal as function of heat input (welding wire no.
2; welding conditions 5–12)

consistent with the previous research works.8,9 However,

the increase in tensile strength in the heat inputs up to
2?1 kJ mm21 is not. This indicates that an influence of
heat input on the tensile strength of weld metal is
dependent on the welding parameter used to vary the
heat input. Figure 5 shows variation of area fraction of
grain boundary ferrite in the weld metal as a function of
heat input. It changes very little up to 2?1 kJ mm21 and
then increases continuously with an increase in heat
input. Optical microstructures with heat input up to
2?1 kJ mm21 are shown in Fig. 6. This suggests that the
continuous decrease in tensile strength is certainly
related with the microstructural change when the heat
input is above 2?1 kJ mm21, while the increase in tensile
strength is hardly related with the microstructural
change when the heat input is up to 2?1 kJ mm21.
Figure 7 shows variation of weld metal Pcm value as a
function of heat input. It is very much similar to the
variation of tensile strength shown in Fig. 4. It can be
noticed that Pcm increases when the heat input is up to
2?1 kJ mm21. Therefore, it is believed that Pcm has
more powerful effect than microstructure even though
the exact contribution of each factor is not known.
Above results show that the effect of heat input on the
Pcm value of weld metal is dependent on the welding
a 1?4 kJ mm21; b 1?7 kJ mm21; c 2?1 kJ mm21
parameter used to control the heat input. Pcm or
6 Optical microstructures of weld metals
chemical composition of weld metal is determined by the
alloying elements recovered from wire and dilution of
base plate. After determining the dilution of base plate decrease. Travel speed also has influence on the
geometrically from transverse section of the weld, recoveries of both elements. As it increases, the
recovery of alloying elements in wire was calculated recoveries of both elements increase. In fact, similar
using following equation trends were observed in the recoveries of silicon,
titanium and aluminium. As all these elements react
Recovery(%) ~ with oxygen strongly during welding, these results
(weld metal composition{dilution|base plate composition) indicate that oxidation loss of the elements during
wire composition welding decreases when current or travel speed
increases, while the loss increases when voltage
|100
increases. These observations support the previous
Calculated recoveries of carbon and manganese, for works16–18 that recoveries of deoxidation elements in
example, as a function of welding current, voltage and wire are dependent on the time available for reaction
travel speed are shown in Figs. 8–10 respectively. As with oxygen during welding. According to Grong,19
welding current increases, recovery of carbon increases higher current gives more rapid detachment of droplets
while recovery of manganese changes little. However, as in wire tip because of higher melting rate and thus gives
voltage increases, the recoveries of both elements shorter reaction time with oxygen, giving higher

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 Bang et al.
7 Variation of Pcm value of weld metal as function of heat
input (welding wire no. 2; welding conditions 5–12)
recoveries of deoxidation elements. To confirm the rapid
detachment of droplets with an increase in current in
this experiment, arc voltage signals were recorded when
welded with conditions 5–7. As shown in Table 2, these
conditions vary welding current from 251 to 370 A.
Voltage and travel speed were maintained almost con-
stant as 33 V and 5?8 mm s21 respectively. Recorded
signals are compared in Fig. 11. It is clear that the
frequency of voltage change, which corresponds to the
frequency of droplet transfer from wire tip, increases
8 Effects of welding current on recovery of a carbon and b manganese
9 Effects of voltage on recovery of a carbon and b manganese
Effects of welding parameters on tensile strength of weld metal in flux cored arc welding
with an increase in current, suggesting a more rapid
detachment of droplets in higher welding current
condition. In the meantime, the observed effects of
voltage and travel speed on the recoveries of the
elements also can be explained using the concept of
time available for reaction with oxygen. Since voltage
has no effect on the melting rate of wire tip,20 the
observed low recoveries of the elements in high voltage
are caused by the longer reaction time with oxygen
during droplet transfer in the arc column, since an
increase in voltage gives longer arc column. On the other
hand, as an increase in travel speed gives shorter
reaction time in the weld pool,21 recoveries of the
deoxidation elements increased along with increasing
travel speed as shown in Fig. 9. The observed effect of
travel speed on the recoveries of deoxidation elements in
this experiment agrees with the other previous work.21
In order to investigate the observed effects of welding
parameters which are obtained in different welding
wires, other welding were performed using wire no. 1
shown in Table 1. Three different welding conditions
were used: 389 A/45 V/4?0 mm s21, 435 A/45 V/
4?3 mm s21 and 443 A/46 V/4?5 mm s21. As welding
current and travel speed were increased simultaneously
while maintaining voltage almost constant, heat input is
the same as 4?5 kJ mm21 in all three conditions. Based
on the results obtained in wire no. 2, tensile strength of
weld metal is expected to increase when welding current
and travel speed were increased because such variation
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 Bang et al.
10 Effects of travel speed on recovery of a carbon and b
manganese
of the parameters would result in higher Pcm. In fact
Pcm increased from 0?142 to 0?157 and thus tensile
strength increased from 518 to 551 MPa as welding con-
dition changed from 389 A/45 V/4?0 mm s21 to 443 A/
46 V/4?5 mm s21. This indicates that the effects of weld-
ing parameters observed are applicable to other wires.
Conclusions
Effects of welding parameters on the tensile properties
and chemical composition of weld metal in flux cored
arc welding were studied. Important results obtained are
as follows.
1. When heat input was increased to 2?1 kJ mm21 by
increasing welding current, tensile strength of weld metal
increased. However, when heat input was increased from
2?1 to 3?7 kJ mm21 by reducing travel speed, and from
3?9 to 4?5 kJ mm21 by increasing voltage, the tensile
strength of weld metal decreased.
2. It showed that when heat input is higher than
2?1 kJ mm21 the decrease in tensile strength was related
with the microstructural change. However, the increase in
tensile strength in lower than 2?1 kJ mm21 was hardly
related with the microstructural change. As Pcm value in
the weld metal increases when heat input is up to
2?1 kJ mm21, it is believed that Pcm value has more
powerful effect than microstructure in the heat input range.
3. Variation of welding parameters resulted in differ-
ent recoveries of alloying elements in the wire. The
recoveries increased with an increase in welding current
and/or travel speed, but it decreased with an increase in
Effects of welding parameters on tensile strength of weld metal in flux cored arc welding
a 251 A, 32 V, 5?8 mm s21; b 303 A, 33 V, 5?8 mm s21;
c 370 A, 33 V, 5?8 mm s21
11 Comparison of voltage signal in different welding
conditions
voltage. The effects of welding parameters on the
recoveries can be rationalised with the time available
for the reaction with oxygen during the welding process.
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